John Middleton, Inc Walnut

Its interesting trying to sort out how you feel about pipe blends that you smoked fifty-plus years ago. All this time from my early days of both college and pipe smoking, I have mistakenly believed that Walnut was one of the blends that I rejected early on as unacceptable and unworthy. Recently, I was the lucky recipient of a multi-bowl sample of Walnut from a 14 oz tin from the late Middleton tinning era; now in a state of good preservation. In the bag it presented as a darkish, granular and ruddy brown and black tobacco that had a feint English sub-aroma underneath wonderfully aged Burley and Virginia odors. It simply compelled you to smoke it, and that is exactly what I did. The smoke, and the smoking itself, was pleasing and soft and round (like how we feel about ice cream) and exhibited all of the positive qualities one associates with a quality tobacco that has aged to perfection without weakening too much. How I ever thought that this blend was nasty, is just beyond me as a mature pipe smoker and I was clearly mistaken in my memories. Okay, now for some reality. At one and the same time, I feel that Walnut was the best of the earlier American Englishes and, yet, there has always been a limit to how much I enjoyed them compared to the Englishes they competed with then and now. Since I do not account for aging in rating pipe blends, this is a very solid three stars.

This opinion is based on a 7 ounce tube from the early 80's.

The tobacco goes from very dark brown to almost black, the years have apparently obscured it a lot. The aroma is strong and somewhat unpleasant. Some aroma of latakia is sensed, but mostly a chemical odor. It can be similar to the ammonia that the burley gives off, of poor quality and badly cured.

The smoke is not pleasant although it seems that the little latakia instead of attenuated has been enhanced. Maybe it's just not my taste but it presents another important problem: it bites, no matter how I smoke it, it bites, and a lot.

Maybe serve as a warning for those who accumulate and age this mixture, apparently has an expiration date

Don't let the price fool you - this is good stuff.

(Notes based on 2oz bag, not a tub)

This blend was not at all what I expected. Tin note was surprisingly heavy with Latakia and Kentucky, which was not expected from an OTC tobacco. It should be noted that there is significantly less Latakia in the smoke than the tin note would suggest.

As a frequent burley smoker, I would not consider this a burley-forward blend. It's nothing like PA, CH, etc in that regard. There's more going on here.

Sadly, it is like its OTC cousins in the chemical content and subsequent chemical aftertaste. It also bites, unlike Carter Hall and others.

An interesting and surprising OTC. But a chemical laden OTC nonetheless. Worth a try for the experience. Certainly not a keeper as there are far superior mild Latakia blends out there.

Edit: it was suggested that I mix this 50/50 with Carter Hall to create something called "Wal-Hall". The result is surprisingly good and better than straight Walnut.

I wanted to like this, but I could not find a good reason to, it tasted weak and flat. I tasted almost no Latakia, but I did get a rather nasty taste from the topping. Not for me.

This is probably the best quality blend that JM makes. I would argue that it is unique from other drug store blends in its quality and complexity.

While it is marketed as an "english blend" this stuff is a true American blend through and through. Don't let the pouch note of latakia fool you. Upon lighting there is a delicious mix of various natural tobacco flavor with a "sweet liquor" topping that persists through the smoke but does not dominate.

It is not nicotine strong (as none of these blends really are) but the mouth feel is a bit stronger (in a good way) than CH or PA. I have gotten many compliments on the room-note from other men.

I can sense this is an "old-school" blend and can imagine past generations smoking this at taverns in Old City Philadelphia.

This is going to be my everyday tobacco for the upcoming fall weather.

Maybe if this stuff was walnut flavored, it would be better. Alas, what happened to this 19th century classic? We will never know, as it is for sure that the blending recipe has undergone many changes over the years. Walnut definitely has latakia in it, as it makes itself known when you open the tub. However, the quality of it must be bottom of the barrel, as it is recognizable only as a mild soapy astringency when the tobacco is lit.

Middleton's states that tis is made from the 7 finest types of tobaccos in the world. All I taste is cheap burley, suplemented by a smattering of what can only be very low grade virginias. I detect no perique, nor orientals. It smokes hot, and doesn't need much coaxing to bite. I really like Carter Hall, so I'm puzzled how the same company can produce a thoroughly unenjoyable tobacco blend. I guess if you're used to smoking straight burley day after day, this might be some kind of change of pace. Otherwie, it is not worth even a look. Pass on it.

Lets go back to meet John Middleton in 1856 in his shop in Philadelphia. No cars, no airplanes, no telephones, horse drawn carriages. No dynamite, no machine guns, no anasthetic for tooth extraction. Lots of perfume to cover the body odor since few took baths and showers were unheard of. Tolstoy was writing War and Peace, Charles Dickens was the best writer of the age. Harriet Beacher Stow had written Uncle Tom's Cabin, the spark about to set off the Civil War. Abolitionism was the political topic of the day.

In the summer the aroma was of horse dung and garbage, in winter the haze of burning appalachian coal darkened the air.

John is determined to create a premium blend though the civil war has made good tobacco difficult to obtain. He can't get perique so he intends to use latakia. But that comes from the other side of the world, several months round trip by sailing ship. But he knows an exotic spice tobacco will make his blend a true luxury.

Carnegie steel builds this country, Rockerfeller's Standard Oil powers the Industrial Revolution transforming the USA into the mightiest nation on earth. And people buys Johns Walnut blend. Two world wars change the face of the planet. Automobiles and air travel compress time. And people buy Walnut. Men land on the moon and John Middleton's Walnut is enjoyed by smokers the world over.

Today Walnut is widely copied, rarely equaled and never exceded. The competition resorts to fancy little tins backed with elaborate web sites, all touting the exotic nature of their newest hope of success, their lap dogs writing glowing reviews. But like the Rock of Gibraltar Walnut has withstood the test of time.

This blend contains all the complexity your humble ability will ever be able to appreciate, enough flavor to please the king or the pawn, just the right strengh taste and smoothness.

Walnut is more than an excellent tobacco. It is a visit with men who were building a new nation and a new world. Men who shared a dream of freedom, opportunity and prosperity. Men who celebrated their success by sharing the best premium tobacco available.

But after 2 ounces: Light body with just a hint of Latakia. Life moves on. Bitter aftertaste, non descript flavor, ashy tonge. No real flavor and no nice smell either in the pouch or in the smoke. No not even think of buying again.

Like the previous poster, I have been a pipe smoker for over forty years and had never heard of this tobacco. I too am primarily a burley smoker and smoke PA a lot. Also, I've been a big fan of English/Balkan blends since I started smoking but have become tired of the Latakia assault on my senses. Anyway, because of these reviews which were all over the board, I became curious and ordered a tub.

At first, I was put off by the bite and the flavor was very one dimensional. Eventually, I put half the tobacco on a platter and set it in the sun for about forty five minutes, stirring it frequently. I let it go till it was dry to the touch but still had enough moisture to keep the spring in the tobacco when I packed it.

Evidently, this was the ticket. The tongue bite was gone and the flavors came through quite well. I smoked it more and more frequently over the next three or four weeks and now it is my favorite tobacco. No one tobacco dominates in this mixture, which I consider the primary quality in a "mixture". The burley gives it good bottom end and fullness and the other various tobaccos create a wonderful taste with an underlying sweetness from the tobaccos and not casing.

Now I've got all these tins of the "best" tobaccos along with jars of tobacco shop bulk tobacco that, in my opinion, don't offer the pleasure I get from Walnut.

I am surprised but I'm sold on Walnut and very happy I took the chance and tried it.

P. S. Whisky compliments this blend very well.

Update 8/19/13

I'm still smoking this and I'm still liking it. Very balanced burley based English blend not overpowered with Latakia. I've continued my lifelong search for an everyday tobacco and haven't found it in tobacco shop bulk blends. Maybe they just try too hard but they all seem to be just too much of something. Oddly, I'm having a lot more success with the simple American burly blends I've mostly ignored for the past 35 years. I suppose I should have paid more attention to blends that have been around for 100 years. I was a beer snob for many years and now have come to prefer simple American Budweiser - I suppose the same thing is happening with tobacco. Update: 6/5/20: Thanks to Match, I’m enjoying this great blend once again.