I've been smoking Ogden's Gold Block in a cob first thing in the morning, just to get the ball rolling. This is a very mild ribbon cut blend of bright sweet Virginia and white Burley with a "secret" and very restrained topping, so more of a "something rather than nothing" creamy smoke. Popularly, this can be mixed 50/50 with St Bruno to create "Ogden's Mixture", which is well regarded.
Last week, I bought some Fribourg & Treyer Blackjack, formerly known as Negrohead - no idea why, because this is ready rubbed red Virginia and there's nothing dark about it. Blackjacks were little four a penny sweets back in the day, with a golliwog on the wrapper, so you can see a train of thought in the renaming. The blend seems to have a subtle liquorice casing, no more, and I find the whole thing a very tangy, simple smoke which makes my mouth water - maybe too much.
For this good reason, I've tried mixing these two blends 50/50 and find that they get on well together, the tanginess of the reds toned down a little by the light creamy VaBur, without the subtle flavourings getting in eachother's way. It's an all day smoke, keeps enough interest to come back to it later in the day and I find it more enjoyable than its forebears alone.
My working name for it is Negro Gold but that probably won't do in this day and age. It has some characteristics of Cabbie's - my first love - so maybe I should call it Bus Driver's Mixture, the poor man's version, lower league stuff if you will. I have not bored myself with it, a good sign, so I recommend it at least to be tried if you happen to have those blends to hand.
Last week, I bought some Fribourg & Treyer Blackjack, formerly known as Negrohead - no idea why, because this is ready rubbed red Virginia and there's nothing dark about it. Blackjacks were little four a penny sweets back in the day, with a golliwog on the wrapper, so you can see a train of thought in the renaming. The blend seems to have a subtle liquorice casing, no more, and I find the whole thing a very tangy, simple smoke which makes my mouth water - maybe too much.
For this good reason, I've tried mixing these two blends 50/50 and find that they get on well together, the tanginess of the reds toned down a little by the light creamy VaBur, without the subtle flavourings getting in eachother's way. It's an all day smoke, keeps enough interest to come back to it later in the day and I find it more enjoyable than its forebears alone.
My working name for it is Negro Gold but that probably won't do in this day and age. It has some characteristics of Cabbie's - my first love - so maybe I should call it Bus Driver's Mixture, the poor man's version, lower league stuff if you will. I have not bored myself with it, a good sign, so I recommend it at least to be tried if you happen to have those blends to hand.