Fribourg & Treyer Cut Blended Plug

I haven’t been excited with a tobacco since having Ascanian No2, notwithstanding Synjeco’s brilliant Holker Twist. 5 flakes is usually too soon to consider writing up, but each smoke has been identical so i have no reason to expect surprises from this blend.

The elegant tin contains perfectly formed Kohlhase & Kopp flakes, mostly shades of brown with a few black and a few bright strands. They smell like sweet bread with the tiniest hint of spice. Closer to the nose brings some grass and wood. Wood is not something i often associated with Virginia but I am not an expert at all in the genre. It is like pleasant dry wood shavings, like a carpenter’s shop, not the raw oak of ODF, or the sourness of some DFK bombs I’ve had. Both spice and wood carry in the smoke.

The flakes do need some drying, had them within 1 hour from the tin or overnight drying to a crisp and rubbing them out. Had them folded and stuffed, cube cut, the name of the game is consistency, this tobacco behaves and tastes very consistently throughout the bowl, regardless of the prep.

Taste is great, really great. Quite sweet on lighting up, almost aromatic sweet for me, but it subsides fairly quickly without going away. I got a lot of hints of cinnamon, wood, body, sweetness of raisin bread. The main point is that the taste is consistent, reasonably strong, and very enjoyable. That’s it, no more no less. Very enjoyable, next one up will be Cut Virginia Plug

This one is a winner for me, my favourite. Red Virginia, some floral and vanilla topping, complex, smokes cool, fantastic flavour, well behaved and excellent quality. Slow burning and white smoke. The topping gives it that extra complexity and does not detract from the Virginias. This is the most satisfying smoke I've ever had. I cannot say enough good things about this underrated tobacco. The downside is availability which can be a bit difficult at times. This one has the same topping as Vintage Flake but for me the topping in this tobacco works better than with Vintage.

My tobacco journey has been a weird one. I took the bad advice of going from cigars (all tobacco) to aromatics, which almost shut the process down, to English, to VA blends, to Burley blends. I had considered myself an English smoker, which I love and the great ones transcend all tobacco's, but Virginia's are now my go to. They aren't as a rule as complex but they are the most uniformly delicious and consistently good tobacco's available, in my humble opinion of course. This is a great blend. I am new to F&T and I am kicking myself for not trying them sooner and hoarding them when they become available. The tin note is typical straight Virginia with an added sweetness, I know it is topped but I cannot tell you with what. The Red Virginia is the star. This is a blend for sure but that earthy, dark fruit flavor is front and center. This blend, for me was consistently nutty at around mid bowl. There is some mild grass and citrus, which comes and goes and it also has a toasted bread quality to it as it develops. Really good stuff.

First open, not impressed. After one and a half month, better. After two months and a week, heaven!

Conclusion, like a fine old wine Cut Blended Plug needs to breath to come into its own. Patience will be largely rewarded!

This 3 year aged tin has beautiful wide flakes, 2 abreast, brown and black in color. It's a true flake, unlike the "broken flake" description above. A little drying and a month of breathing is recommended for Cut Blended Plug to yield its wonderful sweet yet slightly sharp essence; it's never ashy or harsh. Smoke slowly for maximum flavor, cool pipes and no tongue bite. Taste is sweet and fruity, at the citrus end rather than figs and raisins, and is right up front. Even immature palates will get this right away. The tangy or sharp body rounds as you move down the bowl and becomes very smooth, with perhaps some black cherry if you're patient and paying close attention.

Kindly supplied by 4 noggins, discovered here on tobacco reviews, what would I do without this site ? A small shirt pocket sized tin, left me wondering how they manage to get 50g in such a small space, still, not to worry, nice dark flakes, a little on the dry side for my liking but not enough to warrant rehydration.

Rubbs out easily and burns with one match, ineresting start, not quite sure what I'm tasting, it's almost a if several flavours are trying to make themselves known all at once.

Quickly though, the tobacco settles down, and a fine virginia experience is on the way which lasts to the end of the bowl, just pure sweet virginia, if there are any toppings, they seem to dissipate quickly and I am left with an excellent quality tobacco with a very pleasant taste.

In time, I may or may not cellar some of this, but for the moment, I will keep a couple of tins on hand with a third one open. For pure virginia lovers......... well worth a try.

Another example of why Fribourg and Treyer is the champion of Virginia Flakes. This is a very nice, no nonsense tobacco. It comes in a charming little tin and is sliced into flakes which stick together in the tin.

This one is a two match light and burns very well. After 3 bowls of this stuff, I have had to relight my pipe once. The moisture content is perfect with leaving a flake out for about 10 minutes in the open air. The flavor is delightful, a mixture of citrus, cream, and flavor of oats weaving in and out. As the bowl progresses, it becomes a bit darker and stronger. I taste cinnamon and licorice in between the traditional Virginia flavors. I believe that there is some kind of mild casing on this, but it is almost non-existent and the flavor does not interfere with the tobacco. The room note is pleasant, sweet, and musty.

This, along with Cut VA Plug and Blackjack, represents the standard of what Virginia plugs and flakes should be to me. A wonderful tobacco, not monochromatic, highly recommended.

This is the second Virginia from Fribourg and Treyer that i have tried (the first being Cut Virginia Plug) and I am delighted with it. Heavier and sweeter than CVP, the best way I can find of describing CBP is that it is to the former as Marlin Flake is to Old Gowrie. Allowing, of course, for the differences between the Rattray and F and T styles. Flippantly, Marlin Flake Lite would just about sum it up. It smokes equally well folded up or rubbed out to any degree. My best results have come from a very slight breaking up of the flake.

European labeling laws are demanding. I remember a pouch of Mac Baren Scottish Mixture which declared it to be 79 percent tobacco and the rest `agents de saveur et de texture` - whatever those agents may have been. My palate is not very good at detecting perique, so I cannot on my own say whether CBP contains perique or not. However, one of the German websites asserts that CBP contains perique. Since the blend is manufactured in Germany now, that statement is more likely than not correct.

Whatever be the fact of the matter, anyone who likes Marlin Flake will very possibly find comparable virtues in CBP. Highly recommended.

Regretfully, I don?t have the time to review all of the tobaccos I have tried but I feel obligated to give a ?plug? to this plug. F&T CBP is a light to medium strength red VA that is tasty, mellow, toasty, bite free and with a subtle sweetness. In short, it is an excellent ?any time of the day? smoke. CBP also DGTs very well.

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 9.95 out of 10.