John Middleton, Inc Kentucky Club Mild

I'm not sure my review would be the same if I had smoked this tobacco from a fresh tub (impossible now), but it is out of production. The tin I had was from the late 1980s and the cube cut leaf was brittle and very dark. The tin aroma brought back those early days of pipe smoking memories for me as did the presentation once lit. Mild, delightful Burley with a little old fashioned something to sweeten it up a bit without ruining the tobacco flavor. Nice smoke, especially for the price!

Just finished up the better part of a 14 oz tub. Tub aroma is plain old burley. The floral casing that others have described was so faint that I'm not sure it was there at all in my tub. Taste was basic burley nuttiness with a slight hint of sweet hay. It was slight and it was fleeting. 99.5% of the flavor I got was straight, honest burley.

I find this to be one of the, if not THE, best American OTC blends currently available. It started off with a whiff of that weird soapy character I get when I first fire up a straight burley blend and very quickly calmed down into the ever-popular burley descriptor of nutty. What elevated this one ahead of a lot of other basic OTC's is that this never got bitter down the bowl. It got a bit hotter but not too hot. No tongue bite overall but I did get a hint of sizzle at the match that lasted a minute or so.

The only issue I have with this one is that it's price is no longer as reasonable as it used to be. One can get a pound (16 oz) of C&D's Burley Straight at a cheaper price per oz than a 14 oz tub of this. I prefer the C&D, but only slightly, with regard to taste but the new cost of a tub of this makes the C&D even more attractive. I do recommend this to lovers of straight burley but I have to give the overall nod to the C&D version.

This is a basic burly ..medium brown in color. Not much of anything in the way of flavor. Slightly nutty and slightly sweet... perhaps a very light sugar casing which is well in the background. It can bite like a rabid dog if not smoked slowly.

All in all not too bad if you have experience with this sort of tobacco. I don't recommend it for beginners.

Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. PA or CH will blow this away, but you can't argue with the KCM price.

I won't be buying it again.

UPDATE: 12/15/11

I added some moisture to KCM and it opened up a little .... enough that I am adding another star. It still bites a little but there is more flavor .... simple flavor. It still tastes like some kind of mild sugar topping. If you have the discipline to smoke it slowly it isn't bad. I still won't buy it again but if you fancy this type of smoke you will like it especially since it is cheap to buy.

KC Mild … Another old timer that is still quite popular. KCM has its own unique character, similar in strength to Sir Walter Raleigh, only this blend does not seem to have any noticeable added topping, more a straight tobacco taste and aroma.

Medium brown in color, mild with no bite or bitterness, very pleasant from light-up to bowl bottom. IMO one of the better, so called straight Burley's available. Nothing fancy here, just good old fashion burley pipe tobacco, tasty and simple. The only negative trait I found was its tendency to burn a bit fast/hot. So I found that a heavier tamp than normal for this cut, helpful. Overall I feel very confident in recommending KCM to those that find happiness in cob pipes and basic American tobacco's. For them, 3 plus stars.

First off I'll say I'm biased toward this tobacco as it is what my grandpa used to smoke. That being said , KCm is a great all day weed that always satisfies and never interferes. Smells like an old time burley in the can, packs and light flawlessly, and has that old time tobacco thing going for it all the way until the end. I wish the vitamin N content was a bit more, there just isn't quite enough N in a cob full to satisfy but a second cob quickly brings nirvana. On it's own merits this is a three star blend for me but add nostalgia and I bump it up four. I still prefer Prince Albert to KCm in the pipe but for remembering old times and working/walking grandpas old farm, its Kentucky Club Mild.

It is a rare occasion to receive such a gift in Austria. A friend brought it home from the United States.

Tin note is very spicy and a bit sweet, there is some cinnamon and cocoa quality to it.

The ribbon cut is quite easy to pack, lights and burns fine.

I'm overwhelmed. No Burley-based blends I know of are available in Austria, and this was a fascinating sidestep from English, Latakia, Virginia and other blends. What constitutes the tin note for me finds itself back in the smoke; tiptoeing from peppery spiciness to sweetness ever so often it is a pleasurable smoke from the beginning to the end of the bowl. It may be uniform or one-dimensional, but as it's a rare gem to find where I live, it can't get old quite so easily.

The room note definitely has something of incense and tea.

Lady Nicotine seems to have turned away from this blend, it's not strong at all, but who am I to judge, being a regular cigarette smoker!

All in all, I could easily give this blend four stars - but excellency does not come from nothing, and so I deducted a star for the lack of depth and variation in the taste.

I cracked open the 14oz bucket of this I had for quite some time. Inside I found pretty much exactly what the tin description says. All brown cube cut burley..I didn't notice any topping..just nice plain burley smell.

Using the tried & true gravity fill that these blends/cuts seem to favor, I set flame to the tobacco and begin the journey. What I discovered was an easy going, very mild (too mild) smoke. This is just plain burley with no detectable topping by my taster.

Smoked clean, cool, dry all the way to the bottom. I didn't get the bitter finish at all. This one just doesn't have anything to keep me interested however..don't look for any flavor explosions here. Just plain burley. I can see this being used as a blender to perhaps tone down some bitey VA's or I would imagine it would be very useful for breaking in new pipes. And thats about all I see myself doing with the remaining amount I have.

All in all I can't see this one offending anyone, and at about a buck an ounce its worth a shot to try. 2 stars here for me for lack of flavor but 3 stars for cost, burning characteristics, cool smoking..

Not bad..but nothing to write home about.

On a whim, I purchased a pouch of KCM at an independent backwoods Wisconsin supermarket. Yes, it is a drug store blend but it has survived for decades as have a handful of other drug store blends. This has to say something about their quality and/or popularity. This is a simple burley that was introduced in simpler times. It is straight forward, mild and moderately sweet. The thing I noticed most with this blend is the very distinct and very pronounced ?grassiness? that I have not experienced with other burleys. This may have something to do with the mild topping or casing. The grassiness does dissipate and become less pronounced as you progress down the bowl. I think this grassy/hay characteristic will be what either makes or breaks this blend for you. I experienced no bite. This fine cube cut burley burns cool and to a dry ash. This is not an outstanding blend. It is a simple, down-to-earth, old-fashioned burley blend. Take a ride back in time with KCM when you have the opportunity to buy a pouch.

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 8.0 out of 10.

Burley Grape Nuts. I missed the boat and didn't order any of this when they delisted it. I have since bought two tubs, one from 1983 and one from the 90s. My opinion after smoking the aged version is that this is the very best of the American OTC Burleys. The tobacco still available that is most like Kentucky Club is Sir Walter Raleigh.

They say age doesn't help Burley but you could sure fool me. The 1983 tin had a rich chocolate cake aroma, and that tobacco is like smoking chocolate cake. It's incredible, I've never had anything like it. In every other regard, it reminds me of SWR.

The 90s tin had a strong dark fruit nose to it when I popped the tin. It's kind of raisin-y and plum-y. There is an underlying chocolate body with the fruit. That tin is also excellent, although not as rich and decadent as the 1983 tin.

Granted, both these tubs had age on them before I broke the vacuum. As I said, this is a very similar tobacco to SWR, and I would probably be just as enthusiastic if I had snagged and smoked old tins of that one. My advice is twofold: if you can get your hands on Kentucky Club and you love Burley, you're in for a treat. Enjoy yourself. Lastly, buy a 14oz tub or two of SWR and wait 20 years to break the seal. If it's anything like Kentucky Club you're going to be ecstatic when you get there. I know I'm going to.