Fribourg & Treyer Wingate Mixture

My definition of strong means NICOTINE CONTENT. This has a lot of it! A powerful smoke in that regard, yet surprisingly smooth and mellow in another. This is a very UNIQUE English mixture. If you are a fan of MIDNIGHT RIDE by CAO you will absolutely adore this. 3 of 4 stars!

At Fribourg & Treyer they have a saying, "It's not the size of the paper doily inside that matters, it's the size of your tin.", so note your other 50g tins will have size envy! Of course what is inside is what truly matters, and from what my nose told me, I was in for a a treat.

You are greeted with a beefy, juicy, tangy, Latakia-leather haze worth huffing on it's own merits, without too much English 'charcoal' to take your buds over the edge. The inadequately covered (due to the small doily) shreds are bouncy, have good feel to them, and are dry enough to fire without dry time and moist enough to keep some shape when balled up. The lit product is very smooth while holding the depth of the original bouquet.

I found it to be a great English, especially for those who want that juicy beefy smoke without being intimidated by the full frontal Latakia punch other similar blends may pack. A great starting point for those new to the genre.

All the reviews here say that no flavouring was detected and they are all wrong! There is a sugary and spicy flavour added to this mixture that I find very appealing. I bought my first Wingate about 28 years ago at the F&T shop in London, and my second one only a short while ago. At first I didn't remember the taste from then, it is now made by the ubiqitous K&K but after a few bowls that sweet and spicy taste brought back some of the memories. But it is not as good as the tin I had then I hasten to add. What it is now is a mixture of about 50% of black leaf, and another 50% bright. I don't think all the black leaf is Latakia (or that dash of Perique)so presumably it is black cavendish or some double fermented leaf. Whatever, it still is a lovely sweet and spicy blend that I plan on ordering more of.

Presentation: The simplest of tins. Solid green with small subtle grey/silver text on a round European style tin.

Cut: Perfectly acceptable ribbon cut. Perfect moisture level.

Tin note: Smells of sweet bread and slight slight smokiness.

Tasting notes: Main notes are smoky, tart, tangy, and spicy. The smokiness will dance between the foreground and background. The more subtle flavor notes are sweet bread, hay, and MAYBE some figs in there (I'm not certain about the figs).

Mechanics: N/A -- A well behaved blend.

Extra Remarks: A delicious english blend. This will keep you intrigued if you find more traditional english blends like Presbyterian or Early Morning Pipe somewhat boring. Very good, though I reach for other blends over this one most of the time. 3 stars.