John Middleton, Inc Sugar Barrel

I just recieved my can of sugar barrel today. I havent smoked this in over 20 years, mainley due to the fact I can't find it on shelves anymore. It tastes as good as I remembered it !! It doesn't get gloppy in the pipe and it's a "fufilling " smoke. It also retained it's 'sugar" taste all the way through. I'd say it's the best of both worlds, aromatic and satisfies the plain tobacco fans. Highley recommended

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Tommyboy

I picked up a 12 oz. tin of this at a local tobacco outlet because the price was right and I wanted to try it. My initial impression upon opening the tin was that this stuff was going to be great if it tasted anything like it smelled. It smelled moderately sweet and reminded me of a pastry kitchen with a hint of liquor mixed in. Unfortunately after trying the blend I was let down. My first several experiences with this stuff were HORRIBLE! It bit like a cottonmouth and the resulting pain was almost as bad. I was truly disappointed with it - since it was relatively dry when I got it, the bite was unexpected. In an attempt to remedy the bite I opened the tin and let it sit for a week (house humidity is kept around 30% year round for my reptiles). After this drying period I tried it again and found that it was a bit better with less bite and hints of a sweet taste. Another 2 weeks of sitting open and daily turning of the contents and I was ready for another try. This time I was pleasantly surprised - the bite was gone, even under my two extreme puffing conditions (driving and application coding). The taste was still quite bland for me, but not completely tasteless. Due to my drying regiment this tobacco burns fast and I can whip through a bowl or two inside an hour in a Grabow Savoy. I have been told that the room note is similar to that produced by cigarettes and prefer to smoke this blend outside because of it. All in all I find myself reaching for this blend quite regularly - usually after dinner and before switching to my late night English blends. I have about 2 oz. left and will probably try some other blends in search of a replacement once it is all gone, but I wouldn't be opposed to picking up some more in the future to have it around.

This review is based on the 12oz tub.

Tin opening: cube cut burley. A little drier than I would prefer. To me, it doesn't smell like an oatmeal cookie, but mike many of the burley blends. Of course, it does smell quite a bit smoother than other blends like Velvet, Half & Half, etc.

Packing: I used the three-fingered clumpp with air space, as described in Pipes. I packed it into my Quiet Comrade pipe.

Smoking: Lighted easy, not as sweet as I thought it would be, but yet smooth and slightly sweet. Tamp and rest at mid-bowl, and relight once to the end of the bowl.

Finish: Smooth all the way to the end, without the ashy taste following tamp/rest/relight experienced with some burley blends.

Summary: I bought this online, and while I do indeed like it, the blend isn't as flavorful as I like. I did mix it with some black cav mixture, and it complemented it well. I'll keep this tub on hand, and will even buy more! I can't wait till my tobacco is ready to harvest this year, so I can mix some of this stuff with it!

This review is based on the 12oz tub..I've never had or even seen the pouch version of this.

Upon opening the tin I see an all brown, cube cut (not ribbon) mix of what looks to me like all burley. I can't tell what the topping is..It does indeed smell like an Oatmeal cookie..yet I can also detect some kind of liquor topping as well. Smells pretty good to me.

Packing: Old school gravity fill works just fine here.

Smoking: Light, quick tamp/relight and your good to go. This can easily be smoked all the way down w/out relighting. I can't figure out what the taste is. I don't taste vanilla or any of the other usual tastes..well..maybe rum? It is indeed sweet, but not overpoweringly so to me. Just a nice sweet taste with a background of what seems to be decent quality tobacco. Whatever the casing is seems to stick around the whole smoke which is nice.. Don't overheat it, as it will get bitter/nasty tasting. Watch your puffing cadence or she'll bite ya. Wife says room note is pretty good..

Finish: Don't bother going all the way to the bottom..gets the burley bitters. As soon as I get the ashy taste I dump it.

At the end of the day this one is a decent, sweet & nutty burley. Some may be offended by the sweetness but it works for me. A reasonable price helps here as well. This one is a keeper for me and I see myself always having a bucket of Sugar Barrel laying around for those times when my sweet tooth calls out. I much prefer this blend over the jar crap I find at the local B&M. If I had one complaint it would be the burn rate is fast..but that seems par for the course with these old drugstore blends..

3 outta 4..give it a shot..perfect for the times you want something sweet

I love the taste of this stuff, it is like smoking an oatmeal cookie. The moisture level is about right, and burns to a clean ash and leaves a nice room note. The only bad thing about this old blend is that it does indeed have tongue bite. Try blending this with Carter Hall, fifty fifty.

A sugar cased virginia and burley blend thats heavy on the sugar. A sweet delightful smoke that is like many natural sugar cased danish blends with a bit more kick. It tends to smoke hot if you don't take your time with it. I like it once in a while but I couldn't make this my everyday tobac because of the scalding my tongue and gums take from its heat. If it were cooler I would give it 4 stars because I do like the taste.

Looking on the Blends list there are all kinds of "sweet" something or others and only one with the word "sugar" in it. This is primarily Burley and some Virginia with a light topping that is sweet and vanilla. Fear not! The topping is quite subtle with plenty of tobacco taste. Now that summer has arrived, I have set aside most of the heavier tobacs in favor of this other light, tasty Aromatics. This is one of my favorites in that category. I just wish I could have bought this in a pouch instead of a 12oz. can. Ah well, summer has just started and this does burn fairly quickly. This smells even better than it tastes which is quite good. Enjoy.

If fresh this is a real treat for me. I lov the simple no frills burleys and this aeromatic was a great change of pace when I want a change. This has a wonderful flavor and aroma of a raiseny brown sugar and the nutty aftertaste of a good burley. No matter how hard I puffed away it just refused to bite. I liked that! This is however, a very "sweet" tobacco and the only real tobacco flavor I can detect is the burley. All in all a great aeromatic for burley lovers!

Since House of Windsor has made such a strong comeback in the "drugstore" blends, I finally decided to order a bucket of this stuff from Middleton from JR Cigar. I've smoked the drugstore brands for years but have never been able to find this stuff locally. It's a mix of burley/bright just like Cherry Blend and Carter Hall and in a crimp cut. It's a little bit moist right out of the can and is flavored with something that smells good but I can't figure out what it might be. On the packaging, it shows an old barrel with XXX so it might be some sort of liquor topping. I've hated all the whiskey/rum blends I've ever tried, but this is different. It loads easily and lights with one match. The taste and room aroma are pretty light but enjoyable. It burns a little bit fast (as do the other blends in the line) do to the cut but doesn't heat up the bowl at all. There's a little bit of bite if puffed fast but it stays relatively cool. It's also one of the few blends where you can smell the aroma while smoking. If it was available near me, it would probably be smoked more often, but I don't see myself ordrring this over and over again on-line. It's priced reasonable though and is pretty enjoyable for what it is. There's just not enough aroma and taste for me. I'll stick to Granger or Velvet with the drugstore blends...