Prince Albert

[afiaowo]

a.paul said, “Hell, lots of people still swear by Prince Albert for a no frills burley.”

With this in mind I went out and picked up a pouch of Prince Albert. I expected to hate it even though I hadn’t tried it. Since I had smoked cigars for over a decade I never found less expensive cigars to be anything but dog rockets.

I must say that this tobacco is incredibly good. I must be smoking the ‘better’ tobaccos wrong because out of the Orlik and Mac Baren I’ve tried I actually prefer the Prince Albert.

It smoked cooler and had a much more pronounced flavor profile. The nut taste that is associated with Burly was very satisfying.

I do feel that the Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky should’ve been better considering it’s mostly Burly and the cost alone should've provided more taste.
Is this a true diamond in the rough or haven’t I tried a good Burly yet? What would you recommend?

Although I’ve not blended from bulk, would a touch of Latakia add just a touch of spice without destroying the basic flavor profile?

As an aside; the only downside I’ve found with Prince Albert is the apparent high nicotine level. This stuff really gets my heart rate up.

[EvanS]

funny thing - I also tried my first PA today and was WAAAAY surprised at how simply good it was. As to the Orlik Dark Kentucky...I love that stuff and find it to have a higher nic content than PA. But the Dark Kentucky needs more attention to drying and packing whereas the PA was almost attention-free.
I agree about the PA flavor, just simply good...nutty and light, nothing "in your face" or complex but smooth and easy smoking. And there is plenty of nic, as you mentioned.
PA has found a place in my regular rotation, and i may buy a shite load of it to store and age...just to see. Also, I could easily see a touch of condiment tobacco being mixed with PA, although I would say easy on the mix as the PA could easily get lost.

oh yeah, and let me extend a warm "Welcome to the CS Pipe Forum" you drugstore tobac smoking ape!!!

[EvanS]

a little addendum to my PA observations above...

having now smoked 6 more bowls of this I am even further enamoured with the tobac. It is still a relatively simple tobacco, but now that I have started packing it in a taller 2" x 3/4" stack I am finding that it becomes a bit more complex. With the taller pipe it's the same old for the first 3rd (and nothing wrong with that, I might add) but for second 3rd of the bowl it becomes very much cigar-like in it's character and density, as well as in flavor. Maybe similar to a solid middle of the road medium body stick (think Padron x000...maybe 5Vegas) Still burning with little to no attention being paid. Now for the last third things get really interesting in that a smoky raisin/fig flavor starts coming to the forefront. It never dominates the bare burley but certainly adds a Perique-without-the-spice element.

I have now had 3 bowls with this tall Tinderbox pipe and the results have been the same as described. And there is a looooong finish to that smoke raisin flavor.

I'd go so far as to recommend to a first time piper, especially if you are coming from cigars, that you should start with Prince Albert. The learning curve is shallow, it's virtually ready to smoke from the pouch, the flavor is straight forward, it burns easily and as for packing.....well, if you can still suck air thru the stem you'll be ok.

Other than Stonehaven in Peterson, this is the first (for me) time that a tobacco has so clearly made it's claim to a certain pipe. (and thruth be told, my guess is that most anything would smoke good in the Pete)
Whooda ever thunk that I'd end up with a pipe dedicated to The Prince??

[NCatron]

I gotta chime in with a dissenting opinion here. I was truly hoping it would be a nice, simple, tasty burley that I could smoke in my car for the 30min commute. Hearing it was low-maintenance I thought it would fit that bill.

Unfortunately, I found it to be so loaded with PG and cased, it tasted like a medicine cabinet. Granted, the only cased tobacco I had ever smoked previously was MacB's Vanilla Cream, but this was a lot worse than I ever expected. The pouch smell reminded me of blueberries or something like that, and the taste didn't have even a hint of tobacco. And the aftertaste... my mouth felt like an ashtray from Mike Ditka's restaurant.

I think I'll look to C&D for my burley blend.

[Nutiket_32]

Originally Posted by NCatron

I gotta chime in with a dissenting opinion here. I was truly hoping it would be a nice, simple, tasty burley that I could smoke in my car for the 30min commute. Hearing it was low-maintenance I thought it would fit that bill.

Unfortunately, I found it to be so loaded with PG and cased, it tasted like a medicine cabinet. Granted, the only cased tobacco I had ever smoked previously was MacB's Vanilla Cream, but this was a lot worse than I ever expected. The pouch smell reminded me of blueberries or something like that, and the taste didn't have even a hint of tobacco. And the aftertaste... my mouth felt like an ashtray from Mike Ditka's restaurant.

I think I'll look to C&D for my burley blend.

Are you sure you got regular PA? They do make some flavored blends I believe.

[NCatron]

Originally Posted by Nutiket_32

Are you sure you got regular PA? They do make some flavored blends I believe.

That was exactly my thought, I double- and triple-checked, it's supposed to be the regular. It wasn't an obvious flavor, like "cherry", just weird. Maybe I'm hyper sensitive and was unable to get past something that others just accept.

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by NCatron

That was exactly my thought, I double- and triple-checked, it's supposed to be the regular. It wasn't an obvious flavor, like "cherry", just weird. Maybe I'm hyper sensitive and was unable to get past something that others just accept.

Much as I hate to disagree with friend Evan, I can still easily bring myself to agree with NC. PA is ok, probably one of the best grocery store pipe smokes, which doesn't say too much. I find it dull in just about every way, from the rise when it is lit and burning to the tamping and packing and the flavor, aftertaste, etc, and the nicotene is so weak it should have been washed another time and cut in ribbons for cigarette tobacco.

[JAK]

I am pretty sure PA has additives which is why it takes so little attention to smoke.

[EvanS]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Much as I hate to disagree with friend Evan,

Actually Joe, it seems you have made your peace with it just fine

In truth I am leaning more this way myself. I no longer see myself keeping any around, but still don't think it is a bad smoke by any means. I like the flavor but readily admit that it is not as captivating as I once found it to be.

Other than that, I will still stick with my assertion that a very first time pipe smoker, especially coming from cigarettes, could do very well to have PA as a first try.

[mike t]

i use pa for breaking in new pipes or smoking out some of the ghosts left in aromatic pipes

[SailorJack]

afiaowo- If you want to try something along those lines than may I suggest Gatlin-Burley from the Gatlin-Burlier in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It is mostly Burley with a touch of Latakia and a lightly applied casing. Quite Good!!