I have tried a bunch of English-- mid to full-- blends and a few Balkans over the years. By the mid 1970's, as inventories of the real stuff had disappeared, the changes became obvious. Great result are also obtained smoking for 5-10 minutes and then letting sit for about 12 hours. Countless proficient blenders have tried hard to copy it. So the turkish varieties did it, fine. Probably nearly forty percent Turkish leaf maximum. I was very sad. Simply amazing stuff, and I mourn that it's almost gone. It lights well, and burns fairly slowly as is typical for latakia/oriental blends. A fine grey ash results and despite the high Latakia content it doesn't flavour the pipe too much. A must try! I bewailed the last tin in my Weed Store, sold to an undeserving oik who wanted to try 'Sumfin' new. . in it. I had the same experience with 759. If my wallet actually agreed with me, I would be seeking out much more of this wonderful English blend. & Conditions | DMCA After having smoked Rattray's Black Mallory, Pease Caravan, Renaissance and Samarra, and Esoterica's Penzance, I now understand the difference between a Balkan and an English. Balkan Sobranie Original Mix Match | Smokingpipes.com )which would make this more of an english blend than a Balkan. I would like to start out by saying that i am extremely annoyed by the two main ways this blend seems to be reviewed.. on the one hand, there is the reactionary camp who compare their current experience to the echoes of memories of long lost years.. then there is a progressive camp that seems all too willing to embrace and wax poetic on something they have recently discovered. Happy Smokin'. Be The First To Know About Exclusive Products And Deals! This is a gentle mixture that I'd smoke any time of day were it not for its rarity. I have opened two tins of this in the last 5 years both from t he original release 2011. (Or by virtue of present supply, Sasieni). Please for the life of Pete, tell me where once again I may get this fine tobacco that I have been without now since the 1990's. | As the tobacco rose on the initial light and one tamped it with the index finger and relit, all the wonderful, contradictory adjectives began to pertain. Alot of people complaining that it is never available, most of the best tobaccos are hard to find which is one of the things that makes them so good. I'd do it again. Otherwise who cares I will spend my tobacco money on something else!!!!!!! I'm nursing my limited supply. But when I first tasted and smelled that wonderful exotic smoke I was hooked. The aroma and flavors are very much in sync. But 18 months ago the blend changed and was but a shadow of its former self, a truly dark day had dawned. Pouch Aroma: Rich, woodsy, smokey, leathery, hints of nuts Packs: very easily Lights: Very easily. If I had plenty of money, I'd have more Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture. It's a shag cut, with pronounced latakia and musty smelling orientals. S. smoker . My initiation into pipe smoking was with a tin of this 'nectar' Yes, I was permanently spoiled. Balanced to a fault, yet it's the sum of its ingredients that makes it so distinctive and so hard to imitate. Germain's Balkan Sobranie is a fantastic Balkan mixture. Appearance: Over 80% black leaf, with a few nut brown to dark brown strands, ready rubbed in a medium cut ribbon. There are some very good Balkan/heavy english mixtures available,but none can ever replace Balkan Sobranie. Something about the mystique of the name made me click the "favorite" button but, oddly, I never reviewed it. Won't bite or get harsh. The other flavors always floated above it, with sweet and spicy notes. The middle part was a bit heavier but still a good medium taste with a full room note and ample white smoke. The tobacco ranges from black to dark brown, there are some lighter bronze strands but overall it's a dark mixture. The 1980's and later versions used Cyprian Latakia which added a little different sweetness to the mix. Despite the pouch, the tobacco comes rather humid, and needs to be broken a bit to be packed correctly. The smell is definately english/balkan in nature. Burns to a fine grey ash. I surmise that tobacco grown in the Balkan region has some affect on the flavor. I will always share a bowl of this with my best pipe friends, as everyone should have that luxury once in their life. My friends i have just opened a 200gr tin of Sobranie Original and i am smoking it in a Dunhill group5 shell aplle. But is it good, absolutely. Something that was better in the pouch version. The original Balkan Sobranie is the holy grail of pipe tobacco, and when even its subsequent, inferior versions garner four stars from virtually every reviewer in these pages, it deserves more than a few words from an old codger who's never found an acceptable substitute. Tin note of musty sour vegetation and pungent smoky. The newer version seems to me drier, saltier and sour. Balkan Sobranie. To my knowledge, the only other ingredient, that which imparted some of the creaminess and the hint of vanilla, was deer tongue, the leaf of a weed(!) 2. I've finished two of them. I miss it still. A pipe smokers nirvana. 4th Generation Pipe Tobacco What can I say for me this is the gold standard for Balkans. The finish was not abrupt, not harsh, it just sort of faded away. Save yourself some time -- they might be good smokes in their own right, but if they don't list Yenidje as an ingredient, they _cannot_ be even close. Too bad I was too young to try it when fresh and available. Very evenly cut short ribbon pieces, and a bit of dust at the bottom which I assume is from being dried out for a period of time. Well, I was not dissapointed. I just received 50 more grams of it in today's mail. After a decade, being reminded of the Sobranie flavor made me want to buy a pipe and some tobacco ASAP. This has more legends than any other and according to my tobacconist has been going downhill for years. The cut is a fine shag like the ribbon which is a little finicky getting lit and keeping it so but chalking that up to a moisture thing mostly I believe. Notice | Advertising It leaves the pipe rather clean. This is what a pipe tobacco is supposed to be! In an age where everyone grows up eating McDonalds, stove top stuffing, drinking diet soft drinks and smoking mass produced cigarettes most people wouldn't know quality when they taste it, be that food or smoke. Cannot ship to Maine, South Dakota, Washington, Utah Maximum Purchase: 1 unit Free Shipping Orders over $95 in US Ship Worldwide Dunhill 965, Standard Medium, and London were in the same range, but smoked quite differently. Samuel Gawith full Virginia Flake (Rubbed out well). Balkan made them all, including Krumble Kake, which was Balkan pressed and sliced, considered by ?flake? With that said . The above review doesn't cover the current version. Seems all the latakia smokers I know in person prefer Balkan Sasieni to Sobranie - insofar as the contemporary blends are concerned. A very smooth smoke that developed slowly and continuously. . I spend a few days carefully rehydrating the contents to the perfect RH %. If you receive this confirmation repeatedly, you will need to enable cookies so that your response can be saved. Certified secure site accepts: Milan Tobacconists, Inc. I had heard, and I thought they were exagerated. The Balkan Sobranie Cigarettes Tobacco Tin Turkish England Opens in a new window or tab. I would call it a shame, but there are too many truly great mixtures around now to mourn this stuff at all. Balkan Sobranie. This is due to the blend's extremely limited production. reproduced in any manner without the expressed written consent of STC Holdings LLC. IMHO it is exactly the same blend, the difference is simply that the one has aged and the other is relatively new. Not a lot of spring. The pouch aroma is of very intense, almost overwhelming Latakia. Majority of medium brown leaf, with specs of bright Va and black dark fired. For some reason, this seems to be listed twice here, so this review is the same as the Sobranie of London entry. The dominating Virginias bring a good amount of tang and subdued sweetness that sometimes, play with the Orientals that are deliciously sour with a sparkling taste, for lack of a better word. The tin note is latakia forward with a strong sharp mustiness from the orientals, quite a different aroma from other balkan type blends I've had. Except the lucky few. Pouches continued to be manufactured but this is another story. The Latakia is signific antly more dry than the virginias and orientals, and perhaps because of that the mixture is not well blended. Failing that I'm going to give Macedonian Mixture a try as well. The orientals were there, but didn't liven the mix as much as the only other balkan blend I've smelled (that being Crown Achievement from Lane). To everything there is a season, if I may coin a phrase. and elsewhere. I now understand why so many bemoan the exodus of this from the US market. Those were the days, my friend, I thought they'd never end. I just opened a 200 gram gold foil bag of the three remaining I purchased in 1967. Possibly both types of Latakia, maybe some unsweetened Black Cavendish, maybe a "smidgeon" of Deer Tongue or a pinch of Vanilla Cavendish, who knows? And sadly the latakia does not age gracefully, losing much of its potency after 40 years in the tin. to try and capture it, but one couldn't. Balkan Sobranie Pipe Tobacco (1.76oz) $ 21.98. Surprisingly, Sutliff's recreation is close to the original. review from a long-time pipe smoker who is neither a connoisseur nor a gourmet. There are no words to describe this wonderful, fantastic, exciting english mixture. Just a slight leathery flavor in the background. Peterson Pipe Tobacco This is a nice ribbon cut ranging from medium brown to dark brown to black in color, with a very dark tone overall. I noticed today on a certain online retailer (they're not a site sponsor so I'm not sure if it's cool to name them) that Balkan Sobranie was for sale$25.99 per tin, limit one per customer. It has a grayish hue to it, which upon closer inspection, is a wonderful sparkly crystallization. Inc. All Rights Reserved. Most of what you can buy in auctions today is dry to varying degrees, but I'll instantly transfer it to a Mason jar, wet a paper towel with distilled water, lay it over the top, seal the jar, and let it slowly rehydrate. Balkan Sobranie | Chicago's Pipe, Cigar & Tobacco Store - Iwan Ries Who knows? And even with the utmost care and dedication it fatigues my palate after I'm done. Us |Contact Germain has really done a fine job with this blend, so much so that for my personal taste, the new era BS wins hands down! Is anyone e lse having the same problem? Funny how all the tobacco is in the old closet of a humidor that had been the cigar area, and the cigars are now in a nice large humidor up front where the tobacco had been. British pipes were it, and though Joe had other makes on hand, I don't remember any Danish or Italian goods. This is what a pipe tobacco is supposed to be! Similar Blends: Ashton's Artisan, Peterson Balkan Delight, Old Ironsides.. Smoked Balkan Supreme.love yet again. It is a brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured. White tin - real McCoy. Balkan sobranie hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy Creamy, smoky and sweet. What I paid was ten times the original price tag still on it. I can now fully enjoy Abingdon and any other mixture that I can relate to as my ideal Latakia mixture, my holy grail. This is a ?blue-collar? Germain & Son willing to make the tobacco. The high quality of the tobacco in Balkan might have been just as important as the types of tobacco in it. . Noooo idea, I've never smoked that one like I said before. Plenty of names of non site sponsors mentioned. For starters, I guess it goes without saying that I don?t really smoke this regularly. Interesting.. Package: A 50 gram tin with a somewhat cheap version of the old stately artwork. There has been so much praise written already about this blend and on this day I can say that it is all true! If all this good smoke is coming from the tobaccos alone, that's incrediblealmost magical! It's clear to me that smoked fresh this is no lightweight English/balkan. For those who like how the Latakia played with the Turkish, and both were supported by Virginias, smoke either GLPease's Westminster, or Cornell & Diehl's 968R (Red Odessa). The Orientals are less potent, offering earth, wood, floralness, a light dry sourness and a touch of buttery sweetness, along with a little spice as a supporting player. This stuff tasted so good in fact, it makes me ponder; How does a tobacco blend that tastes this good, be made without a topping or a flavor additive? I can see why this tobacco is the one that started the whole "Balkan" designation. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience and I am looking forward to repeating it. Somewhat regarded as a classic and rightly so, however it has become somewhat degraded in recent years, no doubt a by-product of being taken over by the Gallaher tobacco conglomerate. A two or three months ago one friend called me on the facebook messenger, and says me: "Hi, i have a some tins from The Balkan Sobranie". The mixture was overwhelmingly harsh and acrid really vile stuff. Cest la vie! I have found many delicious blends that perfectly match my needs, and I enjoy smoking them as much as I did TBS. I don't remember seeing 759 until Balkan was sold. Balkan Sobranie Products - Cup O' Joes it was distinctive enough to evoke comment and to me had a more than discernible hint of leaves being burned on a damp Autumn day in England. I find Nightcap, Penzance and Black Mallory to be more complex. I feel elated and relieved that I managed to have TBS so that now, I can become a better judge when it comes to distinguish between, the somehow subjective appellations of "Balkan" and "English". Over the past year I have been slowly smoking 50gm's from the early 1990's and this review is based on that now finished tobacco. Size: 1.76 Oz. If nothing else, they served as the inspiration for the whole genre of Balkan mixtures available today, and some of my favorite blends fall into that category (Odyssey, Abingdon, Magnum Opus, Wilderness, etc.). An elderly and dear gentleman who resides on my street, was gracious enough to give me a couple of tins for Christmas. So J.F. This starts out with a nice, sharp flavor of latakia and orientals and is perfectly balanced. Aging will do wonders to this I'm sure. If I had plenty of money, I'd have piles of Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture in the cellar. About a month ago, my best friend who owns a cigar shop did inventories and found some old stuff under the counter he really couldn't sell anymore. Judging by the crystals that encase the leaf, the blend had a good amount of natural sugars. Yesterday I opened my last remaining pouch of the 1994 Sobranie Mixture, to see whether it would bring back memories. The same topping as the 1981 and pouch version. If you can find this blend, do yourself a favor. The last few years that this tobacco was marketed it was nothing like the blend that I experienced in the early 80's. The very grassy, citrusy, barely dark fruity and earthy Virginias have little of the complexity it once had, and theres more of here than before. Here you can really notice that there is more of the dark smoked leaf in the 2011 version. What a revelation it was! Perhaps all of the above. in the lid of the old Balkan Sobranie, retracting it from the lip and reclosing the can, thus piercing the inner tin lid, the escaping hiss was divine. but still smooth. Gawaith's Commonwealth is supposed to be 50%-50% Virginia-latakia and is not caked. The Va makes itself known in a very subtle way, lending a hint of sweetness to the mix.
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