Mac Baren Cherry Ambrosia

(2.19)
In Cherry Ambrosia numerous different raw tobaccos are used. From the bright flue-cured Virginia tobaccos, to the selected loose cut and ready rubbed Burleys over the black Modern Cavendish, to a hint of oriental tobaccos. On top of this a special cherry flavour rounds up the blend giving it its sweet, aromatic taste of ripe cherries combined with a supporting tobacco flavor. It is a very nice blend for the aromatic smoker, who wants to enjoy a good solid blend with a sweet aromatic taste.
Notes: Introduced in 1991. Due to EU regulations, it is now re-named and sold in those countries as "Red Ambrosia". Some retailers and tin descriptions also mention a Jamaican rum flavoring. However, Mac Baren's website only mentions the cherry flavoring.

Details

Brand Mac Baren
Blended By Mac Baren
Manufactured By Mac Baren
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Burley, Cavendish, Virginia
Flavoring Cherry, Rum
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 100 grams tin weight, 100 grams pouch weight
Country Denmark
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.19 / 4
12

15

17

26

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 70 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 18, 2020 Medium to Strong Very Mild Extremely Mild (Flat) Tolerable
I bought this as my first tobacco to try.

It was quite difficult to get the initial light to create an ember (maybe me being a rookie) however, tried it a few months on and still had difficulty even after trying other tobaccos.

However, when I began tasting the tobacco the smell from the packet is very pleasant however, when smoking it I didn’t really taste anything. In fact, found it very bland and dull. I couldn’t taste the cherry at all.

I also found this gave a lot of tongue bite and burnt very hot. (More likely to do with a new pipe) however it still did this after some months.

I would not recommend this if you are after a cherry tobacco or a mellow one.
Pipe Used: Baby Briar
PurchasedFrom: My smoking shop.co.uk
Age When Smoked: New to 5 weeks
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 11, 2016 Mild Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
The Virginia is grassy with some citrus, and forms the base of the blend. The burley is nutty, woody, and a little earthy with some molasses. The toasted black cavendish adds some brown sugar. The cherry topping fairly sublimates the tobaccos, and you’ll notice them mostly in the background; the Virginia more than the burley. The cherry topping has a very mild syrupy note, but it didn’t taste artificial. The strength is mild, while the taste is a couple of steps past that mark. Has little nicotine. Won’t bite, and I experienced no harshness. Burns at a reasonable pace, fairly cool and rather smooth with a consistent flavor. Requires few relights and doesn’t leave much moisture in the bowl. The very pleasant after taste does linger a little. An all day smoke. The cherry lacks a little depth, but it does hold on to the finish, unlike some aros. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 04, 2016 Mild Mild to Medium Medium to Full Very Pleasant
My story is similar to PC Plod's, though not exactly same. I was looking for a fruity cherry aromatic. I had some bad experiences with cherry tobaccos, and in general I don't smoke fruity tobaccos too often. But that week I remembered a scent, my step father's pipe, packed with some cherry. i didn't remember what. So I was looking. According to some reviews here, I was looking for Samuel Gawith's Black Cherry, but that is not available in my country, and I didn't want to wait. So I bought a pack (puch) of Cherry Ambrosia. First of all, it was not was I was looking for. Second: I didn't like it when it was fresh (probably too wet). So I tryed Stanwell Cherry and that was it. What I needed at the time.

But then one day...

I opened the pouch again. A few weeks passed, maybe even a month. It dryed just a little, and somehow settled. What I didn't like at the first try (a bit tart, even acidy thing hirting my throat) was all gone. And I met an excellent tobacco. Cherry is not the protagonist here. If you know what 12 year old, fruity and mild South American rums are like, this is it. Yes, you can feel the cheeries, and the rum aroma is nothing like tobaccos treated with spirits are usually like. It is a round, friendly taste, mild in volume, but still very rich in aroma. The cut is lovely, it's similar to MB Scottish Mixture, just darker. I love it more and more. In fact I decided to write a review, because I just spent a whole day with it, while doing some woodworks in our house.

And I'm sure I will have more days like this.
Pipe Used: Savinelli Virginia
Age When Smoked: fresh
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
CTS
Oct 26, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
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.
Pipe Used: Christiano 405
PurchasedFrom: Tinder Box, Mishawaka, IN
Age When Smoked: Tin date MAY 2014
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 21, 2014 Medium Medium Full Very Pleasant
First let me state I love Macbaron tobaccos and I do not find them to burn hot or bite my tongue. I also am not really fond of cherry blends in general though I do smoke them now and then. Rarely do I find a tobacco I don't enjoy one way or another. I also call them as I see them and often I am not in agreement with the other reviewers.

Not liking cherry blends in general, I was quite surprised with this one but I also find MacBaren does a good job with their aromatics. If I were stranded on a desert island and this was the only tobacco available to me, I would survive on it just fine. It is not overly preserved and though you can taste the flavoring, you can also taste the tobacco. Much like their Vanilla Cream, they still realize we smoke to enjoy tobacco flavor and do not ram the flavor down our throats. The flavoring here also is very enjoyable and not soapy in taste like a lot of cherry blends are. Of course if you don't like aromatics, you will find this one too flavored, but for those of us with an open mind and enjoy a GOOD aromatic, this one will appeal to you. Would it be my regular......no. Will I smoke it all the time....no, but will I keep it on hand to enjoy now and then when I have a sweet tooth......yes.

It comes in an attractive tin, in my case 100 grams, and upon opening, the aroma is very much like cherries and rum. It is very moist but not too much to smoke. I tried it right out of the tin and after drying to different degrees. I enjoyed it at each stage. It does require some relights though if you smoke it right out of the tin. Like most aromatics, because of the moisture it will have some moisture settle at the bottom of the bowl and some dottle. But I was able to smoke mine all the way down to ash with several relights and smoking it as dry as I can. It has a medium gray ash all the way down and the room note is incredible. It is a mixture of colors from light to very dark and is in a rough cut with some not rubbed out. Of course the flavor is of cherries and rum as that is what it is, but I also enjoyed the taste of burley tobacco with now and then the Cavendish.

Over a period of time I smoked the whole tin and wanted and ordered more. Made a great after dinner blend. For the open minded I would surely recommend trying it. If you don't like aromatics, stay away as you will never enjoy one no matter which one. Despite what the other reviewers say, I like this one and I have never smoked a better cherry blend than this.
Pipe Used: briar, cog, meer
PurchasedFrom: Pipesand cigars.com
Age When Smoked: under one year
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 01, 2018 Mild to Medium Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Pleasant
Mac Baren - Cherry Ambrosia.

The market seems saturated with cherry aromatics, so I can't say this one filled me with fervor! The blend itself has a great aroma, fairly potent but not entirely "honest"; to me it seems a little reminiscent of candy floss/cotton candy but that isn't necessarily a bad point! The first plus is for the moisture: a great amount where it is ready to go from the opening.

Lighting this one is an exorbitantly easy task: catching ignition with a very short run with the flame. Once lit I can ascertain an opinion of the blend in question. Again, as I found the aroma, it has a certain candy floss attribution to it, not a malevolent quality just a touch disparaging after a while. To be fair, the tobacco flavours are present but the topping is that "full on" it masks them a little. Sadly (for me) this one bites quite autocratically, so I have to be gentle with my sips. For me, this instantly conjures up the image of being at the fairground eating candy floss/ cotton candy!

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant.

This one, I find to be very quirky, but I really couldn't smoke it regularly as after a while the quirkiness becomes too incongruous!

Two stars.
Pipe Used: Various
PurchasedFrom: Various
Age When Smoked: New
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 01, 2003 Very Mild Very Strong Mild Pleasant to Tolerable
I should have known better. It smells deeply of cherries in the tin and at the match. Hell itself could not be hotter.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 13, 2018 Very Mild Medium to Strong Mild Very Pleasant
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.!!
Pipe Used: Peterson Rhodesian
PurchasedFrom: Pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: New Tin
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 07, 2022 Mild Strong Mild to Medium Pleasant
I kinda knew that this would most probably be a cherry aromatic when I picked this up, despite the name ("Red Ambrosia") not being allowed to explicitly mention cherry anymore.

Unfortunately, this is clearly one of the weaker MacBaren aromatics. There doesn't seem to be much wrong with the underlying tobacco mixture which is mostly dark browns from the burley sprinkled with light orient and black cavendish and overall produces a full tasty smoke (albeit with some tongue bite) but the cherry casing is vile, not a smooth background effect as I'd like it to be but more like... Perfumed. It's disappointing even in the company of other cherry aromatics, and I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy this mixture more without any casing at all.

Most probably not going to buy again. Not offensive enough to not make the 2-star, but only just. If I want something like this, I'll probably go for Borkum Riff Ruby.
Pipe Used: Various
PurchasedFrom: Kiosk in Ustka, Poland
Age When Smoked: Fresh from pouch
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 15, 2022 Mild Medium Mild Pleasant to Tolerable
I have taken a hiatus from buying tobacco (needing to cut down), but I do have a few tins in the cellar I have yet to smoke and review; this was one of those.

The initial tin opening bombards you with a powerful sour cherry funk which dissipates after a few weeks, but never completely goes away. It is a break from the typical sugar bomb or medical smelling Cherry aromatics, but isn't an inviting fruit dish. The cut has nice chunky bits and light moisture (no syrupy topping), taking that extra light to fire up, but the ember roils nicely from there.

Nothing is harsh, and nothing is very exciting in the taste department, it either needs something sweeter or pulled back since the Virginia isn't shining through. Thankfully it doesn't have a chemical aftertaste - it's just boring.

It is hard to argue with the tin value, other than buying bulk, getting 3.5oz for almost the same cost as tins half the size feels good, but isn't life too short to be dicking around with an inferior smoke?
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 01, 2016 Very Mild Mild Extremely Mild (Flat) Pleasant
Great tin note of cherries when you first open the tin, though this disappears with time (though I didn't mason jar it).

Found this blend suffers from bite and smokes hot. I also found that the tobacco, coming in a pouch was way too dry out of pouch. I had to rehydrate this a couple of times.

Flavour wise, it had a subtle tone of cherries to it, but in general I've found this a dissatisfying smoke and I won't be buying this blend again.
2 people found this review helpful.
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