John Middleton, Inc Prince Albert

This is a fine tobacco. It has a very earthy flavor and smell. Its not trying to be something its not. Prince Albert is a great everyday go to smoke, great for the workin man.

"Cheap, sour burley" was my initial reaction to this old drugstore blend. Then it occurred to me that people who like bitter Dutch beer or black, unsugared coffee might enjoy the initial astringency of this otherwise mild burley cavendish. It is just the taste of Burley tobacco. And after I tried it in a small-bowled pipe and got it to smolder smooth and quiet, the cashew-nut gentleness kind of appealed to me. Nice, smokey after-taste. I managed the whole pipe with just one match. Considering that the pouch cost a couple of bucks (1 ½ ounce) members of the brotherhood on a fixed income might enjoy Prince Albert quite a bit, especially if they are slow-puffers. Overheat this and it will get sour and bite like hell.

I am not sure what "crimp cut" means, as it refers to some older American description. In the pouch, this looks, smells and is cut like a typical Cavendish burley blend. I don't quite see how one could roll it into a cigarette. Too thick.

Mind you, I am talking about the straight PA in the red-coloured pouch or can. AVOID the cased versions, they are AWFUL.

I've been smoking pipes for about 10 years. Based on everything I've read, I was expecting PA to be a very low quality smoke. One of those 'last resort' burleys that is either going to be as flat as a cigarette or as chock full of chemicals as cotton candy, or both. I've tried samples of some of the other OTC stuff that people have gifted to me (Half & Half, Carter Hall, Walnut), and came to the conclusion that I probably wasn't a burley fan. Those experiences were enough to reassure me that I was doing the right thing shelling out the big bucks for the high end Dunhill classics, pricey VaPers, quality aged virginias, and of course the powerful new english blends that today's master blenders are expertly cranking out. All of that stuff is great.

Then I recently bought a new pipe and had been thinking all week about what I might want to break it in with. I happened to be standing in line at the grocery store, and saw the familiar large tubs of PA, as well as the pouches. Just for the heck of it, I decided to pick up a pouch for $4. I'd always heard PA was great for breaking in pipes, so I figured, what the heck, I'd try a few bowls and if I liked it well enough I may break in the new Sav with it. Opening the pouch, the ribbons seemed to be of a basically perfect consistency and moisture. I'm not sure how long the pouch had been sitting on the shelf, but there was no trace of the dreaded crystalline goop that is expected with most OTC blends. It loaded in the bowl very nicely, and then I learned the first lesson: yes, as many here have said, it really is a "light it and forget it" tobacco. It is very easy to smoke the entire bowl on one light, without it ever getting hot or gurgley, or threatening to go out. The taste was very nice, cool and creamy. The smoke had body and flavor, but it wasn't overwhelming at all. One of the things I like about smoking lat blends is the nice, cool, thick creamy satisfying smoke on every draw, without ever burning too hot or biting. PA definitely has some of those qualities, but without the ashy-mouth charred-throat feeling that you sometimes get with a large bowl of a heavy duty english. Don't get me wrong, at certain times I like a bowl that will make your eyes water as much as the next guy. But PA is the first blend I've tried where I felt a very satisfying draw (unlike the empty hot-air feel that you can get from aros or even some great VAs), but then afterwards my mouth felt and tasted fresh, and the room note was really pretty pleasant. And I can see why people say it is a good break-in tobacco: the bowl just always seems to effortlessly burn down evenly with hardly a relight, and for me every single time the bowl is burned down 100% to a fine white ash. I can definitely see how this was kind of a "standard" blend for many, many years. Nothing about it is outstanding, but it doesn't have any real flaws either, and is pretty satisfying all the way around. I'm definitely not about to go toss out all of my wonderful fancy blends. But I probably will always keep a tub of PA around as a regular part of my rotation. And I will also keep around a tub of grains of salt for use when listening to the conventional wisdom and herd mentality regarding some of the fads that go around. I've paid many times this for tins that come highly recommended from websites and blogs and have ended up with blends far more disappointing than PA. I get the feeling that, if this tobacco had been discontinued for a few decades, people would probably be ranting and raving about how excellent it was and paying exorbitant rates for it in online auctions (like with, say, Edgeworth Sliced). A lot of pipe smokers seems to let the availability of a blend affect its perceived value. Don't let the fact that it is abundant and cheap lead you to miss out on this great tobacco.

For the record, my current top blends are: Frog Morton's Cellar, Dunhill My Mixture, FVF, Escudo

EDIT: It's almost a year since I've written this review, and I've kept PA as part of my regular rotation since then. I work it in every 3 or 4 bowls or so, and enjoy it thoroughly. I bought a couple of the big tubs very cheap at the grocery store and put it in some large mason jars, and I'm sure I'll be smoking that for a long time.

The Prince Albert in the can joke is older than I am. OTC blends are held in such distain that I avoided them, until now. Curiosity finally got the better of me.

The good: It's cheap, I mean - really cheap. It is readily available at almost any drug or grocery store. It comes in either a handy size 1.5 oz. pouch or the large jar. Perfect moisture right out of the pouch. To say that this blend lights easily would be an understatement. One simply has to touch the flame to the tobacco, and it lights instantly and fully. Burns superbly, almost no relights are necessary. Lots of smoke. Pleasant aroma. Burns COOL. Delicate taste. No bite. Zero dottle.

The bad: Very mild monochromatic taste. Must be sipped for maximum enjoyment. Puffing can and will cause the burley to become harsh, and the taste can erode quickly mid-bowl if this happens. Burns so easily that the bowl doesn't last all that long.

Recommendations: Gravity pack VERY loosely. Light touch with the tamper. Gentle light. Always sip.

I can see now why this blend has been around for decades, and why it was a staple of our grandfathers. For the money, it isn't half bad - a pleasant surprise. A nice change of pace from smoking Latakia bombs, Balkan's, aromatics, straight Virginia's, flakes, and the dreaded tongue burners.

As I recently tried Carter Hall (CH) and loved it, I will be brief with the Prince:

Like CH, the Prince has been around since at least 100 years. Maybe there is a reason to it. Maybe it's just because it is delicious, without any other pretense than giving the pipe smoker what he wants: a pleasurable smoking mixture!

However, the Prince is different than CH in that its aroma is rather on a tiny, sweet floral note that is interesting when smoked, and in the fact that the roomnote will become rather on a kind of cigarettish note by the last third or so.

This being said, it is not offensive like cigarettes.

A classic and uncomparable tobacco that must be tried... Highly recommended.

I've been smoking PA for over 40 years. As others have said, there is a reason it's been in contentious production for over 100 years. It's not fancy, it's not complex...just a good burley smoke. No pretensions, no big claims...just a good, honest smoke for a very reasonable price. For the person who has nothing to prove.

I've never had PA bite or gurgle in any pipe I've ever smoked. The falvor is just good, nutty, slightly sweet burley. The subtle chocolate notes in the background are, I am sure, just from the burley, and not from junky casings. I've never tasted any glycol or preservatives.

You can smoke it straight, blend it with other tobaccos, flavor it with spirits or extracts, and you can even do what I used to do in my younger days. I spent a lot of time in the woods, so to keep my PA from drying out in the Texas heat, I would eat an apple, and throw a chunk of it in my pouch with the tobacco. This kept it at the perfect moisture, and gave it a very suble fresh apple top note. After a day or so, when the apple turns brown, (if there is any PA left), just toss it, and drop in ma new chunk. It doesn't get any simpler than this.

PA is like an old friend, always there when you need it, and always dependable. Prince Albert will never let you down.

Yes, this is an absurdly cheap tobacco. I bought the pouch at my local grocer for $3.

The pouch note reminds me of chewing tobacco.

I don't find this as good as SWR, but it is a very good burley based tobacco. Plenty of flavor and not likely to offend many bystanders as the odor is fairly pleasant. I did find this to be better than Carter Hall or Half and Half.

The old tins of this state "pipe and cigarette" tobacco; however, the cut of this is not what I would call a ribbon and must have changed over the years. Very easy to pack and light. No extra lighting needed. I didn't find this to burn fast or hot, but I got more flavor from it by sipping versus going steam train with it. No issues with it making my pipe wet. No real negatives, no super positives. This is about as plain Jane as it gets with tobacco.

If you do not have a huge budget for tobacco and lack a cellar stockpile, this is an inexpensive and decent tobacco that I would recommend as an all day smoke.

Edit: I like it so much I keep a can in the floorboard of my car now. It has become my most frequent smoke of late.

I just let Prince Albert out of the can today! Actually, this is nothing new to me...

I'd mostly recommend this to those new to the pipe, as it is a nice cool mellow nutty sweetish smoke. It needs no drying time out of the can. Even if you're learning to pack a pipe, you'd have little trouble with PA, and it would still burn well; stay lite, and burn cool for you, even if your pack were a bit uneven.

If your gal is one that doesn't cotton to the smell of smoke, she'd more likely tolerate PA because it's pretty darn pleasant, providing you don't pull on the pipe like a freight-train.

PA is not a gooey blend that will gum-up your pipe like some of the heavily cased cavs, and the scent that's left in the pipe is not too bad either, IF you stay on top of maintenance as anyone should if they want a good clean smoke each time.

I used to keep in on hand years ago, but lost interest as I progressed to higher end blends. But, today while shopping, I thought to give it another shot...it had been quite a while, and I'm glad I did. It's cheap, convenient, and I seem to like it more now than I did years ago. So there `ya go.

Let me start by saying that I'm not the worlds biggest Burley fan. I very much prefer either pure Virginia's or English Mixtures. That being said, Prince Albert is decent.

Prince Albert provides an affordable, palatable and easy way for someone to learn pipesmoking. It lights and burns well, provides little tongue bite and doesn't leave the pipe smelling like a perfume factory. For regular pipe smokers, it is also consistent, available and smokes great either outdoors or inside with a cup of coffee and newspaper. Nicotine is noticeable, but certainly not overwhelming.

For Americans, who are accustomed to Burley in their cigarettes, Prince Albert may also be a great transition for those who wish to become 'pipe only' smokers. The old ads did say that it was great for pipes or cigarettes!

I enjoy a pipeful of Prince Albert while camping, or in the great outdoors. It is a great way to enjoy the simple things in life. Also great for blending.