Fribourg & Treyer Blackjack

Surprise surprise.... no idea why this blend would be called blackjack, it's a straight red virginia. Quality of leaf seems high, very little debris. Nothing fancy, just a good quality enjoyable virginia. No bite, no difficulty. When your favorite is unavailable, try this out!

Funny how some of these terrific blends stay under the radar.

Revised 5/22/2014- I've had this breathing for about a month and it has improved greatly. Any hint of "Lakeland floral" is gone and the interesting spice and sweetness that I associate with a "Red" is present ( I still think there maybe some Perique). I should know better and give any vacuum packed tin more time to breath before I evaluate it. 4 stars

Agree with "DK" , "a different kind of sweetness"

Original Review- A smooth Virginia. Initial light gives a whiff of sweetness and maybe even a hint of Lakeland Floral scent, Perique is not listed, but I think there is a touch in here, well done. Unfortunately, I don't find much sweetness or flavor , the blend becomes very bland very quickly( to stoved). Except for the light color, I find a lot of similarities with SG's FVF in strength and it even has a background bitter note that I also find in FVF, both darker base noted tobaccos. I prefer more sweet high "Reds" , like McC 5100 and even FVF has some sweetness. This smokes with no bite, has a solid base , respectable "N", but is missing that " twang". I can't disagree with those that like this, but I won't buy again just because it's not my style of Virginia ( this doesn't remind me of a "Red").

Agree with reviewers "TK Pipe" & "JimInks"

The first true Red virginia I have tried, bought a tin of this earlier in the year and thoroughly enjoyed it, thus the order of five more tins prior to Christmas, and no regrets.

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.

This is a nice and simple Virginia blend. This tobacco has a wonderful taste with notes of sweet wood, creme, honey, and the occasional citrus note. It is incredibly simple and does not change much as the bowl progresses but is wonderfully satisfying. I find this to have medium bite for a Virginia. I really enjoy this blend a lot and will definitely buy more. I don't think this is a four star blend, but it is one of my favorite tobaccos, this blend is simply enjoyable.I definitely trying Blackjack.

This Virginia blend is known as "Negrohead" in the parts of the world that have not yet surrendered to the process of intellectual suffocation known as "political correctness". I love F&T's Cut Virginia Plug, but also I have to admit that I ordered this partly because of its outrageous name.

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.

English lovers beware: We have competition.

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.

This one surprised me based on its name since the blend is actually red/brown with a smaller % of light VAs. Since it is rubbed out in the tin, nothing further is suggested. Quick to light and burns easily and evenly. The taste of this blend appears to be highly influenced by pipe choice although I've only had one 50G tin to date. I'm therefore not sure if it's the bowl size or pipe manufacturer or both and will have to experiment further. Large bowled Charatans seem to work the best and result in slightly sweet smoke with hints of spicyness towards the end. In other bowls, my mouth ended up being extremely dry both during the smoke and in the aftertaste. Perhaps the speed of smoking is making the difference. However, in any case, it's just pure tobacco taste from quality tobacco.

Pouch Aroma: This is a very sweet and grassy smelling tobacco in the bag - it actually reminds me of the hayloft when I was a kid and summer was drawing to a close. I love the smell of Timothy hay, and this aroma is really taking me back. Very nice! It's sweet, but has a musty, dusty undertone to it, likely from a combination of aging and the addition of a touch of perique. The balance of aromas is interesting, and I hope the flavors play off of one another this nicely.

Appearance: This appears to be a broken flake comprised of roughly 30% each of red and brown virginias, 25% golden and the remainder dark leaf - perique and perhaps a smidgen of stoved Virginia.

Packing and Lighting: I didn't bother rubbing this out any more as it's already at a perfect coarseness and moisture level to load easily into a little Gefapip "Tignes" Rhodesian. The initial light is easy as the smaller pieces on top catch fire readily and the smoke is sweet but sharp-tasting. I puffed up a good crown, tamped lightly and puffed some more then went outside to clear my sinuses. Coming back in, I get a VERY woody smell - not deeply smoky like Latakia, but more of a clean-burning wood like Alder. The second light ignites the whole top, has a slightly mellower flavor and is smoldering well, providing a very cool smoke.

Exposition: The flavor of this is very light and ephemeral even when blown out through my nose. All sharpness is gone now, the sweetness is like a light caramel syrup and the smoke is a deepish blue-grey and medium in density. The smoke wafting off the top of the bowl is the most interesting thing thus far - very sharp and oaky with very subtle sweet undertones like baking ginger cookies. So far it's nice, but a tad dull for my taste this morning.

The Story: After a 30 minute rest and a relight, the body has (as I expected) been kicked up a notch. It's still a nice mild blend, subtly spicy and sweet and now has an added dimension to it - the grassy qualities have faded into something darker and more like holiday baking smells with touches of wood smoke and perhaps someone smoking a mild cigar in the next room. It's a fast smoke even for this smallish pipe, but the flavors are changing quite a bit from one minute to the next. The smoke off of the bowl is now more nutty than sweet but maintains the woodsy sharpness that makes me enjoy this so much in a bent pipe.

Denouement: The tail end of the bowl is still of very consistent flavor, the smoke is still cool and has not a hint of sour- or ashiness, the nicotine level is mild and there has been only a slight tendency to bite which was easily averted by puffing more slowly. When I finished, the bowl of my pipe was coated nicely with a fine mottled black-and-grey ash and there was not a shred left unburned.

Pros: It burns well, cool and is pleasantly fragrant while having some nice pure tobacco flavors. I would be likely to smoke this in a large pipe at night, saving the last half-bowl for breakfast. I must admit that the bright flavors make for a nice wake-up for the palate!

Cons: The only slight negative I could find with this is that it burns quickly even when not dry, but this may make it good for shorter smoke breaks so I can hardly call that a negative.

Finally was able to get a tin of this. I believe I've stated before almost anything produced by Kolhase and Koppe has become harder to get due to Mcclelland no longer being around.

This is a really nice blend. More rubbed out to a ribbon cut than a typical ready rubbed. The tin note reminds me of burnt sugar at first but letting it breathe brings out more of a nutty red virginia with a slight spice. From first light to last puff it's very consistent. It's a rich red virginia nuttiness with a dark sweetness, a good amount of spice and zest, especially on the retro hale along with a good amount of creaminess. The bright Virginia adds a little bit of clarity to the overall flavor profile. Burns cool and clean with no tongue bite. Does have a little bit of roughness but nothing a little age cant improve. And I image the creaminess will increase with age also.

I'm actually very excited about Blackjack because this Is the closes I've gotten to the Mcclelland 5100 flavor profile than anything else I've tried. I've already ordered another tin and planning to order more as long as its available really soon. This will age so well.

Update 10/19/21

Just cracked a tin that I purchased in June 2020. Just over a year of age makes a large change in this blend. Originally the tin aroma was a burnt sugar but age turned it into a fruit bowl. Very figgy, raisin tin note. The flavor hasn't necessarily changed but became much more smooth. The darker Virginia takes more of a role with more darker sweet bready and nutty tones. Very nice and still highly recommended.