Here this rare feature stretches and completes the finish.For everything else polished and majestic that Balkan Sobranie displays; this is the one virtue that crystallises the experience and it and sets it apart. in it. If my wallet actually agreed with me, I would be seeking out much more of this wonderful English blend. Filters. Note: It is easy to go overboard with the Syrian (The stuff is so delicious! Min: $ 0. I managed to get hold of a pouch of this mixture and after carefully rehydrating it, went on a very pleasant trip down memory lane. Burns at a reasonable pace, cool, clean and moderately smooth with a very consistent, mildly sweet and floral, savory, campfire flavor. Yet at the same time, it is cool, smooth, soft, and velvetly. So it was very perplexing when I got tongue bite, tongue bite, tongue bite. It was actually in a can, not the tin shown above, and with black and white illustrations and lettering. In my book this blend scores 5 points out of 5, which equates to 4 well deserved stars. ** 4 tins per customer only, we will reduce any order to that, sometimes you have to share !! It was all I'd hoped it would be and so much more! However, how does one describe the indescribable? If you have a chance to try some, by all means, do it. A cool and long-lasting smoke. 'But none' have even come mildly close in anyway-as far as I am concerned. . Germain's Balkan Sobranie 3-Pack of 50g tins . Now to describe the taste! . Supremely rich and dense in flavor, yet as light as a souffle. In my opinion, no. Complex, but not over the top. Not strong or overpowering at all. But dried out some, this is a pretty terrific blend for a special occasion. All in all, highly recommended for this wall of honour blend, an excellent starting place for Aromatic or Virginia pipers all briar brethren of the good leaf whom intend and desire experience with the genus Balkan or English. I like this blend, holp it will be steady supplied. It is less overwhelming and subtler, perhaps more suited to all-day smoke. I love orientals, latakias, and Virginias, but burley gives me some trouble. I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved this. This is something everyone should try and find. what i like most about it is not necessarily the overall impression.. i like the details and the subtlety. The latakia plays a supporting role despite there being a significant quantity of it in the blend. apparently admissible under the non- adulteration laws at the time, which prohibited all topping but did permit Cavendish. Supply < Demand, . Burns to a fine grey ash. After a decade, being reminded of the Sobranie flavor made me want to buy a pipe and some tobacco ASAP. That includes, Sutliff, Black House, and even Blue Mountain. Watch City's "Nor'easter" (Bulk by the Ounce) Watch City Tobacco Co. $5.49 Named for the infamous New England Winter . (Whom, similarly, imported Sasieni) Upon opening the packet I was anxious to sample its aroma?it was still delightful, quite as you would expect from a fine, fresh English. There are no words to describe this wonderful, fantastic, exciting english mixture. I do find the 90s version to still be good and similar to the current Germain version, but overall it was a shadow of its former self. Penzance now that is another story :) Hope this helps those who can't get their hands on it I speak the truth, my friends. The sad part is that this tobacco is no more. Orientals dominate the taste, almost to the exclusion of all else. Trusted SSL Protection, **All orders over the limit of one or more than one order in a 24 hour period will automatically be refunded.**. As time went on and I matured, this blend slowly grew on me . I think I prefer 759 more than this one. The third part was on the strong side. It lights easily, requires little maintenance and gives the most rewarding smoke I?ve had to date (I've not been smoking very long though to be honest!). Ran out in the late 80's. Sadly, though, it's not hard to understand why. Germain version. 309 South Jefferson Street, Roanoke, VA 24011 Toll This starts out with a nice, sharp flavor of latakia and orientals and is perfectly balanced. Who knows? It may need a couple of relightings, but after each one of them the taste seems to get even better and richer. Whatever or however the process, this is the Holy Grail of pipe tobacco. and I think nobody needs any further comment. copyright intellectual property of the reviewer and STC Holdings LLC and may not be While the ash was white, the pipe's heel usually got wet, which certainly demanded a pipe's traditional day's rest for every time smoked. Having said that, I want to be perfectly c lear I DO believe it is a solid tobacco blend worthy of some distinction. Too bad I was too young to try it when fresh and available. This was true for me into the 80s too, but by the time the 90s came about, the blend had changed and not for the better. And I am always happy to try and evaluate new mixtures. OK. Get advance notice on pipe specials, tobacco sales, freebies . Free 877-70MILAN (64526) [email protected] In true honesty, I used to rotate this tobacco with Murray's Early Morning Pipe and Standard's Mixture, just for a change of pace, but I have never smoked something quite like it. Is anyone e lse having the same problem? Sorry, persons under the age of 18 cannot use this site. I think it was a mistake to name this Balkan Sobranie; it would have done much better as a new blend under its own name and in its own right, because, for what it is, it's actually very good. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. 1981, transition year to the Gallaher production, good but really just not it. Of the many Balkan blends available today, I would say that G&H's Balkan Mixture is the closest match to this, only the G&H product is considerably better. Original Review 12-25-11 This review is for the newly released J.F. In fact, the difference might be compared to that between the Glenfiddich Scotch (sharp) and the Glenlivet Scotch (soft), albeit not so distinct?. Easy to understand why it is treated as the gold standard in Balkan style blends. If I was given the difficult choice of one tin, either TBS or 759, I would go for TBS. That just isn't the case. It's similar to Sasieni, just the balance of the blend is more harmonious. This was the only pack left. 10 again One can only hope and pray.. [email protected] Use Coupon Code "SPECIAL15" On Order Over $190 And Get 15% Discount. The sample I got was aged, obviously. Better! Everything was perfectly balanced and smooth. This because J.F. in Slavic languages) either there or in London, their eventual home, along with their delightful, white Turkish cigarettes, and their renowned Russian Black and Gold (- tipped) cigarettes. In the first years of the new millennium only a pouch version was available. Remember that not all of the tobaccos available back then are available now. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most prized and well blended orientals that you can get your hands on. Everyone has different tastes, that's what makes the world go round. Super smooth, blended perfectly. Who knows? With the history and price tag/availability of this blend came concerns it could be a bit of a letdown but those were swiftly erased almost immediately after lighting my first bowl of Balkan Sobranie. factory. Samuel Gawaith's Balkan Flake, supposedly 30% latakia and 70% Virginia (despite the Balkan name) is a good, honest, high quality tobacco to which one could maybe add high quality Cavendish, Yenidje and deer tongue and get somewhere close to Balkan (despite Balkan Flake's caked form). Sutliff Match Pipe Tobacco Victorian (Dunhill Elizabethan) $2.68 - $146.87. On one hand I was glad I did, on the other I was sad because it was one of the few sachets circulating all over the world. So, how does it taste? The tobacco came super-dry in the pouch and required almost a month of rehydration. Only a few got somewhat near to it. Having not had the opportunity to smoke the original when it came out I cant speak to a true comparison but I have smoked the old Balkan Sobranie with a lot of age. AAHhhhhhhh. Very nice Balkan blend. I remember smoking the tinned one a number of times and then the one in the metallic paper pouch. I smoked the Smoking Mixture for 11 years. Buttery is a nice description. I then flavored it in with the Syrian Latakia until it reached the smokiness I desired (I had some Sobranie on hand for comparison purposes). The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is the lead component. They all have a little bit of the same taste, something typical Dunhill. My favorite came with a black label and I think it was called Mixture #759. I like it, not as aromatic as I remember from the 70s. It is surprisingly mellow and not at all high in nicotine. Unfortunately, there was no Original Mixture. I noticed today on a certain online retailer (theyre not a site sponsor so Im not sure if its cool to name them) that Balkan Sobranie was for sale$25.99 per tin, limit one per customer. It's a slow burning, cool and dry smoke with an incense like aroma, very smooth. Its post-modern re-incarnation, BALKAN SASIENI, is the same mix, yet not the same mix at all: the grade of tobaccos and the proportions may be the same, but modern-day orientals seem to be blander, more generic than formerly, and the Cypriot ?latakia?, a nice tobacco in itself, is like California ?chablis? The BS that was available to me in the 1990s could be purchased at just about any tobacconist as well as many chain grocery stores and drug stores. 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. I smoked a good amount of it, but largely because there were so few latakia blends that were easily available. What I wanted to do is to see if this tobacco lived up to my memory of it. That is what makes this blend so wonderful. It almost borders on being monochromatic unless smoked slowly. In just a few minutes I judged that the tobacco was moist enough, placed it on a dish and then a few minutes later, into a "ZipLock"?.After allowing the moisture to migrate throughout, overnight: Sobranie vs. Sasieni The pouch aroma is very inviting (noticeably more so than Sasieni). 1, I'm not quite sure how old this can is as it was a gift and 2, I did not smoke my usual 2oz for the review. Does this sound contradictory? Sweet, soft, creamy, leathery, a perfect balance between its components. The 1980's and later versions used Cyprian Latakia which added a little different sweetness to the mix. The sad history of Balkan Sobranie after its initial sale, years later, is available in other reviews on this site. The Latakia is leathery, smoky with an characteristic peat flavor. Better! The tobacco for what it is worth did seem a bit dry (just the way I like it). Apparently thats what it takes to get this stuff. Has a rich experience for me and this tobacco was a unique in months because even when stored for so long, still provided good smoked, full of flavor. And the same beginning as with Mixture 759. Tin note of musty sour vegetation and pungent smoky. I removed the cake of tobacco and set out to re-hydrate it thus: Placed in a kitchen type strainer (sieve) over a pot of boiling water for a few moments the tobacco softened. IMHO it is exactly the same blend, the difference is simply that the one has aged and the other is relatively new. CAO Flavours Pipe Tobacco Once my pipe was filled I went out in the hall of the resort to light it. Together with Balkan Sobranie Mixture 759 and Balkan Sobranie Virginia no. a pipe and Balkan Sobranie is to be savored. A wonderful combination of light body, full flavor and tobacco "goodness". On ebay, astronomical amounts were (and still are) asked and paid for these tobaccos. Incense notes abound, the latakia is over the hill though. |Join I have been told that Smoker's Haven 'Our Best Blend' is a near-match to the Balkan Sobranie white, and that their Exotique is very similar to the Balkan Sobranie black. To this day I don't see why some blender with a microscope and a Japanese degree of patience couldn't reverse engineer a can of pre-sale Balkan strip by strip, testing the pieces against known samples and smoking from each separate pile to verify its identity as accurately as possible. Once I opened a can and discovered that one of the stems (it had its share of stems) was in fact a rusty nail. This stuff have cool somoke, something light and very rich. Nice english, occasionally a hint of soap on the lat. Maybe these are the good old days! The flavor becomes more balanced as you get into the first quarter of the bowl. Now I really hope that Arango and Germain also will bring out Mixture 759 and Virginia no. 2011.. Arango Cigar Co. became the one that acquired the rights of Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture. Very minimal relights, burns down to a fine, dark gray ash. 2000-2023 Milan Tobacconists, Conclusion: Applause! I've never smoked anything like it before or since. 1 in stock. Is it back in production or is this old stock? I can usually say "I wish this blend had something more" but not here. 2023 TobaccoPipes.com Leiconnsel, yours is the finest review I've ever read here. Balkan Sobranie $ 19.95 This traditional mixture of rich Virginia, Latakia and rare Yenidje tobaccos is Sobranie's oldest blend and offers a mild yet rich taste. I was gifted a fair number of bowls of the new Germain production BS and smoked it side by side with my remaining 1990's era BS. To my suprise I received some 5g sample pouoches, some old stuff of no significant meaning, 2 tins of Dunhill 965 murray's and a 50g pouch of Balkan Sobranie. Get exclusive updates on all our fresh offerings, sales, and promotions -- right to your inbox. Eventually I got myself a Churchwarden and took up the pipe. One of the best pipe tobaccos i have ever smoke. . I can now fully enjoy Abingdon and any other mixture that I can relate to as my ideal Latakia mixture, my holy grail. Isadore Redstone sensed this void in 1995 and negotiated with the Lane Company to manufacture the old blend under a new name "Balkan Saseini." None have answered, though many are excellent. They had two and I only bought one to try it. If this were not a gift, I could not justify the outrageous prices I have seen ($100-165. I will endeavor to keep this easy smoking, great tasting blend stockpiled from now on. FREE Shipping on all US orders over $95 | When Will My Package Ship? I would smoke this one regularly if it were available. Unfortunatley production of this tobacco will cease at the end of this year, so I will be stocking up as much of it as I can for the furure. And not unimportant, the topping is also spot on! A fine grey ash results and despite the high Latakia content it doesn't flavour the pipe too much. Those who regularly smoke them in the past, already know. Im glad to hear your thoughts. It's a sweet and smoky treat. I started loving the pipe when I was a teen. During the Second World War Joe was stationed in England, where he visited Balkan Sobranie and made a deal with them to sell Balkan canned by them in London and labelled as Best, exclusively. 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. Bright spices highlight carefully layered creamy notes of full creosote and there is an unidentifiable charming "classic" room note surrounding it all.The gravity and power are there too, so it must be respected.Let it brood and let it come in its own time. Being a Balkan, the Oriental is the star of the show, followed by the Latakia. Initial lighting the Orientals show their true floral, slightly spiced flavors. I was expecting a bold flavorful balkan blend but what I got was a mild english with a cut that did not seem to load well into my pipe. In the full-English range, so over forty percent Latakia, and around twenty five percent Oriental. escaped her lips. A wonderful smoke. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. I prefer to take it slow, just so thin wisps of smoke emit from the pipe. The flavor from top to bottom was full and rich.
