Requires few relights, and leaves little dampness in the bowl. It's taste was definitely much better than it's smell, full-bodied and smoky, and the room note was not too aggressive, there's somewhat of a "tang" to it, but you could easily smoke it unnoticed in a group of cigarette smokers. Part of that is that I've missed the glory days of Sobranie. Strength: Room Note: Taste: Customer Reviews (22 Total) Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars I miss it still. A crowning achievement in the tobacco blending craft without question. I say ?real? Whatever it was, I spent several years following this up by trying to find another "balkan". Find the perfect balkan sobranie stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Before lighting the first bowl I was scared by a possible great strength and power. That includes, Sutliff, Black House, and even Blue Mountain. Esoterica Pipe Tobacco Never bites. Pouches continued to be manufactured but this is another story. THE ORIGINAL BALKAN SOBRANIE PIPE TOBACCO IS BACK 50 GRAM 1.76OZ FOUNDED BY A RUSSIAN FAMILY 1879 THE ENGLISH MIXTURE WITH VIRGINIA AND MELLOW LATIKIA, ORIENTAL AND CAVENDISH LEAVES BALLANCE A ROUND FLAVOR MEDIUM TO ROBUST BODY. What a revelation it was! A great blend, but there are blends available all year long that are just as good by GL Pease, and also his Drucquer and Sons blends. Very tasty and I feel this blend is one most any pipe smoker would find pleasurable. This is a 2.5 star blend compared to Black House or Nat Sherman 536, rating it "recommended" only if you're determined to try it and can find a tin cheap. Is the cigarette tobacco anything like the pipe tobacco? IMPORTANT NOTICE: Milan Waited a few days until I was off work to try it, opened it up, and found mold growing on it. This doesn't mean that there aren't better Balkans or latakia mixtures: it just means that Original still has something that makes it different and immediately recognizable, and which is missing from ALL other imitations. Well if they put this in their new age purses, maybe I'll listen. Very nuanced, cool and even burning to the bottom of the bowl, but unless you just have to see for yourself or just have to have it for your collection, you probably shouldn't waste your time. until their sale in the '70s. |Pipe Shows, |Pipe & Tobacco Reviews But such pleasure, such balance, such lack of bite, such a variety of delicious flavors melded into a rich, creamy whole that was somehow also light and fleeting. Moreover, I find the Yenidje and other Orientals to be more pronounced and complex than in Peases Caravan. Peterson Pipe Tobacco Not so much a difference of taste, as one of attitude! 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. View All Close. I had the same experience with 759. You can see how it is a hard composition to blend, with ingredients often hard to obtain, and whose consistency over 130 years has been variable to say the least! At least for this one time, the cost of the tin was well worth it. It was an occasional treat, like the driest gin. The flowery notes are likely their stock of Yenidje. 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. After a few puffs, the tobacco flavors begin to meld & it just keeps getting better until the very end. The fine ribbon cut needs some airing out. I don't mind the premium prices this blend commands; it's worth it. I can't improve on Leiconnsel's descriptions of opening the lid with the built-in knife, and of the multiple layers of aroma and flavor. Despite all of my gripes with the blend I thoroughly enjoy the flavor, and imagine it will become significantly better with age and added complexity. If you have a chance to try some, by all means, do it. Note: It is easy to go overboard with the Syrian (The stuff is so delicious! 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. The lack of clarity is the fact that the site has two listings for BS [sic] THE B S. If Gary Pease ruled the world you'd all have your pipes confiscated and your palates tested for nerve damage. If you are even remotely interested in Balkan blends, you owe it to yourself to try this. Balkan Sobranie. Balkan could smoke wet if you didn't dry it out just right, and hot and bitey if too dry. Mixture is comprised primarily of Latakia with a mixture of Orientals, Current Stock: Decrease Quantity: Increase Quantity: Add to Wish List. This was one of the first pipe-tobaccos that I really enjoyed on all levels, and, naturally, it was the pipe-tobacco everyone else hated. Hence the new blends simply could never be the same. Creamy, smoky and sweet. 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. I would smoke this one regularly if it were available. I've finished two of them. Except the lucky few. 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. Its ash is light and gray, without noticeable cake. With that said . Try some Prilep. ** 4 tins per customer only, we will reduce any order to that, sometimes you have to share !! My lucky day. Well, I was not dissapointed. The Virginias had darkened quite a bit. Balkan was definitely true to the old bromide that the worse the room smelled, the better the tobacco (don't the girls just love the smell of Cherry Blend). Individual reviews are the opinion(s) of the contributor and do not reflect the opinion(s) During the pursuit of perfection, excellence was achieved. The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is the lead component. I have tried may blends that claimed to be close to the blend,having never tried the original I could only base them on their own merits. A crowning achievement in the tobacco procurement & blending craft without question. The smell alone is divine. That's about all I can say. Balkan Sobranie. Old tins these days are just too mellow - although still MARVELOUS! The finish is cool and dry. A LEGEND. Just a slight leathery flavor in the background. Very nice Balkan blend. British tobacco was it, too. This is perhaps the most interesting review thread on here, dedicated as it is to a legend rather than to anything that still exists. Before the (retroactive) taste test, here's some more history. It has now disappeared altogether. Burns cool, clean and a tad fast as its thinner cut now. As for flavorits ok. If all this good smoke is coming from the tobaccos alone, that's incredible almost magical! (Or by virtue of present supply, Sasieni). It's hard to add to the excellent reviews of this wonderful tobacco. Mo's flavor profile seems right to me. This tobacco is unique.. So if you are going to feed me, feed me but don't dangle a carrot in front of me and then take it away because it makes me angry. Super smooth, blended perfectly. to try and capture it, but one couldn't. The light unflavored soda note or two along with some dry wood, earth, floralness from the yenidje is always noticeable. There are some very good Balkan/heavy english mixtures available,but none can ever replace Balkan Sobranie. copyright intellectual property of the reviewer and STC Holdings LLC and may not be Predominant Latakia did a good job of giving the mixture that full body which I like so much. For a very broad reference I would say it is somewhere between Esotericas Penzance and G.L. I gave it a star because I think that it is probably a good blend,but it's always gone instantly. After 45 minutes of drying I loaded it into a brand new Peterson 317 that had never been smoked. I have always liked this blend, and am in the process of smoking the last of my supply. Very neutral aroma that does not disturbs the room. Although I prefer this indoors since it's extinct and demands my undivided attention, rightfully so. Inventory changes daily, call us at 630-834-7777 to place an order. Being too young to have ever bought this over the counter, I felt I had to try the blend that everyone in the pipe club lamented they could not buy anymore. Both reek marvelously, are roughly at the half-way mark as far as Latakia, and seem to have less Oriental than either the Pease mixture mentioned above, or the Cornell & Diehl mixture. I like it, not as aromatic as I remember from the 70s. Quite frankly, this tobacco is much better than I remembered. Medium bodied smoke, you get enough lat, but it's not really an extraordinary English. By entering this site, There are much better offerings available today and I will not be purchasing another tin of this "one tin per purchase" rip-off (and I truly expect my review will be "ripped" into, so have at it guys). Burns to fine white ash. Easy to understand why it is treated as the gold standard in Balkan style blends. Very tasty and I feel this blend is one most any pipe smoker would findpleasurable. Another old favourite of mine back in the day. Costly but nothing like buying Tins of Sobranie off ebay. I hear you can get this across the pond. If you stop being attentive to the way you smoke, it can bite. This because J.F. escaped her lips. Both generate wonderful clouds of leather and oak, and upset the women. Happy Smoking! The tin note was nice. The scarcity of Balkan Sobranie has elevated it to mythical status, which is just a bit over-doing it IMO. His life experience was invaluable to me in many ways. It's a "Turkish cigarette" (Oriental blend) which means there's nothing in it but Oriental tobacco. I almost feel that one star is too good for it! I was young and callous and therefore felt that this blend was very harsh. PS: Save your coin if you think that Sasieni is going to get you any closer to those bygone days I personally think it's somewhat better than BS but not much. Finally, with my Sobranie blended to my satisfaction I jarred it and set out enough to fill my rather large Meerqueen bowl. I am however glad I got a pouch for the sake of having tried it, but I doubt I'll go hunting for another pouch in the future. . I need to first say that below, Leiconnsel's review must be the gold standard for all reviews on this amazing blend.