James Fox The Banker's Mixture

> The incomparable aroma of this fine tobacco is due to the superfine pure Havana leaf which has been skilfully added to give the flavour of a fine Cuban cigar.<

Yes so was it a long time ago.

Now its a Planta. The oposite.

As i just reviewed Wingate Mixture (F&T - Panta) here almost the same tragedy.

Compared to F&T WM it was a more latakiaforward and less subtile.

But also a good smoke.

in the pasttime 3,8 stars, nowadays 1,2 stars

edit:

just remenber:

It was since alwaya a black tin

the step down from F&T to a danish producer was described om the tin with `made for F&T`

and instead of the packing with paper it gets a somewhat plastic ziplock inside the tin. that first change was round about in 1995 - 1997

I feel the other reviews don't quite give full expression to just how absolutely mediocre and tasteless the currently available (German) version of this tobacco is. It smells amazing in the tin, like rich chocolate cake, and I was excited when I opened it thinking I was in for something fantastic. But repeated smokes give absolutely nothing at all - forget Cuban cigar tobacco, there seems to be literally none here. Even crumbling 2% of decent cuban cigar into an English blend will give a far stronger sense of identity than can be found here: try it.

This said, the Burley and Virginia that are here are smooth and bland enough to make this blend quite good for mixing, for example toning down a latakia heavy mixture like Huber's English Balkan when you are not quite in the mood for the full assault, because they impart a certain mellowness without adding any of their own identity.

So although I have found a purpose for it I can't help thinking this is a void of a tobacco which - though I never tried the original - must surely be shadow of what it once was? So I give 1 star, not because it is horrible, it doesn't have the balls to be horrible, but because I think it is an absolute failure of a blend of which the blenders really should be thoroughly ashamed.

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.

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