Tobaccos Mac Baren - Amsterdamer (Amsterdamer Blends)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Virginia lover (218)	2011-07-10		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I bought a pouch for 6 euros in a Tabac shop in France. A shag cut, light aromatic tobacco. The taste reminds of cigarettes but without the awful aftertaste. There is a light licorice topping and maybe other flavors to hide the fact that this tobacco is made with lower grade leaf. In other words, a shag cut made for the masses with lower income in mind. That said, I like it for what it is. Do not expect a mind blowing experience but, I could see why this is a popular tobacco in France. Cheap, good burning qualities and a decent amount of flavor that is not overly shadowed by the topping. One of the best drugstore pipe tobaccos available in Continental Europe. Recommended for it's kind, a traditional Dutch blend.

Virginia lover

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Briar Baron (12)	2017-10-05		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I bought this tobacco when stopping in at Vanuatu on a cruise and this was the only pipe tobacco available. As I was not familiar with it I read some reviews trying to find out what I had bought and was worried about the low rating, however I was pleasantly surprised that this is not a bad tobacco at all.

It does come fairly dry in the pouch but I am used to mainly tinned tobaccos so this may be down to the packaging. It was not what I would call too dry but actually perfect for immediate smoking.

The aroma in the pouch is fairly neutral with a slight hint of a cigar leaf smell as indicated on the tobaccos listed for this blend. The pouch I have has "Fijne Snede" on the front rather than "Middel Snede" but I guess this is the cut?

It is made in the EU by the Imperial Tobacco company and was relatively inexpensive at about 6 euro equivalent. All in all a good tobacco for the price.

Pipe Used: Ashton

Age When Smoked: Fresh

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bruno (2)	2017-06-11		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I bought this tobacco remenbering the smell i knew more than 30 years ago...whem my grandfather used to smoke it, reading his newspaper in the garden. It was delightfull. But nowaday, nor the smell neither the taste of this is a great one. Too dry right from the pouch... So flat in flavour... A little harsh if hight puffing, and boring if smoked slowly. At least, not a tobacco i'd recomend as it is from the shop. I mean the reason why it's so sold here in france is that it's avalable everywhere and a low cost tobacco. But few days ago i tried something interresting. The reason amsterdamer has changed so much resides in the laws. Nowaday, adding cumarine to tobacco is illegal in the industry. But tonka beans are legal to use in our food as an aromate, so they're easy to purchase. The fact is that i shruded some tonka bean, and poured with my amsterdamer pouch in a jarre, and remoisted it a little. The miracle is here. Definitly that's not a great tobacco, but the smell i used to know when i was a little boy is back. The taste is nice too.... I think that's the only way i'll smoke amsterdamer. The brand is no longer seita. This tobacco is now blended by mac barren.

Pipe Used: Lacroix

Purchased From: Local tobacconist

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Telling it how it is. (73)	2015-05-17		Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable

This is another fine example how everything regarding pipes got worse in recent years.

While Amsterdamer never was a high class tobacco its current incarnation is a bad joke. For starters they changed the entire blend. There are no more Java tobaccos in it which were one of the defining criteria for an old school dutch blend. But also the taste is gone and replaced by some sort of cigarette flavour i really don't care for. If i want the taste of cigarettes i go out and buy some, there is really no need to manipulate that into my pipe tobacco.

The burn is hellish fast as it has always been in this blend. If smoked too hot its very prone to tongue bite. This is not helped by the pouch being used to pack it is notorious for being unable to keep moisture.

The room note also turned unpleasantish but it never was that great anyways.

If you lived in Europe and started your pipe career early enough it was damn hard to avoid this blend weather you could enjoy it or not. And if nothing else it at least was cheap, another thing that this blend lost. It is not worth the € 8,- they ask for it at all.

I really want to find something positive in the current incarnation but all that comes to mind is its nostalgic pouch.

Overall i cannot recommend this blend any longer unless you feel really adventurous and ran out of stuff you have not smoked yet. Which is a pity because the old school dutch blends are a dying breed as it is, no need to further advance that by deliberately ruining them.

Pipe Used: It went trough rotation.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WillBrown (137)	2015-01-20		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The good news first (as it's rather short). I loved the shag cut and the packaging (a dark blue box with, I believe, a smiling Cossack on the front). It was easy to pack, though, for me, it didn't take a match too well (which was a surprise as the tobacco was not wet)—after several attempts to get it going, I was finally off to the races. Unfortunately, this was pretty much a one horse race.

As other reviewers state, this is a light aromatic. The bag note reminded me, vaguely, of maple (no licorice here, for me). So, surely, there is a topping here. On the snork though, I got a hint of cedar, the maple largely disappeared. The cigar leaf is faint both in taste and effect. Mostly I got just a plain tobacco taste, Virginias (I think. I didn't catch where the burley's were in this blend, or the Kentucky either, for that matter) and maybe some perique, as there was a pronounced pepperiness to my bowl (either that or some really sharp Virginia. There is no perique listed, but it really gave off that perique like "pepper" effect. Really, probably a result of some low grade Virginia). It smoked harsh and left quite a bit of residue in my pipe.

The overall effect of this blend reminded me a little bit of Stokkebye's Nougat. Amsterdamer shares that same "tinny" taste that Nougat gave me. I'm skeptical about the quality of the tobacco used in this blend, I doubt it's top grade. Unlike the other reviewers I got quite a Nic charge with this (it came at me in a sneaky fashion, low at first, higher as the bowl proceeded).

Altogether, Amsterdamer's not a displeasing smoke, but it's certainly not one I'll be coming back to (I also paid about the same as the other reviewer, around six euro).

Happy Piping!

Pipe Used: an all-purpose Kaywoodie

Purchased From: A pipe shop in Paris, France, 2013

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	L'Italiano (231)	2014-05-03		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I smoked one and a half kilos of this Dutch tobacco (this tobacco is produced in France, but the recipe is dutch). Really it is a tipical dutch taste. Lightly flavored, it is an all day long tobacco and it doesn’t cloy. The taste is almost neutral. You can smoke it straight but it is also good as a blending tobacco specifically to dilute the other mixtures (too strong or too expensive). In my personal rating (from 0 to 10) my score is 6 and two stars.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Schatz (6)	2019-11-05		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

After numerous years of pipe smoking, I finally decided to taste this classic among the classics, at least for French pipe smokers. It used to be the tobacco that my father smoked all day long, all year long. This pouch reminds me of his numerous pipes lingering in the Citroen 2CV we had back in the days, and smelling the delicious aroma with my nose in the pouch is among those souvenirs that will last a lifetime. This was in the 80's.

Now back to 2019, opening the pouch has been rather a deceiving experience. The topping is much lighter than I recall, it seems the tonka/vanilla/coumarin aroma is faint. The tobacco itself doesn't smell much of anything, annd I can not detect the topping that has heavily ghosted a pipe that papa offered me.

However, filling the pipe is a very simple operation, it can be smoked with no relight required, the tobacco burns very well and rather cool, the flavour is balanced, with no tongue burn. I can easily categorize this one as an all day long tobacco. While certainly not top grade, this smoke is pleasant and sweet.

In fact, too sweet for me... This is much lighter than semois tobaccos from Belgium, and this could be good for non-experienced smokers, but I find that something lacks, both in strengh and flavour. Which gives me the idea of blending this one : my guess is that a 50/50 mix between Amsterdamer and a Florina Vieux Semois could spice things up, while restoring the tonka flavor that the current production lacks. To be tried ! Or, thanks to its very good burning qualities and rather neutral smoke, mix this with which ever tobacco you find difficult to maintain lit, or with mixtures that are too strong.

Overall, a nice, cheap, decent and honest tobacco. It didn't send me back to my childhood, but I can recommend it to today smokers.

Age When Smoked: Fresh from a 2019 pouch

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2017-10-25		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Amsterdamer is no more, and no less, than the traditional French "Tabac brun" but with a slight, sweet, topnote added (maybe brown sugar or sugar cane). The tobaccos are identical to the Scaferlati family but what makes it different is the topping. Uncomplicated with a mild to medium taste it is ideal, I believe, for those seeking an all day smoke that doesn't require their full attention. It packs without extra rubbing out required. It lights and burns very well. It doesn't bite. It might become harsh and hot if you puff too hard; but will not at a normal pace. Mostly we are dealing with a simila taste to the Scaferlati rouge, but milder in its earthy flavour; the unique topping seems to be prevailing but it stll remains pleasant. There is no development of complex flavours. Still, I find it offers a different experience. It does tend to get a bit bitter towards the end but the proportion of burleys is high. Being produced by Mac Baren (not sure when they took over ownership and production but I would suppose beginning of 2016 like the Scaferlati series), it guarantees it will be of better quality than the previous versions. I heard a lot of very negative comments about Amsterdamer over the years. Frankly, I deem them undeserved: I have smoked several tobaccos that are worse. If you like the Scaferlati series and are curious about trying them with a topnote, Amsterdamer might be worth the try. Not a grand tobacco but as I never tasted anything quite like it I would enjoy occasionnally when I don't want to pay attention to what I'm smoking.

Similar Blends: The Scaferlati Series (Caporal vert, rouge and bleu; Saint - Claude; Caporal export; Scaferlati le supérieur)..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Doctor Max (29)	2016-11-19		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

Gentlemen, don't waste your time; this is cigarette tobacco.

Apart from a pleasant, fig/dates burley pouch aroma, it is utterly uninteresting. Burns hot, incredibly fast, tastes ashy and bland. Very thin ribbon/shag cut (like cigarette tobacco). Room note is unsurprisingly like cigarettes, albeit a tad more pleasant. Works well for roll-ups though (or pehaps if you prefer to inhale the smoke) but that's not the point here.

Pipe Used: Corn cob

Purchased From: Local tobacconist in France

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nutty Slack (7)	2016-06-14		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I too bought this when in France where it's very cheap, certainly compared to pipe tobacco prices in the UK. On that basis I decided to chance my arm.

The tobacco is very dry and cut in thin, long strands. The taste is quite cigarette-like and not totally unpleasant. Despite being dry and it burning quite quickly there wasn't any tongue bite. But for the price I would give it one star, however some pipers might find it an acceptable low-cost, day-to-day smoke or to blend with tobaccos that they find too strong so it gets two.

I keep a large jar that I call my "compost heap" into which go tobaccos that I've tried and don't like so don't want to smoke the whole pack. Miraculously the result of this random blending and a bit of maturing often turns out pretty well. I think that fate awaits the Amsterdamer!

Pipe Used: Mr Brog

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: France

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cajun (11)	2015-09-29		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Strong

Another "find" on a Spanish holiday. I used to regularly smoke this tobacco whilst on holiday in France and quite enjoyed it way back in the 70s and 80s. It is the second most popular pipe tobacco in France. I persevered with it in a new Spanish bought pipe, which was of decidedly inferior quality. I never finished the pouch as it appeared to be a bad match for the pipe (no pun intended). The pouch and remaining tobacco was deposited in a communal waste bin at the holiday resort, as I found it smoked far too hot these days for my taste.

Pipe Used: Spanish pipe which bore name "Dorex"

Age When Smoked: straight from pouch/packet

Purchased From: Santa Susanna Tabac shop

Similar Blends: Various French Caporal tobaccos.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Raines (52)	2012-10-21		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Strong

This tobacco is probably a best seller in France. Actually it's the most known. It's sweet and rather tasty. It's a good tobacco for beginners because of its low nicotine strength and its taste that isn't disgusting.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Steden (100)	2010-12-30		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I saw a pouch of this on the shelf of a tobacconist it was half buried in the midst of other pouches, I haven't seen it before (or, to say better, probably I always ignored it) and in effect this pouch was a sort of archaeological find cause it was produced by the French Seita no longer existent, so before opening the pouch I did a brief research cause honestly I was totally ignorant about it, what I found is that Amsterdamer is an historical tobacco on the classic Dutch genre (obviously due its name!) : shag cut, many tobaccos employed no one leading the theme but fused with other and completed with the traditional Dutch flavoring: tonka – coumarin-vanilla-mint. Well opening the pouch I found a dark brown tobacco with just a ghost of flavoring (yes, was vanished), the feeble tobacco smell was mostly reminding of “tropical” varieties such Java, Sumatra etc… so often present in Dutch tobaccos, sadly (how predictable) it was so dry to being powdery under my fingers, I smoked a couple of bowls just as it was then I tried to moistening the rest with almost decent results but the taste was in any case dull, a pity cause the trace of flavour still detectable tells me that it has been a pleasant tobacco, I don't know if it is still produced and I'm sad having not tried it years ago. I am very curious to know the thoughts of others about Amsterdamer.

Sorry, I'm not able to give a sincere rating based on a such poor test, just a Solomonic two stars.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2022-01-21		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I admit I am not an expert pipe-smoker. Rather the opposite. I tried this Virginia based tobacco as it brings me back to my earliest smoking attempts (full of mistakes) in my twenties. Overall it is not an easy smoke (it burns quick and the risk of tongue bite is high for a newby like me). The taste is mild, liquorice notes are clearly present. It needs to be smoked very slowly. Overall not exactly my favorite, but in any case the Amsterdamer is a classic to try once in a while. Could be interesting with a pinch of added Burley (in fact I think there is a variety ike that available).

Pipe Used: billiard

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Les Volutes d'Arbrecreux (2)	2019-09-16		Strong	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

That was my first pipe tobacco, because it is the easiest to find in France, and I'm glad I rapidly found better quality products. The taste is awful, and the tobacco itself isn't worth the try.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-04-18		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

My experience with this tobacco reaches 80-s, when Amsterdamer was available lightly pressed in vacuum packed pouches, and was made in Switzerland, not in France. I remember this tobacco well, as relatively light, golden shag of a very pleasant, subtle sweet "grassy" flavoring. As I suspect, it was mostly kumarine. Just recently I had extremely different affair with this stuff. After a long gap, last week in Paris I've bought one pouch of Amsterdamer, which surprised me as dark, harsh, of cheap impression tobacco, something like really bad cigerette. Previous aroma was not detected at all, another one was barely present, but in any case it was nothing pleasant. Generally, it is different and significally worse tobacco than 20 years ago, made by different company, of different tobaccos and with different (if any) flavoring. It is bad thing, which shouldn't be considered as pipe tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Megalo Al (38)	2020-11-19		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Lo fumavo da ragazzino...ora non credo si trovi più, almeno in Italia. È legato ad un sacco di ricordi. Un tabacco abbastanza povero, franco però in fumata. Ricordo lingue ustionate, ma molto probabilmente ero io che tiravo come Ava Devine. Per quanto mi riguarda mitico!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	richard f. (6)	2018-09-17		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I rather like this tobacco. No tongue burn. Easily lite and smokes down and leaves no residue. Nice nicotine hit. It reminds me of the samois valley tobaccos and is much easier to find. I find the price to value excellent. I only smoke outside and there is no way to indicate that under the room note heading.

I would recommend this as a more then decent inexspensive pouch to smoke. A bit to strong for me for a morning smoke.

I surely recoment the smoke.

I believe that the picture on the pouch is meant to be a Dutchman in 19th century clothes.

Pipe Used: ludwig lorenz double filter

Age When Smoked: new from pouch

Purchased From: cigar world in dusseldorf

Similar Blends: Samois valley tobaccos.

1 person found this review helpful.