John Middleton, Inc Prince Albert

(2.94)
Crimp-cut, mild smoking mixture. Made in the USA.
Notes: Tobacco Hall of Fame Inductee. Prince Albert was introduced by R.J Reynolds in 1907. R.J. Reynolds sold the brand to the John Middleton Tobacco Company, Limerick, PA, in 1987. As of 2021, the production moved from the USA to Dominican Republic.

Details

Brand John Middleton, Inc
Blended By John Middleton, Inc
Manufactured By John Middleton, Inc.
Blend Type Burley Based
Contents Burley, Cavendish
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 1.5 oz pouch; 14 oz plastic tub
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.94 / 4
167

194

90

53

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 504 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 13, 2009 Mild Mild Mild Pleasant
When I see anything other than four stars for Prince Albert, I have to remind myself that all of us are different and have different tastes and taste buds. It's hard to see such an old friend get anything but the high praise I believe it deserves. There's a reason this tobacco has been around for over a hundred years. It's just plain good. I have two bowls of the Prince every morning with my coffee. I always smoke it in the same corncob pipe that's reserved just for Prince Albert. This is the way to really enjoy this tobacco. If you let it, the subtle goodness of Burley tobacco will wash over you and take you to a simpler time and place. What a joy it is sitting on my porch each morning, puffing on my old cob full of Prince Albert tobacco with my favorite blend of coffee. I've been using tobacco in all imaginable forms for over thirty years. I recently quit using all forms of tobacco other than pipe tobacco as I think the pipe is better for my health than cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. I'm not a "burley only" man. I like Virginia flake and English blends too, as well as some other favorites I smoke in my brier and meerschaum pipes, but each and every morning, it'll be Prince Albert in a cob that I reach for to enjoy with my coffee.

If you only want to be seen smoking Penzance in your three thousand dollar Dunhill pipe at your country club, than don't bother with Prince Albert. It probably isn't for you. If on the other hand, you think you might enjoy a nice, clean tasting, even burning, non-biting burley tobacco, I offer these suggestions.

Go to your local drugstore and get yourself a good quality corncob pipe. Look for the words "Missouri Meerschaum" on the bottom (they've been making these pipes since 1869). It'll set you back around five bucks. Buy a pouch of Prince Albert tobacco for under three dollars. Grab a pack of pipe cleaners and some stick matches for another two bucks. Total cost: around ten dollars. If you want to really splurge, you can buy a pipe tool for about three bucks. If not, a big headed nail or a stick work just as well for a tamper.

Now go find a nice quiet spot to sit and load up your pipe. Don't worry, you don't have to fill it in pinches and a third of a bowl at a time. Just put it in any way you want. Don't worry about a charring light either. It'll burn no matter what you do and you probably won't even need a re-light. Just put the match to it and start smoking. Oh, you don't have to be careful the way you smoke it. It's not going to bite your tongue like some of the other tobaccos do. Now just sit back and enjoy your smoke. That's all there is to it. Don't worry about breaking in the pipe by alternating half and full bowls either. Even though a corncob pipe does get better after you smoke it for a time, it'll still smoke great from the first bowl. Stays nice and cool too. I've started several of my friends smoking a pipe and this is what I started them off with. I can't think of any better way to get started in the hobby of pipe smoking than this. Also, this is the best tobacco I know of for breaking in a new brier. Makes a very smooth even cake.
100 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 05, 2013 Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
I'll admit, for many years I was too much of a tobacco snob to try PA. I mean, come on, my grandpa smoked this stuff. But wait! I always loved going to visit Grandpa; I loved the scent of his pipe. So, I checked out the reviews here on this page, and they encouraged me to give PA a try. I had to wait till I was back in the States, though, since I cannot buy it here in Germany. Finally, in 2011, I had a chance. Well, I was pleasantly surprised...

Packaging: old-fashioned, but nostalgic, although I wish that the description on the pouch were better. Whether you buy the cellophane wrapped box with "luxury" pouch or the tub, both will have kept your PA from drying out. The "luxury" pouch is somewhat awkward and doesn't close well, making it difficult to keep the tobacco moist. The tub does a fantastic job of keeping the tobacco just right, even over a long period of time (right now, I am finishing a tub I opened 14 months ago, and the moisture content is just fine. Contrary to several other reviewers, I do not detect any traces of propylene glycol.

Pouch/tub note: typical nutty Burley aroma; I detect no additional flavoring.

Room note: pleasant, sweet, crowd pleasing, commonly draws remarks like: "Mmm! My grandpa used to smoke something that smelled like that!"

Smoke: PA has a fine cut, which allows for an initial gravity filling of the bowl. It packs well and lights up easily. The burn is cool and even. It is possible to rush this and get "tobacco juice" and tongue bite, but you really have to try hard. The taste is pleasant, ranging from coffee and chocolate to nuts and licorice.

As many have remarked, this is not a gourmet meal, but rather meat-n-potatoes. I would recommend this to any pipe smoker, expert or novice, fan of English or aromatic. It is a good smoke any time of day.
83 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 14, 2012 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
The lead component is the very nutty, earthy, woody, lightly sugary burleys. The Virginia cavendish chips in with a little grass, tart citrus, light sugar and a few drops of honey in the background. The bourbon and cocoa toppings mildly tone down the tobaccos, and have a lightly distracting chemical note. The strength, nic-hit and taste levels are mild. There is an inconsistency in the flavor because the topping will flash off a bit by the last quarter of the experience, and you may get a mild harshness and a few cigarette notes if you are a fast puffer. Won’t bite, and has a few small rough edges. Doesn't need to be relit much, packs very easily, and leaves little dampness in the bowl. Easily an all day smoke. One of the few tobaccos I have smoked that m'lady commented favorably on when she smelled it. I give it two and half stars because of aforementioned drawbacks.

UPDATE 6-28-2022. There are some changes in the new Dominican Republic production. The mildly applied bourbon is more dominant now, and the now weaker chocolate less so. Both are less sweet, and sport a very slight sourness not present in the American version. The toppings tone down the tobaccos approximately twenty percent more than before at first, but moderately flash off after the half way point. They don’t last as long as before, but you’ll still taste the toppings. The distracting chemical note in the older manufacture is barely obvious. The nuttiness from the burleys is three slots lower than before even when the toppings weaken. The burleys have a little more roughness, and I detect a hint of smoke from them as well. The latter characteristic was not there in the past. The Virginia cavendish mostly has the same effect as always with a touch less sugar and honey, and a lightly deeper citrus. Both varietals are just a little darker in color. The strength and nic-hit are a step and a half past the mild mark. The taste is a half notch more potent due to the smoke note. Won’t bite, and the chances of experiencing light harshness or cigarette notes for a fast puffer are much slimmer. Burns cool, slightly warm, and a tad fast. Overall, it’s not as sweet, less nutty, and even with the rougher burleys, is mildly smoother with a weaker flavor. Has a lightly lingering weaker after taste. The room note is a touch stronger now. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and doesn’t require many relights. An all day smoke. My rating at TR is still two stars though I deduct the extra half star that I gave the original due to the lack of flavor depth.

-JimInks
63 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 29, 2011 Mild to Medium Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
What can I say that hasn't been said already? For an Over the Counter (OTC) blend, Prince Albert really has no counterpart. I rate it that high. Although switching hands several times, and perhaps tweaking the recipe along the way, this blend has been in continuous production since 1856. And that's all you need to know. It was there during the Civil War! PA has always been a very versatile tobacco, used not only for pipe smoking, but for roll your own cigarettes, as well as a chew. It has a tremendous history, and was a mainstay for generations of smokers, throughout the later part of the 19th Century, and all of the 20th Century as well. Now its still here as we begin the 21st Century. Something obviously must be right with this blend to have lasted so long.

It's primarily a burley blend, with a Virginia base, although I think the Virginias are less than 15%. There is a slight casing reminding me of anise or faint vanilla / chocolate.It's a crimp ribbon cut and packs by gravitation quite readily. Don't tamp too hard however as its a bit moist out of the tin and needs a light packing. It's easy to light and the whole bowl will burn on a single initial post-charring light. The blend smokes very smoothly and very cool. No tongue bite here, even if you pull forcefully. Smokes down to a pearly white ash, with nary a dottle remaining.

I use PA in my pipe tobacco rotations, and it is never far from reach. It's also an ideal blend to use for home blending. Try adding 15% Latakia to PA for a real nice smoke. I haven't tried adding Perique, but I know some pipe smokers that swear by it: a Burley / Perique blend. Also, what I really like about PA, is that it serves as an excellent palate cleanser. I am a Latakia hound and will consume Lat blends up to 50% (like Star of the East) with relish, bowl after bowl. However, it can produce a sensory overload, and a good way to clean the slate so to speak is to down a few bowls of PA. Then upon returning to the Lat blends, they taste a new and the palate is refreshed. A pipe smokers mouthwash if you will.

So, give the old PA a go, and as you smoke think of the countless number of grandfathers who lived off of the stuff. It'll bring a smile to your face, as the wisdom of the ages awashes your senses. I rate it four out of four stars!

Smoke in Health & Happiness,

Kashmir
49 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 31, 2006 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
Allright you lot, you've picked on a good pal of mine for far too long now and it's high time I come to the aid good Prince with my own personal songs of praise. That's right, praise, and praise of the highest kind that I can here muster.

A little history here before we begin. For years I was a devoted English blend smoker, and the more Latakia, the better. If ever I would venture into any other sort of blend styles, you could bet that there would still be a good portion of condimental leaf to back them up. Sweet Mamma Latakia was my main squeeze, and Papa Perique was her Pimp Daddy. Gags and wheezes from all within a hundred yards of me be damned. Who needs friends when you have Pirate Kake?

One day, oh, about five years ago, I did something unexpected: I bought a pouch of Prince Albert. I cannot say just why. In my initial pipe smoking of the early years I had tried nearly all that my local drug store had to offer in the way of tobacco and, as far as I was concerned, I could go to the grave without ever tearing open a foil package again. I was amused by the voluptuous red envelope within the carton, how the supple, synthetic material would have made the tobacco inside feel fresh no matter how long it had been on the shelf. Upon opening, I was greeted with the sort of smell that was far from what I was accustomed to with the sort of blends I usually kept on hand; musty, nutty, but with a fresh sweetness. No great contrasts between brights and blacks here, just on uniform, friendly, woody brown. Phu...child's play. I supposed that I may as well smoke some all the same. With packing, I encountered not the cracking, dust dry tinder I had expected, nor the finger-sticking glycol goop that is the other much bemoaned end of the drug store spectrum. This felt like all blends should feel, fluffy, yet substantial. It packed well, then again, I almost always pack well, more me than the tobacco, I was sure. Well then, time to light up. 'Sweet mother of all that is good and pure!'

That's right. I was from that moment hooked. It was burley. It was the kind of burley that I had sometimes heard of, a cool, creamy, nutty leaf that is always there when you need a friend. It was the kind of burley that made me realize why this crop mutation from the eighteen sixties was kept around at all. Today and ever after Prince Albert is with me always. This is not to say that I have forsaken all other blends--I hate people who do that--just that I now have a standard against which all other tobacco is judged. Keep them coming you Pease's and Tarler's and Books' of the world, I'll gladly load up on anything you put out there, be assured though with them, as with all others, I am bold to say- 'Yes, it's good, but it's not PA.' (Please note that this review was written and posted some time ago and has merely been edited to remove simple errors. My opinion of Prince Albert as given here still holds, however)

Regards, A. Morley Jaques
41 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 27, 2002 Medium Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Appearance: Random smallish pieces, uniform medium brown

Aroma: Smells like just a plain burley, possibly a trace of top dressing. I can?t identify it, nor am I positive it?s even here.

Packing: Can be packed into any size bowl just by putting the pipe into the pouch and feeding with one finger. It is possible to pack a pipe in your car, with one hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road. However, see warning below

Lighting: Classic one-match light is the rule.

Initial flavor: Just Burley, nothing else. Nutty, and just a little bitter.

Mid-bowl: Nice cool dry smoke. You have to like Burley to enjoy this. There is a fairly good jolt of nicotine in it, so it MAY NOT be the best thing to smoke while driving.

Finish: A bit more harsh at the bottom, but not a problem.

Summary: An excellent choice in a cob. A good change of pace if you get tired of blends, or matured Virginias
33 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 16, 2008 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Oh yeah baby! I have purchased pouches of the Prince many times over the years and smoke the stuff up just for the fun and nostalgia. Pure burley, cool and pleasant. The room note sends the ladies running--in your direction!

If cheap and tasty rings your bell, then ding-a-ling, grab a pouch of the Prince!
31 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 16, 2012 Mild Mild Medium Tolerable
Until recently I never bothered to try Prince Albert. Maybe too many butt end of jokes, but I finally gave in. What can I say, this has become my daily go-to tobacco. It's just a pleasant, good tasting, all around daily blend. What else could I say, cheap and good. Great everyday tobacco.
28 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 18, 2014 Mild None Detected Very Mild Tolerable
As a dedicated English blend smoker for forty plus years who has fairly recently been taken with C&D's Burley flakes and especially Old Joe Krantz, I gave into the temptation to pick up a pouch of this a couple of days ago. In general I have enjoyed no codger blend with only Carter Hall getting a "dire emergency" pass. And I mean dire. But I had never tasted PA and it was time. Unlike everyone else here, my pouch must have languished on the shelf for quite some time. The dark, broken ribbons were dry. No evidence of PG ever being in it either - THAT dry. Pouch note was pure tobacco - no toppings/casings could I detect, just a dry grassy, musty, tobacco aroma. This was good news for me. I can't take flavorings in general.

Loading a corncob was easy, instant ignition with no relight necessary. Initial hit of flavor, just plain good burley. I debated with myself to rate it as "Extremely mild" in ratings as many have here. But honestly I could not place the flavor as added, just "seasoned" a tad. This means to me that the cavendish denotes slightly sweetened, not otherwise flavored. By the same token I don't consider sugar a flavoring in my cooking, just an enhancer like salt. Hence, seasoning. Same here.

I am smoking a cob right now as I type and thoroughly enjoying it. It's very mild, no Nic bomb here. It seems mostly dark burley which I like. Effortless smoking with only a too quick burn for disappointment, even after I added moisture. I thought adding some moisture would bring to the fore any casings; no, I can't find any.

Pleasant aftertaste, no bite to write about. I cannot liken it to any prepared blend, just my home mixes of Burley/Virginias - this better than mine. Effortless pleasure. I cannot see how this is compared to Carter Hall in the least except sitting on the same shelf at the retailer.

I thought I was buying a pouch destined to occupy my Jeep console for the times when I forget to pack a favorite blend. What I found was a keeper. No surprise it's in the Hall of Fame.
Pipe Used: Corn cobs
PurchasedFrom: Cigar Express, McKees Rocks, PA
Age When Smoked: unknown
24 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 02, 2013 Mild to Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I really like this tobacco because of its value and because it smokes great! There is simply no bite with this tobacco and it's something that I can smoke everyday because its plain and simple it doesn't have a flavoring that you get tired of. If you just like tobacco and the taste of tobacco then I highly recommend this.
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