Mac Baren Black Ambrosia
(2.25)
Ambrosia is just savoring the word elevates your expectations, because ambrosia was the food of the gods and goddesses in Greek mythology. In 1983 when our tobacco masters first tasted the new, mild cavendish that they had developed, ambrosia was the only proper word to use to describe the taste experience. They had been experimenting with a variety of raw tobaccos for a long time before they finally came up with the right blend. Virginia tobaccos from the third world were selected, each with its own unique qualities. Each one was an excellent tobacco in its own right, but only when they were blended together into a mild cavendish did the pipe smoker experience something out of the ordinary. A rounded taste composed of the finest taste nuances, the natural sweetness supported by a completely new Mac Baren taste. This cavendish was truly something extraordinary, and from its completion in 1983 right up to today it has been used in numerous new Mac Baren blends. The rounded, slightly sweetish cavendish is widely known as: Modern Mac Baren Cavendish.
As the name suggests, Black Ambrosia contains a very high proportion of Modern Mac Baren Cavendish, with only a little loose cut light Virginia added. This blend consists solely of Virginia tobaccos, which is rather rare as the majority of blends contain a little burley tobacco. But not Black Ambrosia, which is made of 100% Virginia tobacco and yet the taste is still exquisite. As the last person to add to the taste, the tobacco master has been no less genial. Of course, the precise composition of the tobacco is a secret, but here is a hint: to complete the Modern Mac Baren Cavendish, the tobacco master has carefully added a blend of different fruit oils, and topping the finished blend is a touch of [?}. Taste it for yourself and discover what an extraordinary taste experience it offers. With a little prudence, Black Ambrosia could almost be described as: food for the soul and the tobacco lover.
Details
Profile
Strength
Mild
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Medium
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.25 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 31 - 40 of 41 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Sep 09, 2010 | Mild | Extremely Mild | Very Mild | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I actually bought a pound of this stuff because it seems to posess just enough of an unsweetened chocolate flavor along with a reasonable nicotine content to make it a little interesting, beyond that its a little flat and almost dull. MB's Original Choice is similiar to this but just a little better. Not bad but really not that good either. Try a tin of it and you decide. It is worth the expense, i will say that.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 02, 2010 | Mild | Medium | Mild | Pleasant |
i dont know if i'm smoking this one in the wrong pipe or what, but the description given by MacBaren predicts too much. too many chiefs mess up the soup and so it is with casing and tobacco. this is too much for me. much cavendish in here, i'd have gone for more pure virginia. the tobacco burns well and mild, but should be smoked slowly because like many cased tobaccos, this one can cause your mouth to burn. out of the tin, it is a little too moist! people who like black luxury will like this one.
*edit: smoking my 2nd real bowl of this and i get sick of it, literally. i want to puke now =(
*edit: smoking my 2nd real bowl of this and i get sick of it, literally. i want to puke now =(
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 08, 2010 | Very Mild | Medium | Mild to Medium | Very Pleasant |
if you love the original choice probably you will love this one,too...
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 09, 2010 | Mild | Medium | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
The smell out of the tin is a bit overwhelming. I like my smoke to be sweet and rich, but the smell of this just kind of turned my stomach for some reason.
Packing it is easy, and it holds to a flame well. No relights were required for me, and it burned into a nice, fine ash.
The taste itself is kind of meh at best, with not a lot of tobacco flavor. It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't exactly taste good, either. And once again, the overall taste kind of put me off, as I got a lot of black licorice, and I'm not really a fan of that. If this was just vanilla flavored, I'd love it. But I feel there is too many things mixed in, and it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
I liked the fact that it's a very effortless smoke with no bite, and it burns nice and cool.
If you're looking for something.. different, then give it a whirl.
Update : I noticed that once some air got in the tin, it took away some of that heavy smell I was greeted with when I first opened it. Now it smells a lot better, however, there is no real taste to it. It just tastes of.. nothing, really, and it gets boring very quickly.
Packing it is easy, and it holds to a flame well. No relights were required for me, and it burned into a nice, fine ash.
The taste itself is kind of meh at best, with not a lot of tobacco flavor. It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't exactly taste good, either. And once again, the overall taste kind of put me off, as I got a lot of black licorice, and I'm not really a fan of that. If this was just vanilla flavored, I'd love it. But I feel there is too many things mixed in, and it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
I liked the fact that it's a very effortless smoke with no bite, and it burns nice and cool.
If you're looking for something.. different, then give it a whirl.
Update : I noticed that once some air got in the tin, it took away some of that heavy smell I was greeted with when I first opened it. Now it smells a lot better, however, there is no real taste to it. It just tastes of.. nothing, really, and it gets boring very quickly.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 14, 2008 | Mild to Medium | Medium | Mild to Medium | Very Pleasant |
Black Ambrosia is a tobacco that can be enjoyed by new pipe smokers and old; although I don't think that it is going to make many 'top ten' lists.
Black Ambrosia is what it is-a heavily cased aromatic. The tin aroma is fantastic and the room note is among the best there is-dare I say better than Captain Black White!
The casing seems to be quite different than what is predominately used in American Aromatics. It did not burn overly wet or goopy and produced a consistent, mildly sweet with a slight Virginia tangy smoking experience.
The tin (which combines a rubber gasket and screw type lid) kept the tobacco quite moist for an extended period. I wish others would adopt this type of tin, as it would save having to put tobacco's not smoked every day in jars.
One significant difference seems to be that this tobacco is made entirely from Virginia, rather than being blended with Burley. Suits my tastes and the colder weather we have here in Newfoundland quite a lot more than many other aromatics.
My feeling is that this is a great tobacco for someone new to pipe smoking who wants something mild, but not so mild that he has to burn his tongue to get flavour. Blending it may also be a fairly non-offensive way to improve the room note of a heavy latakia blend so as to win favour with the wife without ruining your own smoking experience.
It won't be a regular in my rotation, simply because I'm more a smoker of English Mixtures and Virginia Flakes-but I may pick up a tin or two sometime in future for when I crave a change of pace!
The MacBaren website is fantastic and their rating system (while not entirely in tune with my tastes) is a good shopping tool.
Black Ambrosia is what it is-a heavily cased aromatic. The tin aroma is fantastic and the room note is among the best there is-dare I say better than Captain Black White!
The casing seems to be quite different than what is predominately used in American Aromatics. It did not burn overly wet or goopy and produced a consistent, mildly sweet with a slight Virginia tangy smoking experience.
The tin (which combines a rubber gasket and screw type lid) kept the tobacco quite moist for an extended period. I wish others would adopt this type of tin, as it would save having to put tobacco's not smoked every day in jars.
One significant difference seems to be that this tobacco is made entirely from Virginia, rather than being blended with Burley. Suits my tastes and the colder weather we have here in Newfoundland quite a lot more than many other aromatics.
My feeling is that this is a great tobacco for someone new to pipe smoking who wants something mild, but not so mild that he has to burn his tongue to get flavour. Blending it may also be a fairly non-offensive way to improve the room note of a heavy latakia blend so as to win favour with the wife without ruining your own smoking experience.
It won't be a regular in my rotation, simply because I'm more a smoker of English Mixtures and Virginia Flakes-but I may pick up a tin or two sometime in future for when I crave a change of pace!
The MacBaren website is fantastic and their rating system (while not entirely in tune with my tastes) is a good shopping tool.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 08, 2005 | Mild | Mild to Medium | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
I've been smoking this a lot lately. If it's the only tin in the car... well, you get the idea. Hey, this isn't all that bad. My tin is now several years old and has been open for almost a year and heretofore ignored. My experience is that it mellowed nicely, is NOT over the top flavored and makes a nice, though generic aromatic smoke. The flavoring is vaguely fruity, not much there (by this time in the tin's life). Sweet? not much more than many other MacB's. My early notes on this tend to agree with previous reviewers. All I can say is that if you dislike it, try the same tin again next year. It tones down. I got my tin at a closeout; I doubt I'd buy it again, but I'll enjoy the rest of what I have.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 12, 2005 | Mild | Mild | Very Mild | Pleasant to Tolerable |
The only reason I gave this blend two stars is for the quality of the tobaccos. Might be an all-day smoke for some due to the minimal strength. Maybe I can find something to mix this with to use it up. I will update if I figure out how...
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 10, 2005 | Extremely Mild | Strong | Very Mild | Very Pleasant |
As a fan of Mac Baren's blends I decided to take Black Ambrosia for a test drive. According to their web site, this blend is their sweetest aromatic so be warned those of you who hate sweet aromatics!
I bought a nice Grabow (oxymoron?) to try this blend in...primarily so I would not contaminate by high grades that are dedicated to more sophisticated blends...and to be able to taste just the Black Ambrosia without the flavors of blends gone by.
Upon opening the tin I noticed the smell is similar to Captain Black (white pouch). It is probably the stickiest (most heavily cased?) blend I have tried. The moisture content is less than most of Mac Baren's blends being an almost dry tobacco. Most of the leaves are black and sticky with a few light brown leaves accenting the tin.
According to the description on the tin, this is a VA and Burley blend but all I can taste (I am smoking some as I write this) is the casing. The flavor is sweet but not overpowering like Skandinavik's Vanilla Cavendish. When first puffed the smoke is dry, cool and sweet. The finish (aftertaste) leaves a slight salty sensation but no corruption of the palate (see Skandinavik's Vanilla for that except replace sour for salt). I can also tell you from my unpleasant experience that this blend does NOT go well with the hazelnut coffee I am drinking while I write this, so let my misfortune be to your benefit!
This tobacco burns cooler than most of the other MB blends however it seems to burn a lot faster which could be the toasted burley that is the obvious dominant leaf in this blend.
So if you like a sweet aromatic, just want something that will smell nice, want something to switch off to, or are just starting out, this is a fine blend. If you like straight tobacco taste then avoid this one.
I bought a nice Grabow (oxymoron?) to try this blend in...primarily so I would not contaminate by high grades that are dedicated to more sophisticated blends...and to be able to taste just the Black Ambrosia without the flavors of blends gone by.
Upon opening the tin I noticed the smell is similar to Captain Black (white pouch). It is probably the stickiest (most heavily cased?) blend I have tried. The moisture content is less than most of Mac Baren's blends being an almost dry tobacco. Most of the leaves are black and sticky with a few light brown leaves accenting the tin.
According to the description on the tin, this is a VA and Burley blend but all I can taste (I am smoking some as I write this) is the casing. The flavor is sweet but not overpowering like Skandinavik's Vanilla Cavendish. When first puffed the smoke is dry, cool and sweet. The finish (aftertaste) leaves a slight salty sensation but no corruption of the palate (see Skandinavik's Vanilla for that except replace sour for salt). I can also tell you from my unpleasant experience that this blend does NOT go well with the hazelnut coffee I am drinking while I write this, so let my misfortune be to your benefit!
This tobacco burns cooler than most of the other MB blends however it seems to burn a lot faster which could be the toasted burley that is the obvious dominant leaf in this blend.
So if you like a sweet aromatic, just want something that will smell nice, want something to switch off to, or are just starting out, this is a fine blend. If you like straight tobacco taste then avoid this one.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 30, 2003 | Very Mild | Mild to Medium | Mild | Very Pleasant |
I bought a tin of this because I was in the mood for an aromatic blend and my tobacconist happened to be out of Mac Baren Vanilla Cream.
The aroma from the tin was appealing and the tobacco packed well and stayed lit reasonably well. The tobacco's taste was boring, although not bad and the casing seemed to do nothing but add a slightly "off" taste to the smoke and a strange aftertaste. The room note was very pleasant, however, allowing this to be smoked virtually anywhere.
I wouldn't say that this is a "bad" tobacco, but certainly not one that I would buy again for myself. It tastes OK, smokes OK and smells great but certainly doesn't sweep me off my feet.
The aroma from the tin was appealing and the tobacco packed well and stayed lit reasonably well. The tobacco's taste was boring, although not bad and the casing seemed to do nothing but add a slightly "off" taste to the smoke and a strange aftertaste. The room note was very pleasant, however, allowing this to be smoked virtually anywhere.
I wouldn't say that this is a "bad" tobacco, but certainly not one that I would buy again for myself. It tastes OK, smokes OK and smells great but certainly doesn't sweep me off my feet.
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