John Middleton, Inc Sugar Barrel

I ordered a tub of this age old Middleton drug store blend from JR Cigar as it is virtually impossible to find nowadays in the drug store or supermarket. I read a number of reviews that ranged from good to tongue bite hell, so I wasn't too sure what to expect.

Upon opening the tub, I found a mixture of light and dark brown tobaccos which were rough cut and seemed to be neither too wet or too dry. It smelled like Prince Albert with a sweet casing.

It loaded easily enough, as most Middleton blends do. I didn't expect much from this tobacco given the inexpensive price tag but found myself pleasantly surprised. It smoked cool, burned slow and possessed real tobacco flavor combined with a lighty applied, sweet casing which reminded me of brown sugar. Now, it may just be that my body chemistry agrees with this blend, but I experienced no tongue bite. I also experienced no bitterness toward the bottom of the bowl as is common with many blends containing Burley . Overall, it was a great smoke.

I recommend that you give it a try and if it doesn't agree with you, send it to me.

Another old time "drug store" type of tobacco that you cannot find in the drug stores these days. In the can it smells of walnuts, raisins and brown sugar. It is a bit moist, but not terribly. It packs very well. Once lit, it tastes of warm brown sugar, and raisins, with a nutty aftertaste. The tobacco taste is VERY subdued, almost overwhelmed by the sweetness of the blend. The room note is quite sweet. I puffed like there was no tomorrow, without any tongue bite. Fortunately, I used a small pipe. This stuff is pretty tasty, but is not something I want to spend a lot of time with.

It is very inexpensive,and if you like sweet aromatics, it might be worth your while. I probably won't buy any more, as I find it a bit too sweet. It is particularly tasty with a cup of black coffee.

Sugar Barrel has an oh so sweet enhancement that reminded me of Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup, yet, I still tasted the Burley and Virginia leaf with no problem. A very mild presentation as far as tobacco goes, but there was a lot of flavor in the mildness. I had an old 12 ounce tin from the 1980's that I had gotten off of eBay, and every night until it was gone, I enjoyed a bowl after dinner. It was about the best dessert one could hope for. Lots of satisfying sweetness, a nice smoking experience and best of all, no calories!

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. Sweet, but still letting the mainly burley tobacco come through. Not a stellar blend by any means, but still better than so many others out there.

Well what a great OTC blend this is, could be a all day smoker, jumped straight in at the deep end and bought a 12oz tin, no regrets well worth the money,but dont think it will be in my regular rotation.

A great American Drug Store Blend.Right up there with PA,CH ,SWR and Walnut.I wish we had these blends readily available here.

Sugar Barrel is another tobacco I never tried when it was available everywhere. I ordered a tub online recently. Objectively, I find this tobacco having very little flavor or taste. I cannot taste the sugar cookie type flavor others have described. This also has to be one of the mildest tobaccos I've ever smoked. I've smoked it in cobs, Kaywoodies, a Dunhill, and a Nording freehand. Not an offensive tobacco, just no flavor.

I slightly recommend it as it is smokeable. Not a tobacco to throw away. Good quality. I think I'll try mixing it with Five Brothers to jazz it up. I won't buy it again.

Sugar Barrel … Don't let the name fool you, it is not (IMHO) an aromatic as most would define an aromatic. Its dominate taste is very much tobacco, with a slight sweetness that waifs in and out, really quite good. Very easy to control, mild, stays lit and from my experience, bite free. Most of Sugar Barrels attributes have already been covered in the many earlier reviews, but I found this tobacco so pleasant I just had to add my two cents. Wonderful straight, and really shines as a blender, it seems to blend nicely with just about anything, adding another dimension of taste (and mildness) to many of my favorites. This stuff is fun. I would recommend this blend to just about anyone. My personal rating, 4/5

Easy pack, easy light (one match), lots of smoke. However, to me, not a lot of taste and just a hint of tongue burn. A somewhat boring smoke, but it's mild enough you could use it to cut any blends of similar cut that might strike you as too strong. Still, to me, meh.