A mild and tasty smoke that won't become elusive or lost outdoors. I pack it into one of my large "General" style Missouri corn cobs and I also reserved it for an old briar pipe I rehabilitated after years of inactivity. The result is just a very pleasant and pleasing smoke that goes the distance when you want a sweet burley and steady aromatic companion.

I started smoking a pipe as a member of a pipe smoking family. But, the men of my family were Mad Scientists of Tobacco, mostly smoking OTC blends they mixed together or played with.

Uncle Bill smoked Cap. Black White and sliced apples into his humidor. Uncle Charlie mixed SWR, Middleton Apple, and something else into a blend. Uncle Frank smoked Captain Black Blue and White mixed and bought some brand of Cigar that he ground up and put in there too! Uncle Ernie smoked Half and Half that had a peeled orange and put in the humidor that he would shake around every few hours on his desk. Uncle Bill smoked, as far as I can tell, a mishmash of whatever he happened to buy in a pouch and then dropped into a large humidor. He never bough more than 2 ounces of anything, and never took tobacco with him anywhere, he just bought a bag (I mean almost daily) and smoked some and put the remainder in a large jar. When at home he just dipped into that jar and packed his pipe. Dad smoked SWR when "doing things" but his sitting down to enjoy smoke came from where he and the tobacconist created, over a 10 year period, "Bob's Blend" that the store still sells, a mix full of perique and latakia with something aromatic because the smell is mild for something that should smell like a burning cat (it tastes pretty good, but is STRONG! Neither the tobacconist nor Dad will tell anyone what is in it!)

Well,when I started, I started at the tobacco store and I went through a lot. I finally found I loved Frog Morton On the Town as a regular smoke, but was always buying a little of this and a little of that.

About two months ago I was on vacation and had left my tobacco at home (I brought my pipe bag, but left the tobacco bag on the table). We were far from civilization in the mountains and I happened into a gas station/grocery store/post office. The man behind the counter was smoking a Cob in defiance of a state law against smoking in a business (Hooray!), so I asked him if they had Pipe Tobacco. He had large tubs of Prince Albert, Carter Hall, Middleton Cherry, Walnut, and Sugar Barrel. All of these were the tubs, so whatever I got I was gonna be smoking a while. As I thought he offered me his pouch (without telling me the brand) and I loaded my pipe with it and lit... One word...HEAVEN!

Maybe it was withdrawl (I had been 48 hours without), but I liked it. I liked it so much I bought the tub.

Over the course of my week vacation I kept a bowl of this lit almost every waking moment. I couldn't get enough. And it PASSED the wife test. She kept saying it was so pleasing to smell.

After the trip I ran out. I did not find it in the stores, so I ordered several tubs worth.

I am slowly becoming a one tobacco smoker.

And it is an OTC.

I am addicted to John Middleton's Sugar Barrel.

Whew! It feels good to get that off my chest! The room note is pleasing and it smells wonderful in the barrel (Buy the 12 oz. plastic barrel, not the smaller bags). What my wife notes is that it smells "Like you think a pipe should." I've been lighting this up in public and getting compliments on the aroma. The Barrel says "Mildly Aromatic" but it seems to be a "Pleasant Aromatic" for those around!

The taste is mild and I get no bite, even though I am a hard puffer. I've been smoking this in a Meerschaum it they seem to be coloring better than before! But it smokes great in a briar as well. Long ago when I was experimenting I was a heavy aromatic smoker and, because I am such a heavy puffer, I assembled a 7 day set of Savinelli Dry System with the Balsa. This tobacco is not wet or gloppy, but the balsa insert really makes it smoke sweeter. I also smoked it in a Cob (The Filtered "General") and found that the cob adds some sweetness to it as well. Not every puff, but I often find a pleasing note of brown sugar.

The thing I like most about these OTC's ESPECIALLY this one...I never relight. I gravity fill, tamp it down, light and puff. I smoke 3-4 bowls per day and if I have one relight during these bowls it is a shocker! I don't know why, but these OTCs stay lit and this one best of all. The only hard part? This smokes clean and tasty all the way down, so you sometimes are shocked to find yourself at the bottom of a bowl.

When finished I walk over to the toilet (The wife insists I flush old tobacco), turn my pipe upside down, and out falls all the ash. No dottle, no scraping, just an empty Meer ready for the next smoke!

One piece of advice...open your tin and let it breath a little. This tobacco tastes better and better as it gets some air.

I am going to try to convert three cigarette smoking friends to pipes and I am presenting each one with a Meerschaum Pipe (I bought two boxes of lovely CAO and SMS Meers when the Tobacco Shop in town went out of business 4 years ago...Luckily my Dad and his blend are in another city!), a Zippo Pipe Lighter, and a 12oz of Sugar Barrel!

UPDATE: After more time with this blend I am moving it up to 4 Stars. I know that some might think that too much for an OTC, but dang it...I love it!

This is a sweet tobacco, to be sure, but not sugary sweet. Definitely more buttery, as the previous poster noted. It absolutely didn't taste as it smelled in the pouch. This is a good old fashioned OTC burley with a bit of casing to sweeten it, rather than a goopy aromatic. It tastes like tobacco rather than an artificial flavor, and it's mild and tasty enough to be smoked all day without tongue problems. This would be a good start into OTC burleys for anyone, particularly those who smoke sweetened black cavendish and other aromatic mixtures.

Sugar Barrel is going into my rotation. 2 more tubs on the way!

Burns perfect right out of the tub. Only needs a single tamp and relight mid-bowl. No bite. Does NOT taste like vanilla (as someone suggested).

Definate candidate for an all dayer. I gave this one "highly recommended" because it is one of the nicest in its class - and a great value at that! If you like PA but found it needed a little something then try this tobacco.

Edit: Found an old add that states Sugar Barrel was created accidentally when well aged bourbon burleys were stored in old sugar barrels containing damp sugar. There you go.

4/5/08 update

This has simply gotten better since I have opened it. The sweetening agent seems to have subsided a bit . The burleys have really opened up displaying a creamy butter taste and mouth feel. I have not smoked a burley blend that I like better.I will always keep some on hand. I am upgrading my rating from 3*** to 4****

Tommyboy

Tin opening: cube cut burley. A little drier than I would prefer. To me, it doesn't smell like an oatmeal cookie, but mike many of the burley blends. Of course, it does smell quite a bit smoother than other blends like Velvet, Half & Half, etc.

Packing: I used the three-fingered clumpp with air space, as described in Pipes. I packed it into my Quiet Comrade pipe.

Smoking: Lighted easy, not as sweet as I thought it would be, but yet smooth and slightly sweet. Tamp and rest at mid-bowl, and relight once to the end of the bowl.

Finish: Smooth all the way to the end, without the ashy taste following tamp/rest/relight experienced with some burley blends.

Summary: I bought this online, and while I do indeed like it, the blend isn't as flavorful as I like. I did mix it with some black cav mixture, and it complemented it well. I'll keep this tub on hand, and will even buy more! I can't wait till my tobacco is ready to harvest this year, so I can mix some of this stuff with it!

Upon opening the tin I see an all brown, cube cut (not ribbon) mix of what looks to me like all burley. I can't tell what the topping is..It does indeed smell like an Oatmeal cookie..yet I can also detect some kind of liquor topping as well. Smells pretty good to me.

Packing: Old school gravity fill works just fine here.

Smoking: Light, quick tamp/relight and your good to go. This can easily be smoked all the way down w/out relighting. I can't figure out what the taste is. I don't taste vanilla or any of the other usual tastes..well..maybe rum? It is indeed sweet, but not overpoweringly so to me. Just a nice sweet taste with a background of what seems to be decent quality tobacco. Whatever the casing is seems to stick around the whole smoke which is nice.. Don't overheat it, as it will get bitter/nasty tasting. Watch your puffing cadence or she'll bite ya. Wife says room note is pretty good..

Finish: Don't bother going all the way to the bottom..gets the burley bitters. As soon as I get the ashy taste I dump it.

At the end of the day this one is a decent, sweet & nutty burley. Some may be offended by the sweetness but it works for me. A reasonable price helps here as well. This one is a keeper for me and I see myself always having a bucket of Sugar Barrel laying around for those times when my sweet tooth calls out. I much prefer this blend over the jar crap I find at the local B&M. If I had one complaint it would be the burn rate is fast..but that seems par for the course with these old drugstore blends..

3 outta 4..give it a shot..perfect for the times you want something sweet

It is very inexpensive,and if you like sweet aromatics, it might be worth your while. I probably won't buy any more, as I find it a bit too sweet. It is particularly tasty with a cup of black coffee.