John Middleton, Inc Prince Albert

This is a simple, cheap, drug store tobacco for everyone in the world that can't afford to stock their shelves with 10 dollar an ounce premium leaf and twenty year old classic tins. It is what it is; burley. I found it to be plain, but it burned pretty well (maybe a tad dry). I probably won't spend time stocking my shelves with it, but at a buck and a half, I didn't loose too much. Every once in a while, I still crave it.

Well, I finally found myself breaking down and trying this stuff. I actually got it from a friend who wanted to see my reaction. Well I was sorry to disappoint, but this stuff wasn't too bad for a cheap burley. I have certainly had worse. It has little to bring me back, but I would be perfectly content smoking it in a corn cob castin' for some lazy fish. It certainly has its place in the hierarchy.

You know, if everyone that posted 4 stars for this, would have actually smoked it, this would still be for sale. So it's the most sold baccy for pipe smokers, and they quit making it Ive been told? Makes sense. Seems fishy. To me, I think half of the reviews on this are from people who have only read others reviews. This stuff is perfectly bland middle of the road, trenches of WW1 tobacco. Yes it truly is clean tasting. Really clean, like you just swished your mouth out with warm water. But the tobacco flavor is sooooo mild, you have to really look for it. When I'm smoking a pipe I want to reflect, and think. Not think about where my flavor is. I can see a thimble full in a small bowl, just to get the day going, but I can't see it being my main tobacco. It truly is closer to cigarette tobacco. Have had people tell me I smell like I've been smoking cigarette tobacco. Reminds me of Raleigh cigarettes of the 60s. SWR, HalfHalf, Carter Hall......all much better taste and room note. In a tiny 1 pinky knuckle bowled briar, sipped occasional, I get a clean black peppery sort of flavor on the back of my tongue, and a hint of sweet on the tip. I have read reviews of casings and toppings, flavorings, etc. I have no idea what they are talking about. I have smoked from vintage tins, new pouches and also tubs,...they all taste remarkably the same unremarkable way.

I mean you gotta try it, just to figure out what a baseline is, and how this fit into history. One of the first truly mass produced tobaccos. I'm half way through a can, and honestly just can't figure the charm. So many better smokes out there. I will update that this burns like dried newspaper. Probably the only pipe tobacco I've smoked that I consider a true fire hazard. Pack a bowl, light it, walk away, and it will smoke itself.

EDIT: Was recently able to smoke a good amount of 40 and 50year old R.J.R P.Albert from two different collectors. I can say, all thing considered, they were actually pretty close overall to modern Middleton P. Albert. Surprisingly. The 1980s sample did have slight floralish or fruitish hint to the flavor (Almost a hint of tea/fig newton), as opposed to the black pepper/coffeeish hints I usually get with modern PA, and it had a more snuff like odor to the raw tobacco (again tea/fig like). Plus it had an amazing nic buzz. The early 70's sample had a more earthy tobacco odor, musty but by no means gross. Hard to describe. Taste was again a smidge fruity, but consistent. How much of this is age or manufacturer is unknown. Being samples were from 2 separate individuals, I think the slight floral/tea/fig transition may be an effect of aging of PA, at least from the early 70s through early 80s. Visually all years looked the same. Personally, still none impressed me.

When I first picked up a pipe decades ago, I always bought pipe tobacco at b&m tobacco shops with the exception of a single pouch of Captain Black from CVS. It was OK, but compared to my usual choices it came up short in the taste department. Maybe it's not a fair comparision since I was mainly a cigar smoker at the time and my pipe tobacco preferences included Nightcap, EMP, Red Rapparee, Escudo, and several McClelland blends. So, my experience with el cheapo pipe tobacco was practically nil.

Fast forward to last year, when I resumed pipe smoking and picked up a pouch of The Captain. Still not bad...it smoked well had nice aroma, but soon after I picked up a tin of MM965 for the first time. The Captain was tossed overboard, and I picked up where I had left off in terms of tobacco preference. I also branched out into strong burley blends, some of which I enjoyed greatly.

I was in Walmart today, and on a whim picked up a 1.5 oz. box of Prince Albert. As is my wont when I buy a new tobacco, I opened the box and the pouch inside to give it a smell. It was mostly a slight chemical aroma and raisins. Airing it out a little might have improved this, since after I got home and opened the pouch the chemical smell had mostly dissipated and I got raisins and light cocoa.

The Prince packs and burns well. No relights necessary for this cannon fuse of a tobacco. It burned to the bottom with minimal effort on my part, i.e. tamping it down twice.

At first I got a fairly unpleasant chemical taste, but this seemed to burn off after a couple minutes. After that it was just nutty burley and a light, sweet, cocoa flavor. It burned a little hot when pushed, but tongue bite was non-existent. It burns nice and cool when smoked moderately. Room note seemed nice, but I haven't heard a second opinion on that yet.

Based on my minimal OTC experience, I'd say that this is a better fit for me than Captain Black, which for some reason reminded me of marshmallows made in a chemistry lab. Prince Albert won't be walking the plank of the S.S. Gerry P. and joining the Captain in Davy Jones' Locker, and that's the last nautical reference in this review. You certainly can't beat the Prince's price at around 4 bucks a pouch. I can actually see myself buying this in a pinch, and it has encouraged my to try some other OTC tobaccos. I'd consider Prince Albert to be a good, cheap starter tobacco, especially as an introduction to burley, and there's enough flavor to satisfy a cheapskate fan of milder burley blends.

I'd give this blend 3 stars if it wasn't for that chemical thing.

This is a very simple burley blend with no added flavors that I can detect. It's toasty and nutty like burleys should be but it just didn't do much for this smoker. Maybe I'm just not a guy for straight burleys.

Prince Albert was really dry straight from the "luxury pouch" which I found odd given the plastic wrap outside the box--maybe I got an old pack. The pouch note was light and very unremarkable to me, but perhaps it's more enjoyable for tried and true burley fans.

PA smoked a little too hot for my comfort which surprised me because it was so dry. It does pack and light very well, but I got a little tongue bite smoking this each time I tried it.

If you're looking for a burley OTC this may well fit the bill for you, but my personal recommendation is to give Granger a try: it does everything PA does but, in my opinion, just a little bit better.

While not readily available in Canada and, like all tobacco here, certainly not cheap, I imported a tub of this and even with customs, did not pay that much. I will be reviewing based off my personal preference. I like this. It is a bit nutty, with what I can only guesstimately describe to be unsalted cashews, easy to pack and light, and quite good. I will try not to let the cheap price cloud my judgment but I am glad I have 14oz. of this and will be purchasing more when my supply runs low. It's average tobacco, yes, but that is the beauty of it, is it not? Simple burley, I can't detect any casing or toppings though I remember a slight scent of anise when first opening the tub. None in the flavour though and that anise is either gone or my nostrils have adjusted and just ignore it now. Good quality, cheap, easy to import and damn pleasant. Now wow, but pleasant. I have a Missouri Meerschaum 'second' cob which I believe to be of the Cobbit line, but with a shorter stem, which thus far has been my dedicated Prince Albert pipe. Smokes well in my estate Turkish meerschaum as well. When my new pear wood churchwarden pipe had a bit of ghost, I smoked some Prince Albert through it as a reviewer on here mentioned this tobacco is good for getting rid of ghosts and it seem to be working after a few bowls. Don't let my 2 star review fool you. It is honestly more 2.5/5 but I view this tobacco as average thus it gets the middle star. Trust me, I believe there needs to be a 0 star option as well. I know this is sold almost everywhere in the U.S. for just a hair above pocket change and while some here claim the pouch is of inferior quality to the tub, for that price is it really much of a loss? Worth trying once at the very least and don't let the codger reputation nor the budget cost fool you. This has been around for, what, since the American civil war era? If it were bad it would have not stood the test of time. An average every day simple smoke. 2.5/5 stars. Oh, one thing. I am Canadian and while I no longer smoke cigarettes, when I did Canadian cigarettes I remember reading Virginia tobacco on them while American cigarettes are made of burley. Now I do not know what kind of Virginia's they use in cigarettes as none have the pipe tobacco flavour, but I will be unable to say if this smells, tastes, or has the room note of cigarettes as I am ignorant on cigarettes made with burley tobacco.

Not as good as Carter Hall. Prince Albert reminded me of cigarettes which I detest. Overall, not a very pleasant smoke for me. It was the second pipe tobacco that I tried after using Captain Black exclusively, and it seemed overly harsh to me at the time. I will go back and try it again eventually.

I keep coming back to PA with the hope of finding it to be more than semi-tolerable pipe fodder. It is readily available and I like the option of picking this up whenever I want it, but I have failed to come to terms with this blend.

Some things recommend this age-old blend. PA is well behaved in the bowl, smokes quickly, and leaves very little dottle. Others write of the hints of cocoa and other flavors in this blend. I get much more of that from Sutliff's Edgeworth Ready Rub match, which I find to be a superior blend when I want a burley blast. I used to get good flavors from Sir Walter Raleigh Regular, but that's another story.

However, PA has some kind of a whang in it that doesn't appeal to me. Some have suggested that this is a chemical in the blend. I don't know what it is, but I seem to fixate on it every time I smoke PA.

I can only recommend this somewhat.

This is, by far, my favorite of the OTC tobaccos. It is not something you want to sit around and ponder over life’s problems. It is far too one dimensional for that. It is; however, something you want when you are taking a walk with the dog, working on a fence, or fishing. Easy to smoke, satisfying and inexpensive. A good ol burley without any frills. Reminds me of my grandfather and his friends.