Fribourg & Treyer Cut Blended Plug

This is one of the best VA flakes I have ever tried. The Va leaf are sweet, bready, and tangy. The casing is noticeable but enhances the tobacco flavor notes rather than being distracting. Like other Va flakes from K&K, Blended Cut Plug smokes quite smoothly and will keep your interest all the way through the smoke. It is my favorite in the Fribourg & Treyer line.

Well this was a pleasant surprise. Upon reading that this one was flavored with citrus an fruit juice I wasn't expecting such a pleasant smoke. The sweetness is definitely there but it does not overpower the wonderful full Virginia flavors which remain the backbone of all of F and T's flakes. Back in the days I was fortunate to visit the F. and T. shop at Burlington arcade in London and purchased a 4 oz. tin of their Special Brown Flake which in those days I believe was probably blended for them by S. Gawith. If you were to take a tin of S.Gawith FVF and age it for about 5-6 years you would have a pretty good facimile of what that nicely fermented Special Brown was like fresh out of the tin. One of the reasons so many old timers like me lament the greenness of todays tobaccos is simply because the blenders just do not bother to age their leaf like the old days. Ask Mike McNiel. Anyway I will lay down a few tins of this one, a couple of years should make it even tastier but frankly it is pretty darned good right now.

Loose mid brown flakes with prominent streaks of bright tobacco. Tin note is malt and caramel.

My tin, which I assume to be recent, makes no mention of anything other than Red Virginias. I cannot detect any condimentals in this tobacco.

A little difficult to get started, once underway this tobacco will burn with minimal attendance. It has a largely neutral flavour with some spiciness and a mild sweetness. Occasionally perfumed notes emerge suggestive of DFK, but are too transitory to be convincing. This tobacco burns a little on the hot and wet side, but is not harsh on the tongue.

I'm not sure if I find this tobacco interesting or just confusing. Certainly there is enough happening to warrant return visits, but it would never be a part of my regular rotation. Somewhere between two and three stars if I'm honest.

I used my official pipe for flakes national Finamore , affectionately nicknamed " Old War " , as it was my first pipe, and light it with matches ...

About this good tobacco , one flake , I can say that is the main recommendation to beginners in this format , because as " Dunhill Flake B " is said pretty much the same if not lower in all attributes than the old Light Flake , which does not disqualifies . It is tasty without exaggeration, is smooth and I recommend to beginners mainly because the more experienced prefer Dunhill, and potent Full Virginia Flake . A positive point to note is that it does not heat the bowl which in these days of heat is an advantage , however, during this a week that come to enjoying noticed it as well and humid which causes noise through a straw ( which annoys a lot ... ) , for this separated one or two flakes outdoors for about 15 minutes and really helps to regulate moisture. It is an option which in my opinion should not recur for a second time because for me it's more of the same , since I already have some experiences with Virginias from other houses , to quote the flake own Dunhill , Samuel Gawith Golden Glow and others of the House McClelland and surely this could not even match any of these , what do I repeatedly indicate beginners confreres in flakes or imported tobacco . the effect of nicotine ( for me ) was virtually nil .

I'm not an specialist in pure Virginias,VAs, in fact , i dont like so much... This is not a exception. For me is strong in Nicotine, bitter and peppery... Two starts for their quality,but is not a tobacco for me, my personal preference.

No need to embellish what the credible reviewers below have already written...this is another very, very nice Virginia from Fribourg & Treyer. Sadly, a couple reviewers have mistaken Perique for the addition of a lightly-stoved VA component (used to give some depth and complexity to the blend, add some mellowness and slow the burn rate).

Lighter Virginias are typically a little 'tangier' to start with. Coupled with the slight raisin-type flavor of a stoved VA component. Thus the confusion.

IMO, there's no Perique in this formulation.

UPDATE: I've been smoking a 3 years aged tin, and it had changed very little. Sad. I guess the tobacco is tinned too dry for the fementation to really get going. The Kentucky is, if anything, more noticable today than when fresh. I don't really like these pseudo-Fribourg & Treyers.

CORRECTION: this is hardly a regular va-per as i stated in my original review below, as the perique is used so sparingly as to be only just discernable. it may contain a bit of kentucky, too. END CORRECTION

a quite pleasant va-per. no bite to mention, a delicate virginia sweetness, a slight perique fruitiness, and in the background, the typical german-danish sugar casing. it is in no way a casing taste that will make me see this tobacco as an aromatic, but it is unmistakingly of k&k origin. as always with those, it is well crafted, easy to light, and comes in a pocket-friendly tin. one of the best of the present day fribourg & treyers.

not an absolutely first rate tobacco, but one which will, i feel, improve greatly with a a few years of cellaring. my present tin has been cellared for half a year, and is already a lot better than straight from the tobacconist. it may even develop into a four star tobacco in a few years.

reccommended as a nice summer smoke.

Like its "sister" Virginia Cut Plug, this blended cut plug is warm, inviting, mellow, and somewhat rich.I say somewhat, because at different times of the day and in different weather, this smokes in varying overtones making it richer depending on those variables and of course, pipe size, packing method, and how you crumble or rub out the slices.

Not a complex tobacco, but genuine good tobacco taste and flavor. A reasonable all-day smoke for me and one I keep in regular rotation with my other Virginia plugs and flakes.

This tobacco smokes well in almost any pipe and I tend to smoke it in a number of my Castello's and Dunhill group 5 size straight billiards.

A great all-day smoke for Virginia flake cut smokers or for the beginning Virginia flake smoker seeking a mild, good tasting tobacco with a wonderful aroma.

Regards, Peter

.....a pipe is to be savored

A little, rectangular 50g tin, with a simple red label showing a line drawing of the famous XVIII Century F & T storefront on 34 Haymarket Street, London, and the crowned snuff rasp, a trademark of this most celebrated of snuff millers.

Within, a perfectly tooled, copper-coloured red Virginia plug, neatly sliced and un-topped.

Remarkably, it fires more easily than any flake I have ever smoked, and stays lit longer. No bite at all: I smoke it greedily, and suffer no consequences.

The taste is of the mildest?too light, in fact, for me; but it has a refined finish and smooth smokability that I enjoy.

The lightest-tasting, least bite-prone, most refined Virginia flake I have ever encountered.