Among the magnificent examples of Dutch tobacco thought are tobaccos from the company Van Nelle, among which a special place of honor is occupied by Amphora cigarettes – perhaps one of the most popular and common brands of tobacco mixtures.
The Dutch tobacco company Van Nelle Tobacco Company was founded in 1860; its main business areas were the production of coffee, tea and tobacco. Magnificent Amphora cigarettes almost immediately became the hallmark of this company and gained extraordinary popularity among smokers. The line of Amphora cigarettes was constantly replenished with new flavor versions developed by Dutch tobacco “chefs”, recognized masters of their craft. If initially “Amphora” was represented only by the so-called “Dutch Cavendish”, then later other original flavor varieties were added to this family. However, despite this, Amphora cigarettes are primarily one of the classic and most beloved samples of Cavendish, that is, flavored tobacco mixtures made from tobaccos of Kentucky and Burleigh with the addition of Virginia. And, of course, appropriately flavored “according to the recipe of Captain Cavendish”, to whom legend attributes the invention of this famous method of preparing a tobacco mixture.
Let’s return to the history of the company. In 1978, the main competitor of Van Nelle, the company Douwe Egberts, which produces, in addition to coffee and tea, the famous tobaccos Drum, was bought by the American consumer products company Sara Lee (at that time called Consolidated Foods Corporation), and in 1989 Van Nelle and Douwe Egberts merged, and the resulting company became known as Douwe Egberts Van Nelle. It was this company, within the framework of the Sara Lee holding, that began to produce and promote Drum, Van Nelle, Amphora cigarettes and a number of other popular brands. In 1998, Sara Lee, who was keen on diversification, sold its tobacco business to Imperial Tobacco Group, which by that time was already one of the leading players in the global tobacco market. It is from this moment that it is worth keeping a record of the latest history of the cult Amphora cigarettes.