John Middleton, Inc Prince Albert

I hate to insult the OTC lovers here, but this is not your Grand Father's PA. Just as the ingredients in cigarettes have changed dramatically over the years in favor of sheet tobacco and chemicals, I fear similar tampering with the PA formula. This is nasty tobacco. Little flavor, full of PG, and drying/aging makes it worse, not better. After a few months jarring it smelled like a cigarette ashtray. Flat, nasty.

If Burley is what you're after, there are much better choices made with real, unadulterated tobacco.

Update June 2014: I left the house on some errands with a couple of cobs, but forgot the tobacco. In a panic, I pulled into a gas station that offered a choice of RYO "pipe tobacco" or Prince Albert. I bought the Prince. Same lovely pouch note: so much promise. Delicate cocoa flavors caused me to doubt my long-held destain for the Prince. Then I smoked a bowl....

The charring light was quite good. Then the flavoring agent burned off to reveal the same ashiness, harsh chemical flavors, and hot burn. My opinion remains unchanged.

Well, laddies, when I was home in the States recently, on the strength of 1. old memories from rolling my own back in the 1980s, and 2. some recommendations here, I brought back (count 'em) TWO HUGE plastic tubs of PA. Eagerly, I went out on the back deck with one of my nice calabashes (a huge 1950s Kaywoodie) and lit up. UGH. I couldn't believe my tastebuds. Awful! But, full-of-faith, I put it off to having had Chinese with a heavy load of garlic. I'd try again later. WORSE! (The garlic had actually helped!) I've managed to give away one "tin" - and will play around with cutting some other blends with a bit of it, but without high hopes. Alas... a severe blow has been dealth to my nostalgia genes. And, I'll not mention here my impressions of the other old standby I returned with, CARTER HALL. Dang. LongJnSilver - London -

I wanted to give the Prince every chance of success, so I ordered a fresh can from JR since everyone says the tin is superior to the pouch. It smells, tastes, and burns like cigarette tobacco, because that's what it is. The bottom of the bowl tastes like an ashtray. If you like the idea of smoking a cigarette in your pipe, this is for you. If you are looking for a mild, easy to light, pleasant, economical burley blend, Lane's BLWAB is vastly superior to the Prince.

Starts good, ends bad.

Has a nice, straight forward taste at first. Stays lit well.

Becomes sour, tarry and harsh very quickly.

Back in the mid- to late-60's I used to smoke Prince Albert. Our maid, an older African-American lady, smoked PA in RYO form and nothing but. She could roll up a PA cig in no time; nice rolls, too. I used to buy her a tin every now and then because I would make RYO cigs and sometimes smoke it in a cob. Of course, it was never aged. Miss Ruby and I smoked it too fast for that. I have very definite memories of that tobacco and the odor. It was not noticeably sweet and was a classic nutty burley, with maybe the faintest overtone of chocolate but not enough to suggest it might be chocolate flavored; such a thing would never have occurred to me, who only smoked PA then and had no experience with flavored tobaccos. I would give that old RJ Reynolds PA three stars, maybe a little more, but not four.

The modern PA is not the same. I agree with PhillyB's review about the modern PA. It is sweeter and less nutty than the old PA. Of course, blends change for reasons various, and it is what it is. Maybe it is just my memory at issue, but I don't think so. I also agree that modern Carter Hall tastes and smells closer to the old PA than the modern PA. I can smoke the modern, although it is wetter and goopier than the old (I had little pipe-smoking experience but it always smoked down to ash back then). It is hardly enjoyable and I wouldn't buy it. If you think it's not goopy and chemical-laden, jar some of it for a few months and then try it. The people raving about modern PA would go apeshit over the old blend! I also find the modern PA to be rather bitey, even if smoked indolently.

Frankly, PA ain't cheap (about $40 for 1 lb.); for the cost of PA I can get much better tobacco. Two stars.

I had to buy this because it is a classic. I admit, I was curious, and seeing the many number of people that recommended this as a straight burley tobacco, I had to see what it was about.

I purchased a pouch for four dollars at the local drug store and walking out, I immediately opened it up to be greeted by the wonderful aroma of chocolate that typifies a good burley. I couldn't wait to get home and smoke this..but upon that first puff I was just disgusted.

To me, it's like smoking cigarette tobacco out of a pipe. Big disappointment.

When I think of Prince Albert in a can, I want to light a match--for other reasons.

Been a favorite of mine for many years always a great smoke in my pipe or rolled into cigarettes but after they moved overseas it’s has a bad bite to it and taste more like a cigar don't let this sit long or it will become sicking

Am I being punked? How does this tobacco have any favorable reviews? The best way I can describe Prince Albert's room note and taste is that it was like cleaning out the inside of a Phillies Blunt and dumping it in my pipe. Worse yet... it's loaded with the chemical. It immediately dried out and stuffed up my nose like a 99 cent cigar. I'm not a snob. I like Captain Black and don't mind Half and Half, but Prince Albert doesn't belong in a pipe.

I wanted to like this tobacco. I wanted to like it so much I actually forced myself to smoke 1 1/2 bowls before I threw away the can. I actually had to throw away my pipe about a week later when I couldnt stand the smell anymore. It made my throat sore and gave me a headache. Captain Pete couldnt have put it any better "pee soaked cardboard" just about says it all.