John Middleton, Inc Prince Albert

I just bought a couple of packages at Walmart the other day. The tobacco was fresh and moist, packed and smoked very well. No tongue bite, just good burley taste. Maybe quality control has improved. I updated to four stars over my original three.

A really good burley smoke.

Original review: Every so often I buy a package of the Prince. Quality control seems to be a problem, like most drugstore tobaccos of today. The latest pouch was positively great.

Great flavor, no bite, the nutty burley. Really a great pouch. Wonderful sitting on the porch with a cup of black coffee. Past pouches have not been as good. Will buy another pouch very soon, just to see how another batch fares.

06242007 It has been a long time since I smoked Prince Albert. I have been smoking Latakia blends as of late, but after reading some of the reviews on PA,I decided to buy a pouch and try it again. I had forgotten just how good this "drug store" burley blend could be. The moisture level was good, and PA loaded well and took to the match right out of the pouch. I found Prince Albert to be an even burning, cool smoking blend with absolutely no tongue bite. I enjoyed it in a small bowled Peterson, and then in a large bowl Peterson, and got the same result. A good, simple, basic blend that can be enjoyed anytime. A good starting place for the new pipester, and a good occassional smoke for the experienced brother or sister of the briar. This one will get a place in my regular rotation.

This has become my favorite tobacco. It has a satisfying burley taste. If smoked patiently, it won't bite. The tobacco in the pouches I've purchased felt like natural tobacco and did not leave any residue. It burned well, to a light gray ash and did not leave any sticky residue in the pipe. This product had more natural taste and feel than some of the more expensive products I've tried such as one of MacBaren's Burley tobacco blends. As with other tobacco, it is best when lit with a match. I've found using a lighter makes it taste like battery acid!

I also really like the room note of this tobacco.

Don't under-estimate this classic. I've enjoyed it much more than the premium-type blends I've tried.

Drugstore blends can't be compared to the meticulously created high-brow blends like University Flake, Scottish Cake, or Red Scottish Flake. They are a breed of their own.

This is the best over the counter blend I've had so far. There are some premiere blends it might even hold a candle to. But as far as my experience in OTC goes, this wins. Hey, you got money? Buy a tin of quality. Got a cheap wallet and a long drive? PA. It's a nice little smoke as opposed to, say, Middleton's Apple or Captain Black, somewhat more complicated (we're talking Tony Morrison vs. Ha Jin here, not Dean Koontz vs. Thomas Pynchon, so take it with a grain of salt) than the other OTCs I've tried, and is rather enjoyable in a pinch. So, for an OTC is gets four stars.

Against high-grade tobaccos? Two, maybe even three.

It's like comparing Budweiser to Ommegang as opposed to Budweiser to Naragansett if you're gonna hold it up to the quality blends.

My luxory Pouch smelled of chocolate covered raisins, while my cannister reeks of coffee. But when mixed 50/50 pouch/cannister it smells like fresh cut alfalfa to me.

Personally i feel the tobacco from the cannister burns and tastes better then the luxory pouch. At light up it can taste ashy, and drawing to hard during a relight introduces an ashy smell and some minor tongue bite.

Ive found that the cannister smokes verry cool when i keep moisture from going down the bit to the filter. This means that when i start detecting moisture in my mouth, i just spit like crazy till the moist feeling is gone. And afterwords i find the filter to be bone dry.

When i smoke I avoid puffing into the pipe as that shoves spit down the stem making a soggy filter that seems to sour within minutes. Making sure to pull the filter out as soon as possible and drying it seperately has let me keep the sour taste away i had when i left the filter in over night by accident.

I was on an unexpected road trip when I first tried Prince Albert. Since nothing else was open at 2:00 A.M., out of desperation, I purchased a pouch from a convienance store. I was not expecting much due to my past experiences with other "cheap" tobacco's I found myself wondering why I would even bother. Boy was I surprised!

I packed my old Comoy Poker, lit up and got back on the road. Imagine my very pleasent surprise when the thick swirls of smoke went up and the flavor was nutty and cool with absolutely no tounge bite. While PA is a very inexpensive tobacco, I certainly won't call it "cheap" in terms of quality. Sipped slowly, this leaf is very smooth, with a creamy flavor perfectly rounded with nutty tones. It lights easy, burns clean and smooth to the bottom of the bowl.

While I of course still smoke my other favorite burley blends frequently, I now keep a large tin of PA on hand at all times and find myself smoking it more and more. Sometimes I even get a craving for it. There is definately something to be said for a simple straight burley.

PA impressed me enough that I really want to try Walnut blend now. I just wish I could find it locally. 🙂