Rolling tobacco brands in Switzerland: Fred, Wellauer and Black Hawk compared

Brand guide · Rolling tobacco and MYO tobacco

If you roll your own, you know the moment at the shelf: Fred, Wellauer, Black Hawk or maybe Pueblo? The names sound familiar, but the packs give little away, for instance whether Fred Rose is milder than Fred Jaune. This guide compares the best-known rolling tobacco brands in Switzerland by format, varieties, taste and origin. At the end, we introduce you to Heimat RYO and MYO, tobacco grown in Switzerland.

Rolling tobacco brands in Switzerland at a glance

Which rolling tobacco is best for you depends on whether you roll or fill tubes, and whether you like it mild or bold. The table shows the key differences and which brand is made for rolling or for filling tubes.

The range can vary from one kiosk or tobacconist to the next.

Fred tobacco: Original Blend, Special Blend and Rose

Fred is an independent tobacco brand from Lausanne. By its own account, Fred is probably the only independent tobacco company and has around 20 years of experience with tobacco without additives. Its two rolling tobacco blends, Jaune and Rose, show up in shops under different names. Here is how they line up:

Rose is built for balance. Jaune contains more Oriental tobacco, which gives the blend its spicy notes. According to Fred, the raw tobacco comes mainly from Africa and Latin America: for Jaune, 40 % from Africa and 30 % from Latin America, for Rose, 45 % from Africa and 30 % from Latin America. The pouches are made of stone paper and contain a Boveda pack that keeps the moisture at 69 % relative humidity. Besides rolling tobacco, Fred also comes as ready-made cigarettes, such as the Jaunes Box and Roses Box.

Fred Gelb or Rose: which is stronger?

Fred Rose is considered the milder, smoother blend, Jaune the spicier one. So if you are looking for the lighter Fred tobacco, Rose is the better pick. There are no official nicotine figures for rolling tobacco, more on that in the section on strength.

Is Fred tobacco still available?

Yes, Fred is still listed by Swiss retailers, in the 25 g pouch as well as the 80 g tin. The manufacturer has said nothing about discontinuing production. Fred is currently not listed at kkiosk.

Where can you buy Fred tobacco?

You can get Fred at tobacconists and from Swiss online retailers. Fred also runs its own online shop where you can order Fred tobacco. In regular retail, availability varies from store to store.

Wellauer tobacco: fine cut and volume tobacco from Switzerland

Wellauer is a Swiss tobacco house with roots in St. Gallen that started out as a tobacconist in 1898. Under its own name, Wellauer sells fine cut for rolling and volume tobacco for filling tubes, plus cigars, pipe tobacco and accessories.

Wellauer tobacco varieties at a glance

The range is wide. The table below sorts the varieties by method, with descriptions taken from Swiss retailers.

Retailers also carry other blends such as High Volume Intense and American Blend Shag. The fine cut usually comes in a 30 g pouch, the volume tobacco in tins of around 100 to 250 g. For filling, Wellauer also offers its own filter tubes. Not every Wellauer variety is free of additives, so it pays to check the details on each pack.

Buying Wellauer tobacco

You can get Wellauer fine cut and volume tobacco in the Wellauer shops. If you want to buy Wellauer tobacco online, you will find a selection in the online shops of various Swiss tobacco retailers. At kkiosk, Wellauer currently only offers cigarette tubes, no tobacco.

Black Hawk tobacco: High Volume and Silver for filling tubes

Black Hawk tobacco is a volume tobacco for filling tubes (MYO) in the style of an American Blend with spicy aromas. According to the distributor, special processing makes it go particularly far. Retailers describe the cut as short, woody and dry. In terms of strength, they rate it medium to strong.

Black Hawk is a brand of the Bavarian family company Pöschl and comes from Germany. The name refers to the Sauk leader Black Hawk, who lived from 1767 to 1838.

If you are looking for Black Hawk tobacco in Switzerland, you will find two varieties: Black Hawk High Volume MYO and Black Hawk Silver High Volume MYO. Both come in a 95 g tin and are available at kkiosk and Coop, for example.

Black Hawk tobacco in 95 g and 230 g

The 230 g packs you often see online, such as the Mega Box, are made for the German market. In Switzerland, Black Hawk is sold in the 95 g tin. If you want a large pack of MYO tobacco, you will find a Swiss option further down with Heimat MYO 250 g. The MYO tobacco category also gives you an overview.

Pueblo rolling tobacco in brief

Pueblo rolling tobacco is made for anyone looking for tobacco without humectants, preservatives or flavourings. In Switzerland, it comes as Classic, Blue and Pink. Like Black Hawk, Pueblo is distributed in Switzerland by Pöschl. Everything about varieties, storage and taste is in the Pueblo tobacco guide.

Rolling or filling tubes: which tobacco for which method?

The terms RYO, MYO and volume tobacco tell you whether a tobacco suits your method.

• RYO (roll your own): Rolling tobacco. It is cut fine and long and is slightly moister. You roll it by hand in a cigarette paper.
• MYO (make your own): Tobacco for filter tubes and an injector machine. It is often sold as volume tobacco.
• Volume tobacco: Tobacco that has been expanded by a treatment, for example with liquid CO2. It fills a tube with less weight than regular fine cut.

Here is how both methods work:

1. Rolling: prepare the paper. Lay the paper with the gum strip facing up and towards you.
2. Rolling: spread and roll the tobacco. Spread the tobacco evenly along the length. Roll it between your thumbs and index fingers, moisten the gum strip and remove any tobacco sticking out.
3. Filling: load the machine. Fill the chamber of the injector machine loosely and evenly with tobacco and press it down lightly.
4. Filling: fill the tube. Slide an empty filter tube onto the nozzle, close the machine and push the tobacco into the tube.

So Fred and Heimat RYO are made for rolling, Black Hawk and Heimat MYO for filling tubes. With Wellauer, it depends on the variety.

How strong is rolling tobacco? Strength, volume and moisture compared

Unlike factory-made cigarettes, rolling tobacco has no standard strength rating and no strength list with nicotine figures. So you cannot spot the strongest or a light rolling tobacco by a number on the pack, but mainly by the blend. On top of that, you shape the strength of your cigarette yourself:

• Blend: Burley and dark-fired shares feel stronger, bright Virginia milder.
• Amount of tobacco and thickness: More tobacco per cigarette means more smoke.
• Filter: Smoking with or without a filter changes how strong each draw feels.
• Cut and moisture: Fine, moist tobacco burns differently from dry volume tobacco.

For factory-made cigarettes, Switzerland sets fixed maximum levels per cigarette:

These maximum levels apply per factory-made cigarette, not to hand-rolled or tube-filled cigarettes. Read more in the article How much nicotine is in a cigarette?

A mild taste does not mean less harmful. Every tobacco produces tar and carbon monoxide when burned, and nicotine is addictive.

Heimat RYO and MYO: rolling tobacco grown in Switzerland

Fred blends imported tobacco, Wellauer sells fine cut under its own name, and Black Hawk comes from Germany. Heimat tobacco, on the other hand, grows in eight Swiss cantons and can be traced back to the field.

The journey of Heimat tobacco

How the current harvest was grown and processed is shown on our page Field-fresh Swiss tobacco 2026.

Which Heimat tobacco suits you?

All Heimat rolling tobacco MYO tobacco

Buying rolling tobacco in Switzerland: what applies under the Tobacco Products Act

The Swiss Tobacco Products Act has been in force since 1 October 2024. Since then, tobacco may only be sold to people aged 18 and over throughout Switzerland, in shops and online alike. Packs carry pictorial health warnings, and advertising is restricted.

For online orders, a Swiss shop with age verification is the way to go. The guide Ordering tobacco on invoice explains how it works. You will find the full range in the rolling tobacco category.

No smoke, no tobacco

Heimat Nicotine Pouches

For moments when rolling and smoking are not an option, say on the train, at the office or on the go, there are Heimat Nicotine Pouches. They contain no tobacco, produce no smoke and are made in Switzerland with a clearly declared recipe.

• Swiss made, lab-tested three times
• Tobacco-free, no colourings
• 15 mg nicotine per pouch, precisely dosed
• Four flavours: Menthol Ice, Wild Cherry, Frosty Berry, Fresh Lemon

Menthol Ice Wild Cherry Frosty Berry Fresh Lemon

Nicotine pouches also contain nicotine and are addictive. At 15 mg per pouch, they are suitable for adults who are used to nicotine.

Discover pouchesWhat's inside?

If you want to give up tobacco and nicotine entirely, the nicotine-free cigarettes and the nicotine-free herbal blend offer an alternative. More brand guides: Pueblo tobacco, American Spirit, Winston tobacco and Marlboro.

FAQ about rolling tobacco brands

Health warning: Smoking kills. Tobacco and nicotine pouches contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. All products for adults aged 18 and over only. Fred, Wellauer, Black Hawk, Pueblo and other brands mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. This page is for information only and is not affiliated with these manufacturers. More in our risk information.