Mac Baren Cherry Ambrosia

An excellent, well-balanced blend from Mac Baren, that happens to have a cherry note to it. The aroma in the tin smells like fresh fruitcake, with the cherry itself coming through as the morello sour cherries in Kirsch brandy, along with notes of rum-soaked raisins. Particularly when sipped, the depth of the base tobaccos comes through, complemented well with a hint of sweet cherry flavor. Spicy tingle on the retrohale. By far the best cherry tobacco I've ever had in over 35 years. First cherry tobacco I've ever had that tastes like the cherry is formulated to complement excellent tobacco flavors, rather than trying to make tobacco taste like cherries. No bite, smokes cool with neither gurgle nor goo. A one-light wonder fresh from the tin. Burns down to a white ash.

I like cherry flavored pipe tobacco and this is a good one. It is an aromatic of course and not meant to be complex, deep, or a try-hard tobacco. It is just a simply cherry aromatic that satisfies. High quality VAs, and cavendish work well together and make this creation perform solidly. This is not a cheap cherry blend,, it is very high quality. If cherry aromatics are your thing, then give this one a try ,,, it may just become your favorite.!!

excellent cherry..well balanced...good aftertaste..i have 105 blends in my collection and this is a keeper...i have found mac barren to have very good blends and should be in everyones collection

I liked this blend fresh out of the tin. Some friends filled their bowls after they saw and smelled it. They liked it as well. Won't get any complaints from others around you when you smoke this.

This is the best cherry blend I know to date, the sweet Virginia and the strong jamaican rum are the main players here, while the cherry aroma takes the back sit. the flavor is sweet and delightful, however this blend requires an experienced pipe smoker more than any other MB blend, An Extremely slow smoking pace with small puffs is required to enjoy this fine blend.

I'm very happy and impressed with this blend. I cellared the tin for a year before I cracked it open 07/01/11. Initially, the casing/flavor was insane and some will find overpowering. It smelled like it was steeped in cherry liquor. Reeked of cherry. The cherry was so pungent and strong "ghosting" the bowl was an issue until the blend aired out after quite a few bowls. The next thing that was obvious, and impressive, was the quality of the tobacco: dark cavendish, burley, and light virginias. Nice chunks of flake in the already rubbed out mix. Seriously, I could have sorted out the chunks and had a small of tin of my own "Cherry Ambrosia flake." Tongue bite was never a problem. Really nice quality tobacco.

What was fun and enjoyable was how this blend changed over time. I'm finishing the tin off now six months after opening it and the smoking experience is very different from when I started. I smoke aromatics intermittantly and cherry ones less so, so my tin of CA has lasted awhile. At the start it was like smoking cherry candy tobacco. Right now, it is especially nice because the strength and quality of the virginias are really predominant with a nice flavor of cherry. Great roomnote from when I cracked it in July on a porch in Vermont, to when I'm smoking it now in my den on a chilly night in Boston. A great aromatic for virginia lovers after the casing has had a while to air out.

Great quality tobacco. Great value with the 100g tin. CA was an evolviing smoking experince as it morphed from an aromatic with some tobacco in it, to a mellow and strong virginia smoke with cherry flavor. I won't be smoking a cherry aromatic very frequently but I will buy this blend again.

I read the reviews of this mixture here on this site and, once again, I wonder why people to begin their review with "I hate aromatics, especially cherry blends" would even bother to post a review. This stuff has a natural taste rather than the cherry cough syrup or lollipop flavor of most cherry blends. The rum adds a bit extra flavor and complexity. The flavor doesn't overwhelm the natural tobacco taste but it is rich and slightly sweet. This is the best cherry blend I've ever tried.

The tin aroma of this mixture of ribbon and broken flake is cherry, though not obtrusively so, along with a vaguely alcoholic scent.

This is combination of virginia cavendish (both bright and black) along with light burley cavendish. The mix tilts to the clean sweetness of the virginias, and further tilts to sweetness, in general. This is an exceptionally sweet blend. Thoughtfully conceived, the flavorings are well-integrated into the whole.

Exceptional for those who like sweet leaf, Cherry Ambrosia is a delightful blend in which the whole is greater than the parts. This will ghost a briar and went well in a chamber of any gauge.

This makes an excellent choice for those fond of cherry aromatics. While many have mentioned Mac Baren's "notorious bite" - I've found this a much more suitable alternative to either Tinderbox's "Anniversary Blend" (a cherry aromatic) or the Captain Black Cherry that many new pipe smokers seem to gravitate toward (out of convenience I can only assume).

When properly dried a bit (though I enjoyed it rather wet as well), it makes for a pleasant and tasty smoke if one is fond of aromatics. Again, an excellent "first choice" for new pipe smokers.