Hearth & Home Prince Andrew

I have been smoking through a 2-oz sample from P&C. I like this more than the original, and it is a 3-star match. The basics are there. Even the cut and texture are close. I smoked a pouch of Prince Albert last week, so this comparison is not based on cryptic notes or recollections of a distant past.

One difference is an improvement. I did not get any chemical note that is often part of "first light" with Prince Albert. The flavor is very clean, and the cocoa and nutty flavors are there. Another difference is a minus. I don't think the flavor is as "full" in Prince Andrew.

This was a light and easy smoke. It burned well, and did not have tendencies to get hot. It is a good smoke and it is easy to recommend. If you are looking for an "all-day" burley blend, you will like this. The rating is a solid three.

I smoke a ton of Prince Albert....while I find it very satisfactory, there's nothing that stands out for me, nothing that makes it better or worse than any other tobacco. It's just a lightly cased mild burley that is super easy to smoke.

Andrew smokes pretty good. The casing tasted very similar to Prince Albert, though maybe a bit less pronounced. The underlying tobacco tastes almost identical to Prince Albert. It requires a bit more tamping and relighting than Prince Albert...not a lot, mind you, just a bit more than Prince Albert.

I feel like I'm exploring the intricacies of vanilla soft serve ice cream at Dairy Queen versus Sonic. I wouldn't say they were identical, but I found them to be close enough to be virtually interchangeable. An extremely discerning palate could probably find more subtle difference than I did, but in the end they're both pretty much just plain jane soft serve.....errr, I mean, mild drugstore burley. Which, I suppose, means Hearth and Home hit a home run.

Bag note is grassy hay with a smell similar to play dough. It’s sweet smelling. Ribbons of various dimensions with the perfect feel and moisture content. Packs and lights like a dream.

On lighting this I’m not met with any sort of play dough, PG, or chemical taste. I do however get an alcohol flavor and the taste of walnuts. The rest is burley. Wood, grains, nuts, molasses. Nuts being prominent, like walnuts. It’s fairly nutty and boozy which is delicious. Later on I did get some cocoa flavor too. Now I’ve never smoked Prince Albert in a can… so I can’t compare. However the quality of this here is above average and this was an enjoyable smoke. Leaves little aftertaste, a bit of a mouth tingle, and a bit of harshness for me. Burleys tend to bite me. Little nicotine which is a plus for me. I enjoyed the top notes which makes this 3 stars. Something I would definitely buy again.

*update*

After smoking some Prince Albert circa 74-86 I was surprised at the similarities. The prominent flavor being walnuts. The alcohol flavor I imagine had been lost due to age.

Pleasant surprise. Nice, nutty burley, mild cocoa taste. Takes and keeps a light. Very nice all-day smoke. None of the chemical taste that you get at the first puffs of so many OTC blends - like this more than the tobacco it sought to copy.

This is exactly what is claims to be, an excellent match to Prince Albert. Perhaps unreasonably, I was hoping that, like a couple of the other H&H Match blends, better ingredients and the hand of a master blender would make this a bit better. Not so. I find PAlbert smokes too hot, too wet, and with too high a nic hit. I tried PAndrew, fresh out of the tub, in the 3 pretty good briars I save for burleys and had a nearly indistinguishable experience. PAndrew does smoke all the way to the bottom and has a slightly better room note. I'm going to give this 3 stars because it's what it claims to be. One star for me. I appreciate the very reasonable price of these blends but I wish there was an option to try out a smaller container. I'm not much for fussing with waiting for tobacco to dry out. I think it should arrive smokable. But I'll leave some of this one to dry for a week and revisit if necessary. Till then, I'll stick with the excellent Chestnut when I'm feeling nostalgic.

As a clone, for lack of better term, of Middleton's famous "Prince Albert" burley blend, the immediate question that springs to mind is whether Prince Andrew succeeds as an imitation. In short, it does. Indeed, smoking the blends back-to-back, I could scarcely differentiate between them, and I imagine only those truly dedicated diehard fans of Albert will be able to do so with any consistency. This is a blend that mirrors its inspiration with a high degree of accuracy, and manages to be more readily available and affordable in the process. So, if you want some Albert, but want to save a few bucks or are tired of having to hunt down a pouch of the once ubiquitous blend, here is your answer to those problems. Read no further.

But to judge the blend on its own merits, there is still much to recommend. This is a classic burley "codger" blend through and through. The cut is classic ribbon style, which is the one and perhaps only major difference between it and Albert, which is a cube-cut blend. The tobacco takes to a light readily and requires few relights, and the tin note has that earthy, woodsy burley scent upfront, with hints of cocoa and vanilla to come; this tin note coincides with the flavor exactly.

The buttery and slightly woody tastes of the burley are present throughout the entirety of the smoke, and the cocoa and vanilla swirl together and interplay nicely, never sublimating the burley. There is not much complexity here, but what is lacking in depth is made up for in consistency and pleasantness. This is an all day smoke that has very few rough edges and just enough body and a nicotine hit to give it some oomph.

Full disclosure: when it comes to the so-called "codger" or over-the-counter (OTC) blends, Prince Albert has been one of my favorites. But for my money, Andrew gets a slight edge by delivering the same result in a cheaper and easier to acquire product. I also find this to be an exceptional blend for breaking in new pipes. For some hardcore burley fans, this may be a little too light. And for the discerning aromatic fans, the sweetness and flavor just a bit too thin. But for most, this will hit that sweet spot. I know it does for me. A fine blend for beginners and aficionados alike!

First let me say that I am not one that smokes many straight burley blends, but occasionally have the taste to light one up. The pouch noted was very chocolaty. The tobacco moisture was right on the mark. It packed well and stayed lit with a reasonable number of relights. The taste was a nutty chocolate, very pleasant. All day smoke - not a bad burley blend

I bought this to smoke as a replacement for Prince Albert when it disappeared during the great COVID pandemic of 2020. For you all in the future, that’s when the world went nuts over the super sniffles for a year or so.

As a sub for the prince, it is not what it tries to be. That’s not a bad thing, it actually does stand on its own, I believe. The blender is really good at what he does, and he made a good all day burley blend reminiscent of drug store burley blends.

It’s a better cut than the original, and I think the leaf is better too. Mostly brown and gold. Has a tin note of molasses and cocoa, very faint though. Just a little whiff of sweetness. The moisture was good as it came. It packs and smokes more like a premium blend would. The dip in the pouch method requires some thought here. It burns well, if a bit slower than the original. The flavor is burley, with a light hint of topping. It is lacking the preservation agents you would expect, so it burns a bit drier.

Overall, it is a good all day burley. It smokes well and tastes good. Smells pleasant also, and doesn’t get boring. I tend to smoke a good deal of these sorts in cobs at work all day, so I should know. Well worth a try, as it’s a good value for the product.