John Middleton, Inc Cherry Blend

The name of the blend should say it all, Cherry Blend. Unfortunately, it does not. There are expectations which are just not met. I'll say right off that it did not bite, even right out of the pouch. And it did not leave a "goopy mess" as some other aromatics might. It also did not have any flavor, at all. The first half of the bowl was actually quite innocuous, not cherry, but not bad. The latter half of the bowl was just ashy and lost any trace of what might have been flavor. I was expecting a strong and noticeable charry scent. It was disappointing in the sense that it did not deliver what its name says it is. Is there a reason to buy a tobacco that, even with no bite, has none of the flavor advertised? No.

In the immortal words of Ralph Wiggum, "...it tastes like burning...".

Every few years I try this blend again, but I simply can not find a way to smoke this that does not sear my tounge like my Weber kettle grill sears a ribeye.

I really can not offer more to this review as I can not get past the initial pain that this tobacco has inflicted on my mouth time and agian.

The first tobaccoreviews.com review for 2011 and a Happy New Year to you all!

I smoked this on and off during my early piper days and always found it to be a pleasant experience. Nice tobacco pouch aroma; very subtle on the cherry. Always lit well and smoked without bite. No moisture, no goop, no mess. always clean by the bowl's end. Never was there a negative comment when I smoked it in mixed company. On the contrary, I always received the highest of compliments, especially, "It smells just like my grandfather's pipe used to smell." Good, old-fashioned tobacco taste. One of the great American drug store blends. I always liked tobacco packaged in a foil wrapper within a box. Thewre's something very nostalgic about it.

Take care in filling your pipe and smoke it slowly. You will be pleasantly surprised. For me at present, always a nice change of pace smoke, and good for reflecting on the years that have gone by.

Cherry Bld… Having at one time or other, smoked most drug store blends, my memory of Cherry blend (late 1960's) was at the very least, an agreeable smoke, certainly not deserving all the negative reviews found on this site. Could it have changed that much? So to satisfy my curiosity I bought a fresh pouch, containing today's product to find out. Reading the box this baccy came in, there is no mention of this being a aromatic, and the only mention of anything cherry, is its name. Sounds to me the idea of this stuff being a goopy, heavy cherry aromatic, is simply not the case. What I did find, was a blend where the somewhat strong tobaccos, provide the dominate taste, with a mild cherry casting, that only slightly shows up in the smoke taste. Sounds like the description of a good smoke to me.

After smoking this baccy in a variety of pipes I found the simple cob, the way to go. Briars seem to bring out a stronger tobacco taste, at the cost of the many delicate flavors this blend is capable of. The secret to these delicate flavors, is no secret at all, no different than smoking a fine Virginia for example, sip and taste, sip and taste. Nothing new there, just SOP with most blends.. I smoked bowl after bowl of this stuff, to get a good feel for this blend, and found it to be bite free. Not saying an aggressive puffer won't get bit, but I experienced none. Light up and burn was typical of a burley blend, easy light up, lots of smoke, and stays lit, to just short of total tobacco consumption, leaving only some ash and a few charred flakes to clean out, no wet goop, no special clean up. or for that matter no moisture at all. Bottom line; You do your part in smoking this old timer, it will provide you with a real decent smoke, as it has been doing for decades. Chronic complainers need not apply. 3 stars

This opinion is based on a 7 oz tube of the 80s.

They say that this is the "non-aromatic" aromatic. They are right! Almost pure burley, which does not seem of the best quality, with a very subtle aroma of cherry. It burns evenly, it can bite. The smoke is nice but nothing exceptional here. There are better burleys and certainly a lot better aromatics.

Maybe it satisfies burley lovers, but I do not think it's for fans of quality aromatics

I bought a couple of pouches of this I found in an Admiral tobacco store in Michigan. I had heard it was no longer in production, and I wanted to try it. The tobacco itself looks like a slightly darker Carter Hall with a sweet smell that is a little nondescript. If someone told me it was cotton candy, I would believe that was the intent, but it is not exactly cotton candy. I can believe it is supposed to be cherry, but in a blind test, I would not identify it as cherry. It came at a good moisture for smoking.

This smoked like a slightly sweeter version of Carter Hall. The topping was mostly gone after the first third of the bowl. It was again a nondescript sweet. Once the topping was gone, it smoked a little like Carter Hall with a slightly tart quality when puffed. There was some nutty burley and a little sour. The Virginias present as some hay.

It was an easy smoke, and I could codger scoop in the car and puff mindlessly without giving it too much attention. It was pleasant, but it never evoked any "wow!"'s. It was good enough for back to back bowls. The flavor and strength were both mild.

This is easy to recommend if you see it on a shelf. It is a lightly topped VaBur that is a good OTC. I prefer Carter Hall and Prince Albert, but that is just me. If this were all I had to smoke, I would be grateful and smoke a lot of it. This is a 2.5 on the scale for me.

Edit: It seems I had bad information on this being discontinued. It is still in production as close as I can tell.

Tried this blend when I first started smoking a pipe found it very unpleasant at the time however after 14 years of experience I find this to be my favorite cherry blend now because of what I've learned about puffin too hard this is not a blend to Puff on real hard and fast it does not have a medicinal cherry flavor like most of the Cherry Blends I've tried it's got a real gentle tart type of cherry flavor that's very pleasant has a fairly good room note and is very affordable and readily available I highly recommend this to anybody that don't want a medicinal cherry blend that bites like most of them that I've tried will keep this one in my stock

I like it! It has a light cherry flavor and is a little damp, but doesn't take much effort to stay lit. It bites if you puff too much, but overall a good smoke now and then. Nice aroma.

Middletons Cherry Blend Pipe Tobacco I am 39 years old and I have been blending pipe tobacco for over ten years and even sold my blends to a couple tobaccoshops for awhile but now I'm carving pipes, I have smoked hundred's of pipe tobacco blends from Mac Baren to Dan's to my own and countless other's point being this is the very first time I have ever bought and smoked a Middleton product besides smoking a few Black n Milds when I was much younger (not that I'm a old fart) loland I'm smoking the stuff right now to be accurate on my description. First off I am not a cherry fan at all I didn't even go there with my blends because I blended what I liked, its like hating seafood but trying to cook it for someone, upon reading the reviews here and just being to dang curious I had to try it so I bought it from a small grocery store in Wallace Idaho and it was the only brand of pipe tobacco they even sold go figure. For the most part in partial to burley using it to keep my blends cool burning and slow but not a fan of straight cut burley blends except some of C & D stuff like Berry Good or BWOB is good by itself as well, I'm trying to just give you a all and all picture of where my head is at because this is a review right? Upon opening the pouch I was very shocked that I smelled tobacco, pleasant sweet tobacco with a hint of cherry and not moist at all. It is not bone dry but actually perfect in the between and I notice 91% burley to just about 9% Virginia in the all and all mix of it. I can taste that its cased in a old fashioned sugar solution that most older companies still use like Carter Hall for example to reduce to harshness of the burley in its natural leaf and that they top it with obviously there own cherry sauce which you can hardly even taste but rather I taste a spiciness to the blend that I can't put my finger on because I know they don't use any kind of fire cured Kentucky or Mediterranean tobaccos but on itself still has a zing to it but very pleasant amd like all the other fellows said if you do not smoke it like a freight train it will not bite and is quite smooth, even to inhail (which yes a good chunk of us do) which is one of the checklist marks I gauge a tobacco blend in smoothness. I'm smoking this in a MM Cob Pipe because I do not know if it will stink my briars out, I have read for the most part no but beware if your new to this as well cob it because of its spicy tones which could altar the flavor of your cake which I'm particular about as most pipe smokers. As far as room note not sure because I cannot smell it myself and never smelled it from another's pipe before, at the pipe club I use to have nobody smoked the stuff didn't even talk about it. This is one of those blends that sits way out of view kinda in the corner back part of the rack where Captain Black and Half n Half dominate. Most tobacco shops are not carrying this product anymore and not even walmart so you gotta really look around but can be found, places like Walgreens and bigger chain smoke shops but still the internet so that's a good thing, I can see this old school blend fading away very soon do to supply and demand and the shortage of pipe smokers and especially the younger generation smoking very different types of pipe tobacco these days, which is not a bad thing just a past memory sad thing the "good old days". I would recommend this pipe tobacco blend but because its not super sweet or very cherry it would be a acquired taste. The nicotine level is not strong but will satisfy and depending on what you like could or could not be a all day smoke for you. To sum this up in the all and all, its a good smoke for sure very surprised, its smooth with hints of a very light cherry flavor but with a spicy note to it, the burley can be tasted but it mildly nutty and I cannot taste the very small amount of Virginia it it at all, it is not a so called OTC chemical bath pipe tobacco blend its just a super old school sugar sauce recipe they have been using for years which is why I say use a corn cob or a cheaper briar because of its spiciness more so then its cherry flavor that may or may not ghost your pipe. It is not low grade tobacco as some have said its just a older fashion of pipe tobacco, consider how long they have been in business and if you saw with your own eyes the process you would inserstand but not crappy tobacco. It would do better with black leaf tea or coffee rather than alcohol because of that semi sweet spiciness but that's my opinion ALL of this is my opinion that is why I take the time to right all this out, to give you the best feel and idea I can about this blend before you go off and spend money on it. If you like sweet cherry blends amd your thinking this will be like those, its not because it truly stands by itself with its own unique taste that's for sure but that does not mean you won't like it and if your a snobby pipe smoker that automatically shuns a so called OTC blend because its a OTC you truly might miss out on a blend that would surprise you in taste, this is a decent blend for sure hands down and in my book it passes with flying colors as a good old American pipe tobacco blends that has some depth and weight to it on flavor. I know I enjoyed it, would not smoke it all dang day but I would smoke it on occasion I just need to pick a briar out and go at it that way as well. Thanks for reading my review and I hope it helps some of you that are curious or undecided I'm glad I picked a pouch of this up I'm not disappointed at all!!!