A tobacco review: Super Value Amaretto

Shortly after writing a review on Velvet, I settled down to smoke my pipe, letting out a sigh as I reached for the little red pouch and thought to myself, "well, I guess I'm stuck with this crap for awhile". I packed the bowl and proceeded to light up.....and I just couldn't do it. This stuff was revolting. I hate to waste money but I had to throw this stuff away. I would have given it to a fellow pipe smoker, but I couldn't think of anyone I hated that bad.

I went down to the tobacco shop and grabbed a pouch of Super Value black cavandish, but decided to be different. A friend of mine smokes this brand but smokes the vanilla flavored. I'm not a tobacco expert but I believe this is a blend of cavandish and virginias; I could be wrong. Anyway, the vanilla stuff smells awesome so I reached for it instead, but saw a pouch of amaretto flavored, so I grabbed it; to be different.

Amaretto is a type of Italian liqueur made from a bitter type of almond called a "drupe" kernel. The bitterness of the drupe is complemented by sweeteners of some kind, I think usually with sweeter almonds. A tobacco that is amaretto flavored has the liqueur itself added or at least something flavored like it.

I'm not a huge fan of "nutty" flavored things but it smelled great still in the package. I have become rather fond of this particular brand, though. The tobacco has a great flavor and smell, burns evenly and cool, and has no bite. Also, its cheap: $3.99 per 1-1/2 oz pouch (after AR taxes). I can actually get expertly blended tobaccos from the tobacconist I usually go to for not much more and it is exquisite (especially their Carmel blend), but it is also more than twice the distance.

The flavor is very nutty/woody and you get a really good sweet "tobacco" flavor in there as well. It has a very pleasant room note that really does smell "almondy". The only problem is that if you set the pipe down for awhile and come back to relight it, the flavor is kind of stale, which is not really a problem with the tobacco. Most tobaccos do this, but there are some exceptions.

Overall this is a wonderful tobacco for the money and I think I'll always keep a pouch handy. I highly recommend it.

Happy smoking.