James Fox The Banker's Mixture

Very few blends were as wonderfully put together (IMO), than the original Ireland made The Bankers. Deeply rich Orientals, Virginias and Latakia combined with dark and oily Cuban cigar wrapper leaf to produce a bold, heavy flavor that embraced the palate with TLC. The Burley element was in the background but provided support by lending more strength. Just marvelous!

Pipestud

The Cyprian Latakia is smokey, woodsy, earthy, and mildly sweet. It's noticeable in every puff as it dominates some, but not all of the other components. It’s not a lat-bomb. The burley is toasted, woody, earthy and a little nutty in a supporting role. The same role is played by the Virginia, which is grassy with a little earth, and some citrus. There’s an occasional dry sour note that comes from the Oriental/Turkish, along with some wood, earth, floralness, and a pinch of spice. The herbal, vegetative, earthy, woody, tea-like lightly citrusy, spicy and floral, cigar leaf is a little sweet, and not always obvious, but it plays on your tongue from time to time during the proceedings. It may be a minor addition, but it adds an extra hit of flavor that I’d miss if it wasn’t there. The strength is a couple of steps shy of the medium mark, while the taste is medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won't bite or get harsh, but it does sport a few rough edges. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a fairly consistent smooth, mildly sweet and savory flavor, though for some reason, lacks a little depth even though it has a little richness. Leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste. Two and a half stars only because the lack of depth, though it still makes a decent all day smoke. Though none of the components really stand up to grab your attention, the tobaccos are high quality. I wouldn’t argue against a three star rating.

-JimInks

James Fox-The Banker's Mixture. Note: this was from a loose pouch not a sealed tin.

The smell coming from the blend isn't the best. It's slightly cedar/woodsy and also a little charcoal like. Bizarre.

The look of the blend isn't too spectacular; Browns, blacks, a few golden specks and a standard ribbon cut.

From the pouch the moisture's good. This makes for easy igniting.

Once lit I find it's the cigar leaf that takes the leading role. Bare in mind, I'm not a fan of cigar leaf so this is reflected in my rating but if you like your blends to have some I'm sure you'll like this.

After the cigar leaf the next in line is the Burley. I find after about ten minutes the cigar leaf tends to abate somewhat and allow the Burley to come through a little more.

Those are the only real flavours I get. I struggle highly to identify other tastes, it's mainly cigars and nuts!

I'd say the nicotine sits just above medium in this. Probably a little too much for a taste only piper.

The room note isn't suprising. Again it's like a cigar!

As I said, I'm not a fan of cigar leaf; If I want to taste a cigar I'll have a Montecristo or a Bolivar!

That said though I don't think it's worth only one star.

Somewhat recommended.

As per other reviews it's nice to see the Europeans and Scandinavians keep the "names" of these "days of yore" brands alive; however, these incarnations are not even a match-stick close to the former blends of the British Isles.

This stuff is bland, monochromatic and frankly an utter bore, far too much Burley in my view.

A fantastic cigar blend is Compton's Cuban Style, although it does not contain Latakia it's still wonderfully rich and more importantly interesting. And yes one can clearly see the cigar leaf.

> The incomparable aroma of this fine tobacco is due to the superfine pure Havana leaf which has been skilfully added to give the flavour of a fine Cuban cigar.<

Yes so was it a long time ago.

Now its a Planta. The oposite.

As i just reviewed Wingate Mixture (F&T - Panta) here almost the same tragedy.

Compared to F&T WM it was a more latakiaforward and less subtile.

But also a good smoke.

in the pasttime 3,8 stars, nowadays 1,2 stars

edit:

just remenber:

It was since alwaya a black tin

the step down from F&T to a danish producer was described om the tin with `made for F&T`

and instead of the packing with paper it gets a somewhat plastic ziplock inside the tin. that first change was round about in 1995 - 1997

I feel the other reviews don't quite give full expression to just how absolutely mediocre and tasteless the currently available (German) version of this tobacco is. It smells amazing in the tin, like rich chocolate cake, and I was excited when I opened it thinking I was in for something fantastic. But repeated smokes give absolutely nothing at all - forget Cuban cigar tobacco, there seems to be literally none here. Even crumbling 2% of decent cuban cigar into an English blend will give a far stronger sense of identity than can be found here: try it.

This said, the Burley and Virginia that are here are smooth and bland enough to make this blend quite good for mixing, for example toning down a latakia heavy mixture like Huber's English Balkan when you are not quite in the mood for the full assault, because they impart a certain mellowness without adding any of their own identity.

So although I have found a purpose for it I can't help thinking this is a void of a tobacco which - though I never tried the original - must surely be shadow of what it once was? So I give 1 star, not because it is horrible, it doesn't have the balls to be horrible, but because I think it is an absolute failure of a blend of which the blenders really should be thoroughly ashamed.

This is the third blend I've tried from Fox. All three are excellent. Bankers is described as a medium blend and I will agree with this statement from the tin's label. The tobacco has a wonderfull aroma in the tin. Very English reminding me of a Dunhill blend,but Havana leaf added for a cigar like flavor. The cut is a very nice ribbon without stems or odd cuts like I recently encountered with a tin of Pease's Westminster. Moisture was more than I like, but not wet like most first opened tins. Lighting was very easy and only one relight was needed after the charring light. The draw from my Castello medium size billiard was effortless. The tobacco smoked down to the bottom of the bowl leaving just a small amount of light colored ash. The flavor throughout the smoking was very nice..rich, balanced, sweetness just right..in all more than I expected. The cigar leaf is at the top of the flavor, latakia follows with the orientals and Virginias serving as the base. I would say the blend reminds me of Pease's Robusto, another fine cigar leaf English blend. This is by any standard a top notch blend worthy of a try by all those who enjoy tobaccos of this type.

When I first tried some of this tobacco 2 years ago, it was still Irish-made: sweet, round, full bodied but not overly strong or aggressive. It had a delicious balance between the Virginias, the Latakia and a marvelous cigariness (withouth the harsh or heavy overtones of bad cigars). It was simply unique.

Then some months ago I had a tin of the "new version", which is German-made by Kolhase & Kopp (makers of the Rattray line)... It definitely had changed, in worse... The cigar aroma was less rich and delicious, and the whole blend seemed lighter in taste, more undistinguished. It was still fresh, absolutely not bitey, and quite enjoyable... but the magic had gone! It still is probably the most balanced of all the Cuban leaf blends (GLPease Robust is equally good, but as the name says it can be robust and spicy), athough I also feel that the nicotine content has increased: not untolerable, but I have to smoke it in a bowl which is no more than medium sized or the room starts spinning...

UPDATE: I have just opened a tin of the K&K version which I had let age for 5 years since buying it... not bad at all! It has become smoother, rounder and tastier than my previous experience with a fresh tin. The Cuban leaf has gone to the background even further, leaving a very rich, sweet and thick Latakia-heavy flavour. I am definitely enjoying this! Not as great as the first version I had tried, but certainly recommendable.

This is simply superb. Opening my first tin of this, I wondered at first whether I had loaded it in one of the few pipes that I keep for aromatic mixtures, as it has a sweetness that is extremely pronounced. I have now swapped it into several latakia-only pipes that I own, and find the same tasty, biteless complexity every time. It may be a little more expensive than most pipe tobaccos available in the UK, but it is a real winner and worth the extra few pounds. It is smooth, low on nicotine, and wonderfully flavourful. This is gentle on the tongue, rich, and unusual - I can only suggest that the addition of cigar leaf brings the interplay of orientals to the fore in a way that gloriously complements the creamy latakia and the solid virginia base.

I prefer this in a smaller bowl, as it tends to lose some of the sweetness when smoked in a larger pipe - strange, as I would much prefer to enjoy this for far longer than the 30-40 minutes that a smaller chamber gives. The trade-off is acceptable however, as the reward for a more compact bowl is an intensified flavour that is not marred in any way. It is no hardship to reload more into subsequent bowls, however, as each new first light returns a real reward. I love the consistency in quality that this blend delivers - no woody stems, no monochromatic lumps of one type of tobacco, just a melange of blacks and browns that carries the same experience from pipe to pipe. It is musty and pleasant in the tin, and translates similarly to the room note - my wife rarely comments negatively upon any blends, thankfully, but she endorses my positive description of the way this smells. It lingers in aftertaste in the same way that the room is improved by the burning.

It is also worth noting that the gentleman who served me in the Piccadilly shop was knowledgeable and extremely patient as I browsed through the various tins on offer, and was willing to direct me to other local B&M outlets that might carry further tobaccos to my taste. It may not impact the blend itself, but his emphasis on customer service and warm offer of adjourning to the onsite, indoor smoking area made this purchase to be remembered and recommended.

Delightful mixture that burns slowly and without any hint of bitterness or boredom.

Apart from The Bankers the only other mixture containing cigar leaf that I have smoked was the Balkan Sobranie Virginia No 10, and that only occasionally. I have from time to time mixed the wrapper from the snipped-off end of a Cohiba to enliven an insipid tobacco, but I do not, as a rule, turn to cigar leaf in pipe tobaccos.

On opening the tin The Bankers exudes an aroma reminiscent of Durbar or Royalty, but in a much more muted way. The cigar leaf makes its presence felt in the mildest, subtlest, weakest form.It certainly adds something to the mixture, and I suppose it is an introduction to this type of tobacco. The usual virtues of Fox - impeccable cut, perfect moisture etc - obtain. My tin had some indeterminate age on it. It said made in the EEC: so it was probably made in Ireland.