James Fox The Banker's Mixture

Exactly the same as my review of Robert Lewis 123 Mixture, this isn't the legendary tobacco it used to be when made by JJ Fox. The guys at Kohlase&Kopp do a good job in keeping alive some historical brands, but fail in recreating the real taste of the blends. If your goal is a fine English mixture with Havana leaf added go for Schurch Mogano instead.

Mfg: James Fox Blend: Bankers

Preface: I didn't know what to expect when I opened the can. I Anticipated a blend similar to Sobranie #10, or GLP Robusto, but was pleasantly surprised. This one stands on it's own, and is a treasure.

Appearance: Dark ribbon cut, with some lighter leaf evident. Perhaps a bit finer than average for an English, but not a shag cut.

Aroma: Smells like an English blend with some maduro cigar leaf. Very nice indeed, you could enjoy this without a pipe.

Packing: Packs easily into medium and large pipes. Would probably do well in a smaller pipe, but this blend seems to want a larger bowl.

Lighting: Lights easily, just a tamp and a relight and it?s going.

Initial flavor: Wow, there is some Latakia which is in perfect harmony with the cigar leaf, and together they form a dark, sweet, smokey melange which is captivating. Burns cool, but stays lit well.

Mid-bowl: The Virginia peeks out regularly, but is usually a supporting player. There is an interplay of the three main components, which adds a nice compexity to the smoke. One of the best behaved blends I?ve smoked, rarely needs a relight.

Finish: Finishes just a bit too soon. Not that it burns quickly, just that I wish the pipe werer bigger

Summary: This is a nice medium to full blend, excellent after dinner. Would also be great in the afternoon with any beverage of your choice, if you can give it your full attention. Probably too full flavored for an eye opener. This also did not draw any hostile fire from the LSW, despite the cigar leaf.

A unique and perfect mixture with decently strong flavour evolving towards the end of the bowl. Recommended after lunch with a glass of ginger beer and in front of the sunset.

The cigar leaf leads by just a touch lending woody leather and earth backed by the Burley/Virginia combo giving this smoke a very nice earthy, sweet fruitiness. Lastly the Latakia and Orientals provide a mild smoky woodiness. Overall it's a very nice and tasty smoke. Has a smoothness to it that's very pleasing. Has enough strength to satisfy. Better than 3 stars, but closer to 3 than 4.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

White label tin, fine cut, the casing is the only taste in this mixture. Very bland, flat and uninspired. There is no cigar leaf in this mixture. The Latakia is very light, maybe the casing is a flavor added to enhance it. A very ordinary tobacco, a wanna be luxury mixture, very disappointing.

Virginia lover

The Robert Lewis offering '123 Mixture' is nearly identical to this offering--James Fox's 'The Bankers'. Both are cigar leaf products blended by Kohlhase & Kopp of Germany. 'The Bankers' is distinctly lighter in colour than '123', but beyond that I cannot see or taste much of a difference even if I like 'The Bankers' a bit more (I imagine that it was aged longer in the tin). With that said, I must point you to my review of '123 Mixture' as it is, for all good reasons, the same blend as 'The Bankers'.

From what some reviewers here say, it looks like this mix had better days in the past. Although the Latakia is the main ingredient, the burley brings a fairly constant earthiness, while the cigar leaf is felt in a few puffs. In general, the interaction of all the ingredients produces a flavor that is not unpleasant to me but also does not excite me. Until I finished the tin I have been doubting about the qualification and finally, by comparison with other tobaccos, I am going to put two and a half rounded to two.

La versión de Fox me parece muy buena. Soy fumador de estas mezclas y es una de mis favoritas. El burley le da a diferencia de otras, buena combustión y buen volumen de humo. La hoja de cigarro toda la calidad aromática de este tipo de tabaco y sobre todo personalidad. Es lo que muchos llaman una mezcla "inglesa/americana", en este caso con el agregado de hoja de cigarro, la cual hace de está mezcla inglesa algo diferente. Si bien me gustan las inglesas suaves llamadas también orientales, está me gusta mucho a pesar de ser más fuerte. Yo la ubicó junto a la Standard, la presbiteriana, la skiff y la accountants, en el ranking de mis predilectas. La otra versión no la fumé y por lo que leo parece no estar a la altura de esta.

James Fox - The Bankers

A mulligan stew of leaves combine to create toasted carmel popcorn with campfire overtones. Hints and teases of cigar leaf. Neither bold nor spicy. An ok, run of the mill sort of blend. It's better if you can age the tin at least several months and then let it breathe some.