It appeared to be made of very high-quality tobaccos- and the pouch note/room note was exquisite. It packed well and lit/stayed lit easily; and produced a nice volume of smoke. I smoked the entire 2 ox. bag...only because I was addicted to the aroma! Absolutely no nicotine to be found in it. :(

Like I said, I don't like aros- I like the heavier English blends, and full-flavored "strong" tobaccies- but IF you like mild aros...you'd probably LOVE this stuff (Or at least this incarnation of Bargain Blend- but of course, the actual blend changes from time to time, so you never know what you may get- but since the majority of Sterling's tobaccies seem to be mild aros, I'd imagine that they will often be the principle ingredients of the Bargain Blend).[EDIT: I've noticed from trying several 1776/Sterling blends, that they seem to use the same base tobacco for many of their blends- so chances of getting some consistency with this bargain mixture should be quite good- Yeah, toppings and subtleties might change from batch to batch, but I'd bet that you'd basically get the same general base in each load]

If I liked aros, I would have LOVED this. The fact that I actually smoked the whole bag says a LOT! I would recommend it to aro smokers- and feel that it is unfair to penalize this tobacco just because I don't care for aros. Me? I'll stick with SG&C's Black Irish X.

Soli Deo gloria.

Recommended only for the most adventurous (or perhaps foolhardy) pipesmokers. This is most wisely smoked in a cob, or clay.

Yes it was free. No I would not buy it. But it is much better quality than any of the Sack o' Tobacco stuff hanging forlornly in many drugstores in the U.S.

I double dog dare ya!

Pipe Nazis.

I put overwhelming across the board...just because...

My sample was rather dark, & had a very sweet smell. It had lighter flakes that looked exactly like his sweet briar, and a small bit of latakia. It was easy to smoke, no need for relights. While I was smoking one of the females I work with walked by and commented that it almost smelled floral, like rose petals or something similar. I got a little of the room note, and from what I could tell, it was quite nice.

Overall, a clean burning, nice tasting, good smelling tobacco, that was free. Thats worth 4 stars to me.

If you're dead broke and don't really care what you smoke then it's cheap enough.

My frustration stemmed from trying to find out what other people thought of it. To me - part of the 'fun' is the surprise of getting a tobacco and giving it a spin and either loving or hating it. Whether you like it or not is entirely up to your palate and taste.

Being said - I found my sample of Bargain Blend to completely enjoyable. The pouch aroma smelled like Swiss Chocolate and the taste - was a mild, not overly complex tobacco. It had no bite and left no pipe funk in the bowl or in the mouth. The notes although rather monochromatic were of a cocoa, vanilla and blackberry and I assume the room note was the same.

If you are on a budget - don't mind an ever changing blend - want a lot of tobacco that is quality without busting your wallet - then this is the blend for you. For what it is - I give it 4 stars.

Bargain blend is made up of leftovers at the end of the day (as is done in *countless* B&Ms across the country). As such, it is ever changing - not only from bag to bag, but from bowl to bowl!

Because of this, Bargain Blend is completely unratable, and should be removed from the site (I've rated it medium across the board simply because I am required to rate in order to post, and I wanted to take a midline in the interest of fairness. It is not, and cannot, be a representation of what you will experience with this blend.).

Basically if the economy has got you down and you are willing to take a chance then go for it. It's really hard to review something that can change each time you get it.