John Middleton, Inc Black & Mild

The vanilla in the topping and is the star flavor. The sugary black cavendish is obvious as a lead component. You can taste the nutty, earthy, woody burley a little, but it's a minor player. The strength is very mild, while the taste is mild. Has a very mild nic-hit. The flavor is consistent throughout the experience, but the mixture burns on the warm to hot side, and leaves too much moisture in the bowl. Requires some relights. I got a chemical note or two, and too much syrup. The after taste is plain. Is an all day smoke.

-JimInks

I quite enjoy this stuff. If Carter Hall were made in an aromatic version, I imagine it would be like this.

It is not an attractive blend to behold, to be sure. It looks like 1/3 Carter Hall blended with 2/3 black cavendish, cut into pieces of all sizes and shapes to greet, or perhaps insult, the eye. Even after drying and careful storage, it's oddly sticky to the touch. I store mine in a jar, and upon opening, I am greeted with a cloying blast of vanilla with a suggestion of amaretto and fermented something-or-other.

All is forgiven once this is set aflame. I find myself rewarded with an intensely rich and satisfying Burley foundation topped with notes of cake spice and vanilla, with a room note to match. It is an aromatic that, thank goodness, tastes like tobacco first and foremost. The cake spice and vanilla notes begin to fade by mid-bowl, and what is left is a rather robust Burley experience. The blend is well-behaved in my briars, more so than most "drugstore" aromatics, and can be smoked without thinking too much about one's technique. A considerable amount of dottle will often be encountered, but I've no trouble with my well-dried stash of this blend gooping up or ghosting my pipes.

Not for everyone, to be sure, but for those who might wish for a bridge between an old-timey drugstore Burley blend and a full-bodied black cavendish, this could be worth a try. Dry it out first in order to give this a fair trial--you might find yourself surprised by the rich flavors to be found here.

Tastes sure do vary when it comes to our likes and dislikes in pipe tobacco. A friend and fellow pipe club member absolutely loves this stuff and buys it by the barrel. At a recent meeting he offered me a bowl. Since I'll try just about any legal tobacco, I loaded up quickly in a pipe I reserve for aromatics. I unloaded just as quickly. I've tasted goopy aromatics many times in my life and this one ranks right up there with the best (or worst) of 'em.

There are a few decent drug store aromatics that are decent Steady Eddie smokes. Sometimes I'll got to them for a change of pace, or working on the road and run short.

This stuff is horrid, wicked heat and bite, sickly sweet, sticky like jam. Maybe it was cased with Robitussin cough syrup . . . "drugstore blend". They took the term way over the top with this one.

I like black and mild cigars but not the pipe tobacco it tasted fake like a bunch of chemicals bad after taste, not at all like the little cigars

I have to agree with my fellow reviewers on this one. Chemical tobacco at its worst (or at its best, depending). A hot tasting cough syrup would fairly describe this blend. A warning from the Surgeon General on the pouch of this tobacco should read: Caution, smoking this blend will permanently impair your sense of taste.

The quality of Black and Mild cigars has significantly declined in the last couple years. Most of the time, they have little to no air flow to allow a satisfying drag. Whenever I buy a 5 pack anymore, it seems only 2 out of the five are any good. I end up throwing away more of them than I use and for that reason I would NOT recommend this garbage. I’d give 0 stars if I could. Save your money and buy something better quality.

I'm wondering if all these bad reviews were mostly from non aromatic smokers. I'll bet that's the case. English blend smokers LIVE to bash any and all aromatics from what i've seen and read (no offense bro's). Black and Mild cigars taste NASTY. It's amazing that they are the # 1 selling cigar sku in the nation! But their loose pouch tobacco, if you can find it, isnt half bad. Out of nostalgia, I ordered Middleton's Black and Mild Vanilla loose pouch tobacco. (In the very early 80's I smoked Middleton's Black and Mild loose tobacco as a young Marine and I enjoyed it.) It wasnt bad at all. Nice flavor, smoked cool and didnt bite. Of course I prefer premium flavored aromatics, but let's not forget, Middleton's has produced successful selling pouch tobacco for DECADES. There's a reason for that, but it isnt because of their cigars, that's for sure.

This to me is a cheap version of Capt. Black white, but not half as good.It tastes cheap and lacks flavour a good black should posses, and it bites a bit too.

I'll gladly join Big bad Jon here on bash Black & Mild Day.

One of only 18 inductees into this sites Tobacco Hall of Shame (there should be dozens, if not hundreds more but that's a rant for another day), Black Death...err...Black & Mild is quite worthy of this dubious honor, taking its rightful place among such legends as Mixture 79 and Borkum Riff Whiskey.

I adoringly call this Gunk Junk. Truly among the worst alleged tobaccos of all-time.