In Praise of Classic Grocery Store Blends

[Briar Lee]

If I was blindfolded I could identify by smell and taste Prince Albert, Velvet, Half and Half, Carter Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh, Granger, and Middleton’s Cherry Blend.

When I was starting out fifty years ago you could add Revelation, Field and Stream, Holiday, Kentucky Club, and Walnut to that list, although even then they weren’t as commonly found in grocery stores.


It’s a pity Prince Albert and Velvet no longer come in pocket tins.

When I started all those blends were a quarter. A decade or so later they were all a dollar, and the makers (except for Half and Half) seemed to scrimp on leaf quality to hold down costs. Velvet got hit the worst.

But in the last fifteen or twenty years the first seven on my list have all been restored to exactly as they were in 1972. The last five are now available only as match blends.

Big drug stores always carried the full line of what I’ve listed plus fancier tobaccos like Captain Black and Borkum Riff.

The grocery store check out lines fifty years ago had women buying a pouch or can or two along with the family groceries.

They were and are distinctive products, that if you like one I can’t imagine you hating any of them, but smokers developed brand preferences and usually smoked only one blend.

My favorite has always been Half and Half but I love ‘em all.

I’m older than tobacco cellars.

When pipe smokers could buy the brand they smoked on the grocery list, Americans had a wide choice of really good tobaccos in every grocery store.

 

[anotherbob]

I didn't smoke a pipe enough to appreciate that the aim of those blends seems to be something that could be smoked all day without too much thought put into it. Kind of like the pipe quasi-equivalent of the beers you can buy at most grocery stores. Decent but more concerned with not offending the palate of anyone at expense of creating an interesting experience. Enjoyable and good but not interesting and lacking in any noticeable batch variations. There is something good about knowing precisely what you're getting.

 

[Dave760]

I remember buying many of the blends mentioned above, plus Bond Street and Flying Dutchman, from a supermarket that had a whole section, about five feet wide, of pipes, tobaccos, and accessories. And the cigars were in another section, even larger.

 

[Tate]

I went to Walgreen and only saw a lonely bag of Captain Black.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Over here in the UK you can still get St Bruno flake, Condor long cut and Mellow Virginia in some supermarkets. Not a massive selection but i'm a big fan of St Bruno.

Back in the day i'm gonna guess that the selection was a lot larger. Times change, though. These days, there's as much space dedicated to vapes as there is to cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco.

 

[yanoJL]

Over here in the UK you can still get St Bruno flake, Condor long cut and Mellow Virginia in some supermarkets. Not a massive selection but i'm a big fan of St Bruno.

Back in the day i'm gonna guess that the selection was a lot larger. Times change, though. These days, there's as much space dedicated to vapes as there is to cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco.

St. Bruno is, to me, like the Amohora line. Sold in pouches, so like an OTC blend in that way. But seemingly better quality than some of the other pouch blends.

 

[Milverton1868]

I remember most of those blends still being found in the mid 1980's at the local drug store.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

It's been a while since I've had some Sir Walter Raleigh, Carter Hall, and Granger. I always enjoyed those blends in a cob, as for me, they taste better in a cob than my briars and meers. I can't recall the last time I had velvet, but definitely recall the last time I had Prince Albert because it was terrible. I did not enjoy Prince Albert at all.

Of the other blends listed, I've only had the Walnut, as a friend of mine from YT had some of the original Walnut, and it wasn't bad from what I recall. That was back in 2011 or 2012, so it's been a while. I've never had Half & Half or any of the Borkum Riff blends.

 

[Egg Shen]

My whole introduction to pipe smoking was grocery store blends. My grandpa and great uncle smoked Cpt. Black, middleton’s, Prince Albert. The smell lured me and those are blends I still like despite a cupboard full of fancier stuff. My father remembers being sent to the grocery store as a kid, with a note telling them that it was ok for him to buy Grandma’s cigarettes and Gramps’ pipe tobacco.

 

[Grangerous]

Thank you for this @Briar Lee. It’s so sad that this era has passed into history. I can remember an entire isle dedicated to pipes, cigars, and tobacco at our local RiteAid. You could select from several models of Grabow Pipes stacked ten deep and the tobacco selection was just as you say.

Let’s not forget the Middleton SugarBarrel and Cherry blends. Oddly, we never saw Granger sold here in the Northeast.

I do have high praise for these blends. Consistency of product, cool, easy smoking offerings were what we’d and all we needed.

The good old days.

 

[Briar Lee]

Thank you for this @Briar Lee. It’s so sad that this era has passed into history. I can remember an entire isle dedicated to pipes, cigars, and tobacco at our local RiteAid. You could select from several models of Grabow Pipes stacked ten deep and the tobacco selection was just as you say.

Let’s not forget the Middleton SugarBarrel and Cherry blends. Oddly, we never saw Granger sold here in the Northeast.

I do have high praise for these blends. Consistency of product, cool, easy smoking offerings were what we’d and all we needed.

The good old days.

Whether you like Coke or Pepsi better depends on your individual taste buds but I’ve never seen anyone who loved one and hated the other.

You gotta love America.

We make the best affordable things that are bad for you on this planet.

That’s true for bourbon, beer, coffee, cigarretes, ice cream, fast cars and codger pipe tobacco.

Why Prince Albert was so good is that Velvet cost the same and was right beside it.

 

[Grangerous]

“Whether you like Coke or Pepsi better depends on your individual taste buds but I’ve never seen anyone who loved one and hated the other.”

You know? That’s true. I cannot recall a blend that was “bad.” They are different, yes.

I’m going to make a point to revisit my stores of all day blends.

I have an entire tub of Middleton SugerBarrel and of course both SWR regular and Aromatic, Velvet, Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Barking Dog, Field and Stream, Kentucky Club, Half and Half and others.

Just maybe these are our Premium blends?

 

[f4phantomdriver]

I still have 12 and 14 ounce tubs of the OTC blends of yesteryear in my cellar. Whenever I'd see these blends on sale I would pick them up regardless of actually "needing" then at the time or not. I wish I would have stocked up on Kentucky Club Mild, Sugar Barrel and Walnut though. I still have some Walnut and SB in a mason jar but I only smoke them once in a while. Most of the tubs I have are the Captain Black series, Sir Walter Raleigh regular and aromatic, Velvet, Paladin Black Cherry, Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Middleton Cherry Blend, Edward G. Robinson, Heine's Blend, Old Grandad Whiskey Cavendish/Dutch Masters, Lane Limited Ready Rubbed Three Star Blue, and many tins of stuff. The last 5 years or so I've been concentrating on cellering bulk blends, and that is mainly what I smoke anymore. Pegasus, Winchester and Cowboy Coffee are my three main go to blends but I really like Gawith Hoggarth flakes as well.

 

[sablebrush52]

I still have 12 and 14 ounce tubs of the OTC blends of yesteryear in my cellar. Whenever I'd see these blends on sale I would pick them up regardless of actually "needing" then at the time or not. I wish I would have stocked up on Kentucky Club Mild, Sugar Barrel and Walnut though. I still have some Walnut and SB in a mason jar but I only smoke them once in a while. Most of the tubs I have are the Captain Black series, Sir Walter Raleigh regular and aromatic, Velvet, Paladin Black Cherry, Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Middleton Cherry Blend, Edward G. Robinson, Heine's Blend, Old Grandad Whiskey Cavendish/Dutch Masters, Lane Limited Ready Rubbed Three Star Blue, and many tins of stuff. The last 5 years or so I've been concentrating on cellering bulk blends, and that is mainly what I smoke anymore. Pegasus, Winchester and Cowboy Coffee are my three main go to blends but I really like Gawith Hoggarth flakes as well.

Be happy that you put away those tubs when you did. What didn't go away has gone to hell in a hand basket.

 

[Sam Whiskey]

Whether you like Coke or Pepsi better depends on your individual taste buds but I’ve never seen anyone who loved one and hated the other.

You gotta love America.

We make the best affordable things that are bad for you on this planet.

That’s true for bourbon, beer, coffee, cigarretes, ice cream, fast cars and codger pipe tobacco.

Why Prince Albert was so good is that Velvet cost the same and was right beside it.

We make the best affordable whiskey in the world.

I can point to good bourbons for $30, fine for $50.

God Bless America and Elijah Craig.

 

[BingBong]

Over here in the UK you can still get St Bruno flake, Condor long cut and Mellow Virginia in some supermarkets. Not a massive selection but i'm a big fan of St Bruno.

Back in the day i'm gonna guess that the selection was a lot larger. Times change, though. These days, there's as much space dedicated to vapes as there is to cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco.

Back in the day, most tobacconists/newsagents had St Bruno, Clan, Condor, Gold Block, Three Nuns as the backbone of pipe tobaccos, often St Julien as well. Now nobody got nuthin'

 

[VDL_Piper]

I’m starting to err back to these blends. The number of times I find myself wanting a scoop, press and light smoke is growing, simple and easy going is the way to go. I still enjoy a complex smoke don’t get me wrong but I probably enjoy it more so from having smoked a simple drug store blend as my everyday smoke.

 

[Briarcutter]

I stayed away from them for years, now they are my every day smokes.

 

[BingBong]

I stayed away from them for years, now they are my every day smokes.

I have to admit, my palate has rediscovered Three Nuns. In my Savinelli with a balsa filter, it's not shabby at all - I bought a pouch a while ago and it's about finished.

 

[JoeW]

We make the best affordable whiskey in the world.

I can point to good bourbons for $30, fine for $50.

One of my favorites is still Fighting Cock at $18-20 per bottle.