Mac Baren Amphora Black Cavendish Special Reserve

This tobacco is one of my favorites OTC. Yes, the tobacco is a bit harsh, at times. Yes, it can also smoke slightly hot at times. No, there is not a lot of tobacco taste going on here. And no, the nicotine is not very present. But this is not saying there is no nicotine and no tobacco taste! Amphora Black Cavendish's lovely flavoring, both in the pouch and while smoking, makes up for its shortcomings as it provides a wonderful spicy and just a tad sweet taste. In fact, ABC provides, because of its topping, a taste that is very unique, I find.

This is a very nice aromatic tobacco. Surprisingly, for being a cavendish blend, it comes fairly dry in the pouch, but still requires some drying time before smoking. Topping aroma and flavor when smoking is black licorice/plum. A sweet and a bit spicy smoke. This tobacco actually tastes like the pouch note when smoking. It burns well and has very little bite. Room note is wonderful. Nicotine level is a decent mild/medium . I subtracted one star due to the fact that personally I'm not too crazy about black licorice. Amphora Black Cavendish Special Reserve is everything that MacBaren Seven Seas Royal should have been, because even though Royal has the same flavors, it simply has too much propylene glycol (PG) and bites quite badly.

I love the Amphora Original Blend and this blend is a very tastey offering in its own right.

The best Amphora blend that was out there. Very dark leaves with a dark caramel flavour. Burns well, decent taste and room aroma. Cannot find it anymore. A pitty.

This is a classic aromatic-cavendish blend. Rich and spicy, low nicotine and easy burning, sometimes heat the bowl or bites the tonge. This is a "social" tobacco, perfect for smoke in a friend`s meeting, the people around will love the aroma.

Due to the sudden impossibility to import my usual Virginia and Latakia blends from Cuppojoe's in NYC, I have to resort to those tobaccos readily available in Mexico City. The Amphora range is among those. I have already submitted a review of Amphora Regular, an old favourite when it was blended by D&E, but somewhat of a disappointment under Imperial Tobacco. Just to keep alive that endless search of a new blend, I recently opened a three-year-old pouch of Amphora Black I had stored somewhere in the upper shleves in my studio.

I must admit that even though this is obviously an aromatic, it does not resemble in any way a drug-store blend, nor does it taste like a Danish one. This is no vanilla-flavour concoction and it is not goopy or overridden with moisture. Dry black Cavndish, golden Virginia and some toasted Burley thrown in provide the base for a medium strength, floral like smoke, not at all bad, with enough tobacco flavour in the background to make you almost forget (and forgive) the fact that you are actually smoking an aromatic!

It burns rather cool and dry, and it does not infest the pipe with its floral-maple like aroma, provided you run a pipe cleaner through the stem and the shank once you've finished and the pipe is cool enough to be opened. I am not an aromatic fan, but this is not a bad change of pace if you suddenly crave a sweet taste.

Amphora black is a long lasting, not prone to bite, medium strength smoke. If you want a point of comparison, I believe this is slightly similar to Gawith's Grousemoor, but far less aggressive in terms of flavour and aroma, and with a more manly tobacco structure. All in all, a worthwhile experience.

very good

Package note of sugar, peaty vegetation and spices. Tobacco is a ribbon and ready rub cut of dark brown, tan and black. Moisture content is great. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild, with notes of vanilla and licorice. Both flavors tend to show up in the first 1/3 and remain in the background. Taste is medium and moderately consistent, with notes of cocoa, peaty herbal vegetation, tangy dark fruit, vanilla, wood, dry earth, sweet grass, citrus, spice, floral, toast, molasses, orange peel, acidic, a spicy licorice and nutty background note, and a peppery retro. The double fermented Virginias are leading with Burley, Kentucky, Oriental/Turkish and Flavoring supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is good.

Lovely chocolate/licorice with earthy spices greet my nostrils as soon as I open the pouch. The beautiful ribbons feel dry to the touch but smoke wonderfully. I start to taste plums and pepper while entering the second half of the pipe. Very pleasant experience.