Not as full bodied or as sweet as McCllelands Bulk 5100 but still a nice tasting red virginia. Interesting, polite and well behaved with good burning qualities, this is a virginia that for me could easily become habit forming. At the moment I buy it as a treat, but I cannot help but wonder, what would this be like with a few years on it ? Will have to seriously consider cellaring some of this.

BLACK JACK has not fulfilled my requirements and of course it does not compare to VANNERS MIXTURE which is incredible.

In Europe it can be found as Negrohead, a name not accepted in America, so it appears with the name BLACK JACK. Orange and red flakes of medium thickness that can fill any bowl (big or small) easily. Sweet VIRGINIA and aroma of citron. It can be smoked dry until the end and it generally shows that it is a good and honest tobacco, like all FRIBOURG & TREYER.

Those who enjoy Hamborger Veemaster will feel right at home here.

It is a pleasant smoke, delicate, honeyed, with notes of hay: an unoffensive, slow smoking tobacco with little bite.

In spite of the tobacco being a bit moist and very pliable, it does not burn wet. Overall a nice experience, it burns well and doesn't require much care. Alas, it is also a bit monodimensional and doesn't evolve much through the bowl. But the flavour is always fine, it's not heavy and has no unpleasant traits. Think of it as a gentler variation on Hamboorger Veermaster.

Not mind blowing, but hard to dislike.

Appearance: An orangey-red broken flake of medium thickness, just right for packing as-is into medium and large pipes

Aroma: Mildly sweet Va. Aroma, with a subtle top-note of something citrusy (to my nose).

Packing: Packs well into any size pipe, for smaller pipes you probably will require a bit of rubbing out.

Lighting: Takes flame perfectly, charring light very easy to establish. Tamp, relight, enjoy. Almost foolproof.

Initial flavor: Mild to medium Virginia sweetness, slight citrus taste, mostly medium notes with occasional highs and lows

Mid-bowl: Not very complex, but not monochromatic or dull. The flavor can best be described as lively, but without tingle. Very gentle on the tongue and palate, when smoked slowly. If puffed aggressively, it flattens out, and can get hot, but what tobacco doesn?t?

Finish: Finishes dry, cool and gently. No trace of gunk from the flavoring agent. It generally left me wanting another hit in about an hour (not high in nicotine).

Summary: A great choice for an all-day smoke, mild enough for breakfast, lively enough for all day. Might even be a good choice in the evening, if you don?t crave something heavy.

Tin: In the tin, Blackjack appears to be a blend of various brown VA's - mostly medium, with some light and dark strands here and there. I don't understand how the official description can call this a pure red VA - it clearly is not. Tin aroma is very light and grassy/haylike, somewhat like SG's Best Brown though with a bit more sweetness. The tobacco is fully rubbed out with very few chunks or stems and appears to be at an optimal moisture level.

Pack: Indeed, the cut and moisture is perfect - the tobacco packs easily into any pipe I choose, with no unusual techniques.

Lighting/Burning: The tobacco lights easily and burns well. I don't notice the "fast-burning" that others do. I tend to smoke a bit on the fast side anyway, so perhaps that complaint just doesn't show itself to me.

Flavor: Blackjack tastes exactly as I would guess from looking at and sniffing the tin - a pleasant blend of pure VA's without any dominant flavors. There's a bit of depth from the darker VA's, some spiciness/zestiness from the lighter VA's, and some overall sweetness in the middle that pulls it all together. The overall strength is on the mild side, but not so much so that the smoke feels weak (this coming from a lover of the strong stuff). The flavor intensifies a bit as you smoke down the bowl, but doesn't really change much in character. The smoke is as cool, bite-free, and smooth as any other VA I've tasted. The tobacco handles relights well if I need to put the pipe down - no bitterness or other unpleasant changes.

Pipe/Technique: Blackjack is one of the most accomodating VA's I've smoked - it works well in any size or style of pipe and demands no special treatment, not even the bit of drying time I've become accustomed to.

Overall: In a technical sense (burning, packaging, packing) Blackjack is perfect, but its flavor doesn't quite match up in my opinion. While there's nothing wrong with it, Blackjack's "little bit of everything" approach comes off as a bit too conservative to me. I'll be buying some more of this to smoke during the summer heat and as a change of pace, but I don't see it making my regular rotation. That being said, its outstanding packaging and burning qualities make this an easy recommendation for a first-time or occasional VA smoker. Overall a very refined, well-made tobacco, but just not quite the right flavor to make my first tier of tobaccos.

OK, down to business. After an unusually long time of cursing and muttering, I finally managed to pry the lid loose. My first thought upon looking at the actual tobacco was, "this is going to smoke hot!". The second one was that a more appropriate title for this tobacco would be "Blonde", or perhaps "Light Brunette" -- the contents of the tin are mainly long, light brown ribbons that are cut much thinner than I generally prefer.

I loaded this into a Stanwell HC Andersen with the regular length stem on. The very second the flame of the match came into contact with the tobscco, Negrohead rushed through the pipe with its fangs bared and started chewing on my tongue. The bowl also got so hot I feared it was about to start glowing.

After slowing down as much as possible and puffing as easily as I could, my roasted taste buds finally managed to sense some Virginia goodness through the infernal heat levels. Still, it was tough to final the bowl.

After my tongue had grown back, I decided to try this again, in the same HC Andersen but this time with the churchwarden stem. It still burned pretty hot but this time the heat levels were manageable, and I even managed to sense some of the grassiness some others here have alluded to.

I'll cdertainly finish the tin, but doubt that this will become a regular smoke for me.

1. DATE: 11032004 2. REVIEWER: Art_A 3. BRAND/COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Fribourg & Treyer, England 4. BLEND/TYPE: A ready-rubbed pure red Virginia plug. 5. PRICE/PACKAGING: $ 7.15 50 grams 6. CONTENTS: Virginia 7. CUT: Rubbed out ribbon 8. AVERAGE STRENGTH RATING: In a scale of 1 to 10 this would be a 5 9. TASTE RATING: about an 7 to 8 10.FLAVOR RATING: sweet but not overly so 11.ROOM NOTE/AROMA: 7 to 8 12.IMPRESSIONS:This is a good mild VA A. INITIAL An easy light a bit sharp but sweet tasting B. MID BOWL: The Virginia come out very good and very mild as are F&T Tobacco C. END OF BOWL: The VA stays with no sourness or ash taste at the finish, A mild nicotine hit 13.RECOMMENDATIONS/RATING: (Scale 1 - 5) I must give this 4 stars 14. GENERAL COMMENTS: I had broke out a new meer for this baccy and will use it for F&T's Blackjack (Negrohead in the rest of the world) I like this as a good dry mild VA so much that I have ordered another 12 tins for the celler

Blackjack has a grassy tin aroma and a fairly bright appearance. I expected a stoved VA but this is not what I would consider a black VA at all. Perhaps other tins (that I will certainly be securing for the old tobacco cellar) will appear differently. At any rate, this smokes lightly sweet and dry all the way down the bowl -start to finish. I really like this stuff. It has the spicy and sweet aroma you often find in VA types. I like to smoke this in the car while commuting since I seem to get some good side-stream smoke that way.

Highly recommended. I'll give this about 4.5 out of 5.

I have not tried a "fresh" tin and doubt I will.

It is grassy and lightly sugary upon initial light and relight, then eventually gives way to a slightly tangy, very full tobacco taste.

Earthy/woodsiness does come through but remains very airy. There doesn't seem to be a broad range of flavors but instead subtle shifts in the level of spice and sweetness within an overall full VA taste. Letting it settle and giving it a relight definitely increases the fullness of the taste. I believe I taste a tiny bit of cirtus oriental towards the end of the bowl but it is just a hint.

I couldn't detect additional topping/casing. The room note during the smoke is light and airy. It leaves little to no lingering permeation of the room.

I've found that Blackjack burns clean and remarkably cool. I've only had a bit of bite when using it in a pipe that is somewhat virgin, and overpuffing. Even at the end of the bowl there was no sourness, and just a slight increase in VA tang and strength. This may be a good tobacco for those looking to try out straight VA blends.

By far one of the most overall enjoyable VA based tobaccos I've tried (though my range of experience is still admittedly fairly limited). It seems nearly every smoke gives me plenty of satisfaction with very little fuss, bite, or falter. A clean white-gray ash in the end.

F&T BJ is a hell of a unique VA. According to the company list's description, this is a pure red VA. When you open the tin, there appears to be more variety. The fire curing gives this tobacco an incredibly rich and deep flavor. I love English and Balkans, but the smokiness of this VA is reminiscent of latakia.

It's ready rubbed and well-packaged. This is an exceptional tobacco, especially for the price. For an added kick, get some bulk perique from your tobacconist and mix 1 part to 9 parts blackjack.

A fantastic VA for anyone. This is a classic.