Fribourg & Treyer Golden Mixture - Huge Tin - Why?

[MattRVA]

Dry can be ok, it wasn’t totally bone dry, but verging on close.

What about flavor? I had a little bit of VA, but only through the first quarter of a bowl, afterwards, zip, zilch, nada.

I mean really, only the first quarter of a bowl, with a wee flavor, and then putters out after, that’s lame.

I swear, so many of these Euro blends, when I started smoking in the 80s, the impression then, was light years in quality above American.

Hell, today, it seems like so many Euro blends are falling by the wayside in quality, not what they use to be from the original blenders, or consistency varying from batch to batch.

hmm

I think everything is going down the toilet because of consolidation. I’m not sure if we will ever see the quality we once saw.

 

[Architeuthis]

I smoked through a tin of it a couple years ago. It was the big tin. I was really looking forward to this one. I like bright virginias and really like SG Golden Glow when fresh enough to capture the grassy/hay flavors. I found this to be ho-hum. Not dump it out bad, but wouldn't buy again. I never looked forward to a bowl of it because the last one was good. It was more an effort to try it at different moisture levels, in different pipes, at different times of the day, etc. The usual when you are trying to figure out a new blend. You give it a chance. Problem was, nothing I tried made it shine...

 

[vosBghos]

Personally I love the stuff, I would call it a shag more than a ribbon I think it's dry and in the big tin to keep it ready to smoke without added dry time and clumping. I have a square tin of it that is like 22 years old I would imagine it was a different cut and moisture level back then more like SG and GH stuff. I'll crack it when it hits 25 and see. I like it more than GH Kendal gold as it lacks the sauce haven't smoked any Golden Glow yet to compare. But sometimes a light grassy smoke is just what you need on a humid South Carolina day, easy light no fuss when the wind is blowing off the beach. I noticed the Black Jack came in a similar tin so I imagine the cut is the same looking forward to cracking that when I run out of McCranies Red Ribbon. Here's somebody else's thoughts for a quick read.

“Bertrand’s Boring Blend?” “Russell’s Unrugged Rub?”: Fribourg & Treyer’s Golden Mixture

For roughly 70 years, this was Bertrand Russell’s blend of choice. I can’t comprehend such willful monotony, with so many different tastes, but it’s a straight-forward, Virginia b…

tobaccoeatersincorporated.wordpress.com

 

[PipeIT]

Again, you could have gotten a compromised tin. This dry ribbon cut also can burn really fast. Has to be smoked even slower than usual or the flavor will go flat and ashy.

I opened the mason jar today, I’m assuming the humidity where I live has moistened it up a tad.

The tin had a good seal, I could hear the swish of air as I opened it.

Yes, this one certainly has to be sipped ever so slowly.

I put it in a cob today, barely lighting it, to take the absolute slowest and smallest of sips, then I taste around, and it reveals various VA notes.

But if I hadn’t been several years back at smoking the pipe, gone through a 150+ blends, 30-40 VA/VaPers, I think a real new smoker would struggle finding the notes.

It’s a real tightrope walk smoking this, like some wine taster, hunting and searching.

But I am getting a lot from it, but the notes are extremely light flavored.

It’s almost like a different world to smoke this, at a snail, sipping pace, if you want flavors. I’m not sure many would appreciate or have the patience for.

Bottom Line, it’s a lot of work, when there are VAs out there yielding complexity, that don’t require a Pipe Smoking Degree to enjoy. LOL

I will say one thing, it is a blend that does help you understand, as many have explained to new pipe smokers all the time, to pack lightly, light the tobacco only slightly, slow your pace down and sip slowly, and then this blend, takes it about 3-5x slower.

Hmm

 

[PipeIT]

Personally I love the stuff, I would call it a shag more than a ribbon I think it's dry and in the big tin to keep it ready to smoke without added dry time and clumping. I have a square tin of it that is like 22 years old I would imagine it was a different cut and moisture level back then more like SG and GH stuff. I'll crack it when it hits 25 and see. I like it more than GH Kendal gold as it lacks the sauce haven't smoked any Golden Glow yet to compare. But sometimes a light grassy smoke is just what you need on a humid South Carolina day, easy light no fuss when the wind is blowing off the beach. I noticed the Black Jack came in a similar tin so I imagine the cut is the same looking forward to cracking that when I run out of McCranies Red Ribbon. Here's somebody else's thoughts for a quick read.

“Bertrand’s Boring Blend?” “Russell’s Unrugged Rub?”: Fribourg & Treyer’s Golden Mixture

For roughly 70 years, this was Bertrand Russell’s blend of choice. I can’t comprehend such willful monotony, with so many different tastes, but it’s a straight-forward, Virginia b…

tobaccoeatersincorporated.wordpress.com

Do you know what year was the last of the square tins?

If you might have an earlier one to sell, square tin, that only has a few years on it, that you wouldn’t mind letting go, please let me know.

I’d like to see what the differences are between them, which I feel from what I’ve read quite a difference.

 

[vosBghos]

Do you know what year was the last of the square tins?

If you might have an earlier one to sell, square tin, that only has a few years on it, that you wouldn’t mind letting go, please let me know.

I’d like to see what the differences are between them, which I feel from what I’ve read quite a difference.

No idea when they changed tins. Haven't cracked the 22 year old yet I'm sure there's a difference in that it might be dust square tin and all. I got it from pipestud. It would be nice to know more about their production history as now they are K&K as so many things are but I dont know for how long , or if they have always been, wondering if they were taken over by K&K that's when they went from square tins to round. I would love to see a list of the years brands were switched from different blending houses so I could collect and compare.

 

[PipeIT]

Well, all I can say, packing very lightly, barely lighting, and puffing/sipping extremely slowly, in two different pipes, once I smoked only 1/4 of the pipes, flavor was gone afterwards.

So I only smoked just a few puffs past a quarter bowl in each pipe.

Seriously bland rubbish, I threw it in the trash.

 

[vosBghos]

Well, all I can say, packing very lightly, barely lighting, and puffing/sipping extremely slowly, in two different pipes, once I smoked only 1/4 of the pipes, flavor was gone afterwards.

So I only smoked just a few puffs past a quarter bowl in each pipe.

Seriously bland rubbish, I threw it in the trash.

as with most shags I pack it extremely tight so different strokes different folks I guess

 

[OSOBUCO]

maybe they wanted to stand out and make people think they were getting more.

This is a real thing in marketing. "Shelf Presence" - packing things in bigger containers than needed actually catches the eye/attention of buyers vs smaller packaged items of similar goods. It does create more in terms or shipping storage and packaging fees but in the end it can work. It used to be exploited big time in the software world.