Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug

First of all thank to Clarkus who has kindly gifted me this excellent tobacco. CVP is an elegant and smooth Virginia with sweet and subtle grassy-nutty notes, light in nicotine and enjoyable all the day. With CVP the keyword is delicacy: If you need the full flavor and strength avoid this one, conversely, if you can appreciate a caressing smoke CVP is for you.

A robust tobacco aroma in the tin. The flakes are precisely formed, uniform and thin with a tweedy, variegated color. Not too moist, and easily rubbed out. Once lit it was a steady long burn. Impressive. A tad oily at first, a plus. Hearty, not as sweet as FVF. Not at all sugary, but more of a tamarind subdued sweetness. Woody, dry smoldering burn. Natural and pure tobacco. Should perform nicely when folded. I gravitate toward big, bold flavors, peaty scotch, well-hopped ales, Lakeland flavors, but this straight VA hits the spot for me.

07/27/09 UPDATE: I am revising some of my reviews. I have given out more 4 star ratings than anything else. That practice is probably not helping. So, I am reducing CVP to 3 stars, not because I like it less than I did before, but because I am limiting 4 stars to fewer than 25% of all my reviews. One day I may use the 4 star rating to designate my top five.

It's been said. This a a good tobacco, indeed, but there are many other VAs that I and my tastebuds like better.

This tobacco comes in very thin, pliable flakes, easy to rub out into a sort of chopped ribbon cut. The tobacco ranges in color from dark and red Virginia with flashes of bright. It has a very light topping, reminiscent of cooking spices along the lines of Light Flake. Although lighter in appearance than Astley's #44, the smoke is very similar. The smoke is lightly sweetened with a very subdued Virginia taste. This is good quality tobacco and burns smoothly without much tending. There is no bite that I can detect. This is a nice smoke, but I prefer more Virginia flavor and a little less sweetener. This may be a great choice for someone just becoming acqainted with Virginias. This would also be a good smoke if your hands are busy and you want a smooth sweet smoke that will not capture your attention. Not bad. Not great. Paddy. I fear I have been a bit harsh. The more I smoke this the better I like it. I now am careful to smoke it earlier in the day before I have smoked stronger tobaccos. The F&T cut plugs are excellent for a morning smoke or immediately after dinner. Good Virginia flavor, but very subdued.

This is a very light tobacco to me . I enjoy it when I want something light to smoke during the day that is easy to put down and will still taste good on relighting after sitting . I sometimes get busy during the day and have to set my pipe down while it's lit and may not return to it for an hour or so .This tobacco responds well to these situations . The flavor is well rounded . The flakes break up easily for packing . The tin aroma is a little spicy . It's certainly a tobacco to try for VA fans .

This one was quite the happy surprise. I picked up a tin to hit the free shipping (who hasn't done that?) and found a winner.

With it getting warmer quickly here in Georgia, I'm trying to get my summer rotation in place. One of the spots is for a golden VA. Last summer I was working through Veermaster and the summer before Golden Sliced. This blend to me fits right into those same shoes.

I realized after reading some of the reviews that part of the citrus I was getting was from a topping. That's fine, its well done where you can still pick up the natural flavors of the tobacco underneath it. I didn't get much or any of the vanilla except very slightly in an aftertaste.

The flakes have a nice size and moisture which makes them easy to either fold and stuff in my authors or break up into chunks in my taller bowls. The light fairly easily and burn with minimal relights to my normal smoking rhythm. The nic level is enough to tell you are smoking but not enough that I can't have a 2nd bowl if I want it.

I found this pairs really nicely with lighter beers and even a Cuba Libre or Mojito.

I'm looking forward to finishing this tin and will look for this one to add to my summer cellar.

This is a sweetly scented flake of gold VA and black cavendish tobaccos. Like so many european products, this is a "luxury" blend with top-notch processing and presentation.

The taste is of light and pure gold virginia which is sweetly cased and a top dressed with scenting common to Three Castles cigarettes. There are a few, odd flecks of black cavendish which lend a slightly exaggerated and creamy sweetness.

Cut VA Plug has many virtues: an excellent cut, clean burning properties, and top- quality, unaffected bright VAs. It is "proper" in a non-pejorative sense: elegant, comfortable, and conservative. It worked best in a narrow to medium gauge chamber.

I have alot of praise for all blenders that produce tobaccos that ooze quality in their natural state. VA cut plug is dense brick of natural flake, that emits aromas reminiscent of prunes and brown sugar. I love the fact that upon opening of the tin I was able to see that this tobacco was topping and scent free. I have smoked this blend in both a very large Nording and a Peterson rusticated 80s. In both pipes the tobacco preforms like a true VA champ. This sliced flakes are easily rubbed out and, though the tobacco is a bit moist- there is no problem keeping this one lit. I only had to relight twice while using my Nording and the Peterson did not require one at all. The only thing that I have to say about this tobacco in a negative sense is the fact that it is a bit too mild for my taste, in both overall flavor and nicotine. I have become much more partial to tobaccos of the stronger variety. The subtleness of this VA reminds me of an oaky chardonnay, a bit sweet yet dissapears from the palet almost immediately. I like to smoke this tobacco for a change of pace, when I want to have something other than Dark Kentucky or some heavy English blend. If you know someone who wants to get into the world of pipe smoking then this one would be a wonderful choice. Great taste and will never bite.