John Middleton, Inc Carter Hall

This is my favorite burley so far. It's good all the time, but best when smoked lightly to bring out the sweetness and nuttiness. And at this point it's almost cheaper by volume than gasoline. What's not to love?

UPDATE: I've actually come to prefer the fuller nuttiness of Prince Albert to the sweeter taste of Cater Hall. The taste isn't strong enough for me anymore. It's kind of strange, these two classic American tobaccos reversed places in my list of preferred tobacco. It's a good smoke, and I don't mind it; but from here on out I'll be buying the Prince instead. Minus one star.

Carter Hall is a great blend for burley lovers. It produces a smooth, creamy smoke. The flavor is pretty consistent throughout the bowl, and is slightly (but naturally) sweet with a little nuttiness. Carter Hall is very tolerant of aggressive smoking. While one only gets the full, burley-goodness by smoking cool, smoking hot rarely- if ever- bites the tongue. This is an easy blend to smoke to the bottom, and is GREAT in a cob.

If I were adjusting based on price, CH would get 4 stars. Since I believe in judging all blends on the same scale, it gets a well earned three stars, not accounting for its value.

I smoke about 4 or 5 bowls of Carter Hall per week because it is the most reliable tobacco I can find at any price. Some other blends, even well respected ones, require careful packing and lighting in well broken-in pipes to give reasonable pleasure, but not Carter Hall. I dip a smallish basket pipe in the jar, fill to overflowing, and gently pack down to fill 7/8 of the bowl. Then I scoop again to over fill the pipe and pack down to 1/16" below the rim. One light is enough, but I always use two partly because the freshly lit aroma is so nice. Between the first and second light I like to set the pipe down and enjoy the room note for a minute or two.

A lot of people have noted that CH has a light fruity topping, but some of the guesses were perplexing to me (chocolate, orange liqueur . . . what on earth are you talking about?). I think that the pouch aroma is similar to a dried fruit like figs, dates, or raisins. Sometimes the pouch aroma shows up in the flavor long into the smoke, especially after exhaling through the nose. I only get this effect when smoking CH slow and cool, which is sometimes hard to do because it burns so well. When it is smoking cool, my pipe goes out after about 30 minutes, then every 10 minutes until the bottom of the bowl.

The flavor is mostly sweet and burleyish as long as the bowl doesn't get too hot. Not complex but very pleasant. CH is easy to keep burning and handles nicely as long as it isn't packed too tight. When it is packed tight and/or burning hot I taste something like beeswax, which is very good considering what most inexpensive blends taste like under similar conditions. Near the bottom of the bowl the sweetness disapears, but the fig aroma lingers in the nose. The usual burley bitterness shows up, but some like bitter flavors like dark chocolate or hoppy beer, I'm one of those people so the bitterness isn't offputing.

Like most tobaccos, CH smokes wet in a incompletely caked pipe. The strange thing is that the pipecleaners come out smelling sweet like the pouch aroma rather than rank and foul. The pipe that I smoke only CH in smells better than my other briars when it is not lit. In a broken-in pipe, CH burns down evenly to a flat 1/16" thick dottle for me. There isn't much nicotine kick here and little to no bite.

Unless you are a burleyphobe, there is no reason why you shouldn't try Carter Hall.

I picked this up on a whim at the local grocery store and have been pleasantly surprised. The $1.89 price for the pouch makes it a real bargain. I wasn't expecting much from this light fluffy blend that is entirely fluffy processed burley. It doesn't feel all waxy or goopy with a bunch of flavoring agents and packs cleanly. The light is easy and hasn't needed a relight. Any flavor that comes from the slight apricot aroma you get when first opened is so faint that it doesn't intrude on some basic but solid tobacco flavors. It smoked a bit wet and happened to gurgle profusely in my old WDC Navajo, but that could very well be a result of the cold and misty weather over the last few days. This might just end up being a regular.

...or not....Since that first review in November of 2006 or 7, can't remember, I haven't bothered to seek it out since it is no longer on the shelf at the local grocer.

Carter Hall to me is like Prince Albert lite. I find it similar in flavor to the Prince, only not quite as flavorful, not quite as much nicotine, not quite as satisfying. I dont drink near beer, or decafienated coffee either .Its like the Princes little brother that hasnt grown up yet. If there was no PA, I might smoke this. But since this is not the case. Ill stick to the real deal. 2 stars for it being half as good as the Prince.

The rating of highly recommended is only because I am judging it from its peers. Of all the drug store tobaccos this is the best. Its a no nonsense burly that will not foul up a pipe or make you chew gum all day to get the taste out. The burly is light with some nutty and sweet overtones. It packs easily and lights as good as any tobacco I have tried. The only complaint that I have is that like all drugstore tobacco's it si very wet and somewhat one dimensional.

I decided to try Carter Hall based upon Pipestud's reccomendation. I was glad I did. This is a very OK tobak as far as drug store blends go. When I travel between the backwoods of Tennessee to the backwoods of Arkansas and I am out of tobak, I can trust this to get me through. It is not quite as good as Butternut Burley, but it does come close enough when I am in a pinch. Good a corn cob or a Savinelli and does not leave dottle and burns to a nice greyish white ash.

I did note too that it, for some reason, clings to the walls of the bowl. Being a somewhat neutral tobak, I think I will use it to break in my new GBD.

I smoked it yesterday when I was out shooting my flintlock. (Of course one has to be mighty careful smoking around black powder!) As I said before, it seems to fit in with a corn cob. Maybe OK in a clay pipe too.

Not a wife pleaser however, which is the only reason I give it two stars.

I have a terrible cold as I write this and I decided to smoke Carter Hall. Previously I always found this tin too mild, however, now that I can hardly breath this tastes like 965 when I'm well. Right now this is the best part of my day. If I did'nt have this tobacco on hand I would have had to go smokeless this evening. I guess there is a tobacco for every situation. I actually think CH is helping me breath better!

Read the reviews here, thought I'd try a pouch. Inexpensive, just the right cut and moisture level. Smelled good in the pouch, just good, ol' burley, like I used to get back home in East Tennessee.

OK, let's see..... lights well, without a lot of relights... tamp and rest, and just a good, tasty burley flavor, not the syrupy casing you see in many DS blends. Interesting nutty flavor. Neutral room note: neither "warm fuzzy" nor offensive. Inexpensive, comfy and plainly tasty. If you like burley, you'll like this one. Me, I might blend with some black cav to richen it up a bit. Still, a good, simple, tasty burley. I'll definitely buy it again!