John Middleton, Inc - Cherry Blend pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
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Auroraboy	01/23/2009	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I wanted to like this much more than I actually do. Loving Prince Albert and Carter Hall as I do, I was hoping that this companion brand of theirs was as good. The packaging is great, the 1.5 oz. pouch as attractive and convenient as the others. The cut and appearance is where it begins to veer off. It seems to have more of a cube cut, like tiny flakes -- almost like red pepper flakes, which unfortunately brings me to the taste. I like the smell, kind of clove-y, though nothing that brings "cherry" to mind. But hoo boy, light it up, and it burns your tongue like an overdose of the aforementioned pepper. I've come back to this one several times, adjusting my puffing speed, experimenting with cobs, bowl size, etc., but the bite is still there. I see no reason for this, other than whatever topping they're putting on. Seems like this could be cherry-flavored Carter Hall, which might be nice. But rest assured it's not. It's a shame, because I do want to like it. Update: Since my last pouch of this, it's stuck in the back of my mind because I enjoy P.A. and Carter Hall so much. I grabbed another pouch several days ago, and either I'm smoking my pipe more skillfully, or my body chemistry has changed, because the aforementioned bite was barely evident, the flavor came through much more nicely, and all the pleasant aspects of the packaging and the cut/look of the leaf are still the same. I'll be keeping this on hand more often, and continuing to hope for the best. The better Middleton brands are some of the pipers' best friends in this tough economy!
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Seth	01/07/2009	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
The first couple times I sampled this tobacco, I was distraught to the extent i almost tossed the pouch in the trash. However, I dismissed my disgust for the blend as the result of being new to pipe smoking. I forgot about the blend and sampled other blends until i felt i could really evaluate a good smoke. Still, after all of this time, I truly dislike this blend. At the moment of this writing, I was reclining in my smoking chair in the garage, puffing away, evaluating this blend in order to record all of my reactions and thoughts quickly and accurately. What I noted: Tongue bite- first thing, I got a horrible tongue bite. Even while smoked slowly, the tobacco bites at your tongue the whole smoke. Cherry flavoring- to be blunt about it, there was none. The blend lacked flavor all together and was rather bland. Aroma- The scent was not a cherry scent either. However, this was the best part of smoking this blend, besides for the part where I put my pipe up for the night... Dry- this blend was incredibly dry. perhaps it was just the pouched variety, but the tobacco was terribly dry and didn't give an enjoyable smoke at all. Hard to keep lit- For as dry as the tobacco was, it was incredibly hard to keep lit. I had to light up about 5 times in the first half of the bowl. On most full bowls i only re-light about 2-3 times. Over-all judgement: Personally i thought that the tobacco was way overpriced. Especially with the poor quality. I have smoked many cheaper drugstore tobaccos that yielded a far superior smoke. I wouldn't reccomend this blend. I didn't doctor it up as some of you have. I realize that this may have improved the smoke considerably, however, my review was based on how the blend was as the blenders sold it. Thank you for taking the time to read this review and hopefully you may take something useful out of it to increase your smoking pleasure. Seth,
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tonalsmoker	10/14/2008	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant
I remember trying this blend for the first time when I first started smoking a pipe I bought Middleton's simply for the cherry flavor that we all love the smell of and imagine being just as tasty through the pipe. I huffed and puffed on the bowl craving that cherry flavor and scalded my mouth from my lack of patience and no smoking technique.I remember saying to myself 'no wonder this sucks I got it from a drugstore,not a tobacco shop'.And that was my perspective on drugstore blends except PA and Granger.Fast forwarding throughout the years I have tried numerous tinned imports few very enjoyable and certainly not worth the money or reviewing.Years later I returned back to Drugstore burleys which to me satisify me more than my previous smoking experiences over many years.Then it hit me,I was in a convenience store one night and saw Cherry Blend behind the counter curious as to what my tastebuds would experience after all my smoking experiences I purchased some.My experience was very pleasant,it lit very nicely and contained a tasty tobacco mixture when savored slowly and the cordial cherry taste was enjoyable.Middleton's Cherry Blend has earned a place permanantly on my shelf and still enjoy this old-fasioned smoke today.
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SirShaggy	07/20/2008	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I am not a huge fan of aromatics but this is a mild one. I bought a pouch, it was ok. Nothing to be excited about. Taste was fine, room note didn't seem to be bothersome to anyone and I got no bite. A friend purchased a can/tub of this stuff and it was amazingly different. Much better taste, a little flavoring and great room note. I smoked a few bowls of his before buying a tub for myself. I like this when in public places (now and again). It can go out now and again and it WILL bite your tongue if smoked too fast! Sometimes I get bit when I'm not smoking fast. I find that Cavendish tobaccos bite me more than others. It seems that the longer you let this stuff sit the better. I smoke this mainly in an older Ropp pipe and a no name poker. The shape is great for this tobacco. The casing is very mild and I don't feel like I am smoking cough syrup like many others. I think I'll always keep a little bit of this on hand, the tub should last me a very long time.
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churchwarden398	09/26/2007	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Like several on this site, I joined in the hunt for a good cherry blend. This definitely not it. My local tobacconist, at the time, had a very nice cherry blend. However my cash flow was not condusive relying on that source everytime. I bought this in hopes of finding a less expensive but good cherry blend. This did not turn out to be the case. True, it was not as goopy as the Borkum Riff variety. To me, it was like smoking a light cherry scented soap, if that is possibleor even imaginable. In my hiatus from pipe smoking I found a decent cherry favored chewing tobacco. I am satisfied to have my quest for the perfect cherry blend to have ended there. I have resumed my love of the briar by treating them to Balkans or Scottish Mixtures. I will give this two stars.
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Top	07/16/2007	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Strong
Smells like soap. Tastes like soap. Smells like Dow Chemical's version of cherry. Turned me off aromatics for years and I still won't smoke a cherry blend. Wouldn't use if for fertilizer.
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Nick O'Teen	06/24/2007	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Not the worst of the drugstore cherries but that's no excuse to smoke this fodder. On a positive note : it's better than Rattray's Terry Red (which runs a distant second to smoking old gym socks). * 1/2
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WeeWillie	05/23/2007	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant
If I was to sum this blend up in one word it would be "OUCH!". I used to get a nice cherry blend from a local bookstore when I lived in Wisconsin and was hoping to find a replacement in this blend - unfortunately I didn't. I tried smoking this out of a Nording Freehand, a churchwarden, a Grabow, a Savinelli, a Dunhill, and a Peterson and got the same result from all - extreme tongue bite. I generally smoke 7-8 bowls of tobacco a day and consider myself to have a pretty tough tongue, but this blend felt like it reduced my tongue and gums to a pile of ashes. It took about 2 days to recover from each of my experiences with the blend and get the charcoal taste from my mouth. Drying the blend didn't seem to make any difference either - dry or wet it still bit. The room note and aroma are pleasant but that is where my good experiences ended. I have only thrown out 2 tobaccos in my life and this was one of them.
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rlaw	01/13/2007	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Another ok tobacco. I could not pick up on any cherry but it may have just been the package I happened to pick up. It burned hot and had some bite but not too bad. Nothing great, nothing real bad.
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DoctorThoss	11/11/2006	Mild	Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
This stuff really isn't bad, it's just not very good. I had expected more tongue bite and a cloying sweet taste, and was pleasantly surprised to encounter neither. On the other hand, I found nothing remarkable here. It's worth trying if you're on a budget or like aromatics, but I don't plan on buying more.
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Wriggles	10/20/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Years ago, I never liked this stuff, but the aroma and room note was positively delicious. After reading mostly positive reviews on this site, I bought a package at the super market a few months ago. I loaded a corncob, expecting to dump it out after a few puffs, and lament the waste of $ 2.50. I was shocked to actually enjoy this tobacco. The taste was flavorful, almost not cherry, but a hint, along with a great tobacco flavor. I finished the first package, and soon bought 3 more packages. The last package had to be rehydrated, but still smoked with excellent flavor. Because it can be purchased everywhere, I will smoke Cherry Blend regularly. I think my prior dislike stemmed from my exclusive use of briar pipes at that time. Corncob pipes bring out the best in this tobacco. In a briar, Cherry Blend is much harsher. Update: I bought a canister recently at the supermarket for 13.99. This stuff is even better in the can. Great burley flavor, with a hint of cherry. Smokes great in a Nording Freehand or Kaywoodie, in addition to a cob. Really amazing tobacco for the price. Very highly recommended.
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South Mantis06	09/17/2006	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
For an OTC blend- not bad. I was skeptical. I smoked Cherry Blend many moons ago and didn't care for it. I would have given it a one star back then. For whatever reason, I was impressed with it considering the cost. It's really not too bad a smoke. It ain't an IRC or Mac Baren caliber, but for the price- hey, I like a Bud now and then too. Doesn't have to be a Heine's all the time. Not bad at all.
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Darth 69	04/07/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
If it didn't say cherry blend on the can, one would fine it difficult in trying to pinpoint what the actually flavoring might be. This is not your typical cherry tobacco. Comprising dry brown rough cut burley with a varying degree of cake and some lighter virginia flakes in the American sense. The aroma from the tin is actually complex with underlying notes of deep sweetness like honey or maple syrup with a mild to medium dark cherry character, not at all bright and tangy like a usual cherry cavendish. The smoke is dry with a rounded and slightly darker sweetness and similiar but stronger aroma. This can seem to burn a little hot, so slow methodical puffing as should be the norm. I feel this really is among the better burley based tobaccos from any manufacturer. the reason is Middleton has cased this burley tobacco just right, just thoroughly enough with sufficient and appreciable sweetness for a round smoke. The contrary is so often my complaint in regards to premium burley products that are bland and smoke like dry paper, so listen up you Danes and Germans! I'm having a good time with the Middletons lately and I think I'll stick with them and Chery Blend as my burley based blend of Choice.
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caddad	03/25/2006	Strong	Strong	Overwhelming	Pleasant
Had high hopes on this one. Even went looking for it after reading a review in a magazine. Very disappointing. Burned my mouth and nose no matter how careful I was with it. Actually had to toss the rest as I just could not finish it! May just be my metabolism however I will not buy this again.
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Philo Beddoe	03/12/2006	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Decent cherry aromatic, a little on the bland side but otherwise o.k. This does not offend the pallette as Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish can do, it was not as goopy either. I must warn you to smoke slowly though, it gave me nasty tongue bite and I smoked very slowly. I won't buy this again.
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akaiser77	02/20/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable
One of the nice things about being a pipe smoker is that you can change your mind. The original review I wrote here for Middleton's Cherry Blend was unnecessarily harsh. Trying this blend again, I have revised my earlier assessment. This is a quality burley blend and comes in attractive packaging, just like Middleton's other big sellers, Prince Albert and Carter Hall. However, unlike its brother blends, Cherry Blend is a light (very light) aromatic, with a pouch aroma that is simply delicious. It's understated and slightly fruity, with a nutmeg overtone. Most appetizing. When lit, Cherry Blend offers no-bite smoking pleasure with a mildly sweet room note. "Cherry" is not how I would describe it, but it is pleasant. It also has the virtues of being cheap and readily available. All in all, pretty good stuff. I think the first reviewer of this blend has either never actually smoked Cherry Blend or has it mixed up with something else (Paladin's Black Cherry, maybe)? There is no "explosion" of flavor here, nor anything akin to "chugging cough syrup." That review is very misleading. What we have here is good burley, making for a good smoke. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Loboatomy	02/06/2006	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Again, I have a predisposition for this type of tobacco, and as these things go, Cherry Blend is one that I find myself smoking more and more. No nonsense burley with a hint of cherry casing. Like all burleys, it must be smoked slow with ample "nose time" to really appreciate the flavor. I smoke this almost exclusively in a cob. The cherry casing is far less pronounced in this than some other brands, and doesn't overpower the smoke at all. Room note is alright according to the lass... This is an easy tobacco...easy to pack, easy to light, easy to smoke, and at somewhere around $2/ pouch or $13/tub, easy to buy. As I recommend with all of these american burley types: Go slow...sip the smoke and let it waft up your nose and let it dance on your palate. Smoke it out of a bowl that is long and narrow and pack it fairly tight. Don't hesitate to knock out the last 1/4 of unburnt tobacco when it begins to taste hot and ashy...think of this as a worthy sacrifice to the gods of pipedom. Recommended
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Black Seamus	10/23/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
There's not much to say about Middleton's Cherry Blend that hasn't been said already. I enjoy Middelton's Walnut and Prince Albert, so I thought I'd give this one a go. I'm glad I did. I would describe it as an aromatic blend for those who dislike aromatic blends. Lightly sweet and nutty with a nice room note. It goes great with coffee, and, like most Burley blends, it's wonderful in a cob with a cup of coffee on the side. Recommended for the Burley lover.
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squonk12	10/04/2005	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
This is what I am currently smoking, and find it to be enjoyable. Little bit of a bite, so go slow. Does smell like a type of wild cherry, has a bit of a wild cherry taste with a hint of maple. The two packs I bought were not as fresh as I have had in the past, so it burns a little dry and quick in the bowl. I do consider this an aromatic, with a pleasant room smell, although not as overpowering and syrupy sweet as some cherry cavendishes such as Super Value. Would, and will smoke it again and would recommend this brand.
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pipeinlefthand	08/02/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I must say, I thoroughly enjoy this mild OTC tobacco. I had to try it, as it was my dearly departed grandfather's favourite. I remember fondly it's wonderful aroma, both in the pouch and when smoked. Therefore, I had some trepedation in smoking it myself, for fear it would turn out to be some wretched choke of a nyquil soaked oak-leaf. Thankfully, I was wrong. I should have had more faith in Grandpa Lou! This is a mild burley with the lightest of casings. I believe many people's perceptions of such tobaccos are based on what they are prone and accustomed to smoking in the first place. Smokers of heavy aromatics tend to wonder "where's the flavour?" while those who smoke no aromatics at all find the casing jumps out at them. I find this to be neither of those extremes. Decent burley with it's "bread baking" sort of flavour, and a sweet fruity undertaste which never overpowers. I find no bite at all, but this is to be smoked slowly, it is mild, and trying to puff more flavour out of it would probably scorch you poor tongue. It is my first smoke every morning, in a Dr. Grabow full bent Hillcrest with a paper filter, and as was mentioned in previous reviews, is great with coffee. It smells great to me in the pouch, and this could be purely nostagia on my part. My love of the room note could be nostalgia, too, but so far everyone around me seems to like it as well. It is, of course, not a complex tobacco, and it's not a cherry-jolt, but considering it's low price, availability, decent packing and burning qualities, I feel one could never go wrong. It's probably as good a beginner tobacco as any. Lastly, it comes in a cool package which bears the same symbol as when grandpa smoked it. When removed from the cardboard box it's contained in an old-timey foil pouch labelled "Middleton Cherry Blend" and nothing else! No warnings, disclaimers or pictures of rotten gums and lungs! How civilized!
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