Very neutral aroma that does not disturbs the room. It has a sweet & salty flavor with an enticing aroma. From the company's (the name and the recipe's) sale and in sale after sale after that the blend has been cheapened and diminished, with production moving to Jamaica (?Made in the U.K.?) 1999, pretty nice but nothing compared by the old original. This is by far the best English Balkan blend ever made including the suppose Gallagher version. Indeed, this is my old friend and it has mellowed with age but still has that "oomph" that only the Balkan Sobranie White has. Men wept when the original supply was discontinued. The pipe smoking market appears to be becoming larger thus the time was right for a new version, a new "vintage" of Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture. There is an acidic nuttiness like roasted walnuts, and a perfect sweetness as well. It was totally different with other balkan or other latakia. I realize that even though The Balakan Sobranie is gone and that the tobaccos used in it's making are no more to be found, you can still get quality stuff from some dedicated blenders, finding them could be quite a challenge though. Aging has mellowed the virginia tobaccos while the orientals and latakia have become more pungent. RF 2K702D2 - Kyiv, Ukraine - September 03, 2022: A pack of Sobranie Gold cigarettes closeup on white. On the contrary! I smoke Virginia. Since TR has now carved out the new BS under Germain, (a good thing), here are my thoughts on the old Balkan Sobranie. 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. It's a shag cut, with pronounced latakia and musty smelling orientals. We apologize, but this item is temporarily out of stock. Best were proportionately milder, and the only one stronger than Best was Exotique, which was merely Balkan with some prime cigar leaf added. Balkan Sasieni When the product becomes available, the alerts will be sent in the order in which customers signed up for the alerts. Is it as good as the original? I've never seen a tobacco change so much even from year to year (maybe just the Dunhill 965 did). To say the least, Ed's Balkan is superb, try it and see if it matches the Sobranie blend. Im glad to hear your thoughts. It finishes, of course, full and strong. Similar Blends: Ashton's Artisan, Peterson Balkan Delight, Old Ironsides.. The orientals are definitely the main player here, they're spicy and complex. The strength is a couple of steps short of medium. A must try! Recent pouches were also drier. Thoroughly enjoyable and deserves a quiet hour or so to smoke it and really enjoy it. Balkan Sobranie Pipe Tobacco One of the most sought after pipe tobaccos still produced today, Balkan Sobranie is a Latakia-based blend that even the most dedicated enthusiast often has not been able to try. It's definitely not worth that kind of price. A dear friend of mine had a family member send this to him from his home land of Spain.Being the gentleman that he is,he gave me a pouch of my own.My only regret is that I'm going through it quickly and that it's no longer being sold in the U.S.This is one blend that lives up to it's reputation as one of the trulyly legendary smokes.Made up of oriental tobaccos,it's smooth and rich and tasty.It's simply wonderful and I'd encourage others to send overseas for a pouch or two of THEIR own. I had heard the stories. With so many good tobaccos on the market today I'm very happy with the selection I have, to be great It has to be in production once and awhile. Once the ember gets going it gets much better. Super smooth, blended perfectly. Of course now it's a matter of reviewing the pouched version by Gallahers (Imperial?) It smells like sandlewood incense! It was so unique, especially since I was smoking drug store brands of pipe tobacco. For the better part of the 20th Century, this blend was made by Sobranie House under the aegis of the Redstone family. I'm glad that I was able to enjoy this rarity at a time when it was perhaps at it's best, and wish I had stashed a few tins away to be happily re- discovered. When the towel is dry, I'll gently mix the contents and repeat until the moisture level is right. I surmise that tobacco grown in the Balkan region has some affect on the flavor. So, I finally opened the tin and took my time burning through it. It was a full aroma latakia with a delightfully light body. Yenidje Highlander, though rather light and not very sweet or creamy, at least gives one a real taste of the Yenidje-latakia interplay. Is it inexpensive? I am rooting for them as this is very highly recommended! The Yenidje is really nice and to my palate offers an ever so slight bit of creamy aromatic spice. The last part of the bowl is the best as all the different tobaccos harmoniously sing together. I welcome other reminiscences, additions, corrections; but, N.B. The unflavored soda note from the yenidje is virtually missing. A crowning achievement in the tobacco blending craft without question. Another old favourite of mine back in the day. Room note is a killer to those who don't smoke. Pouches continued to be manufactured but this is another story. Exceptionally over-hyped based on the name alone. 5 smooth. . Pipe Manufacturer & Retailer Spotlight | It has now disappeared altogether. The king of balkans! It leaves the pipe rather clean. The job ended before I did. Sobranie of London was able, in the old days, to procure the finest Yenidje tobacco. I don't know what it used to taste like but I have an extremely difficult time believing this current offering to be lacking in anyways. I actually prefer it over Sobranie.. 3 Balkan Supreme. My tin was very damp. Nunca esta disponible, pero es de lo mejor que nunca jamas he probado, un equilibrio y sabor casi perfecto a un precio correcto. Based on certain similarities of taste I suspect that Balkan Sobranie may have also contained some Maryland, but likely no more than ten percent. The mystique surrounding this blend from years past is well deserved. Lighting is easy enough, but you may need to tamp it a bit. And the same beginning as with Mixture 759. Mine was from a Gallagher 50g pouch. You could taste the latakia and orientals, but they were not ove rstated. Though the original manufacturer has since ceased production, Germain's revives the iconic blend, comprising Latakia, Orientals, and Virginias for an exceptionally traditional English mixture. Oriental tobacco was standardized and sold uniformly, no more to be readily had as the local varietals with exotic names. While he had Baby's Bottom, Three Nuns, various Dunhill blends and many others, along with a logically progressing series of tinned, Lane-blended American tobaccos exclusive to the store, the main event was a complete line of English tobaccos based on Balkan/Best. The Virginias had darkened quite a bit. AAHhhhhhhh. I dont know if this tobacco have the same strength, flavor and intensity that 70's or 80's sobranie, but anyway this sobranie is a spectacular tobacco with a Latakia very present from start to finish. Orders over $95 in US, Safe Payments The tinned version (c. 20 years ago) had for me an almost mystical, incense-like quality, very powerful, that somehow induced a trance like state. Well, here in Italy the traditional and legendary 759 isn't available anymore, so I haven't had a chance to try it. Good smoke! I was lucky enough to get a sample of this legendary blend, and I just had to do a review. Balanced to a fault, yet it's the sum of its ingredients that makes it so distinctive and so hard to imitate. What can I say for me this is the gold standard for Balkans. Complex, but not over the top. Thanks. It has a sweet & salty flavor with an enticing aroma. Once the product has come back in stock, you'll need to resubscribe for future notifications. Having heard so much about this blend I was prepared to be under whelmed, but it really does live up to the hype. The subtle interplay between the Orientals and the Latakia along with the suspected aged virginias became sublime.as well as whatever word denotes that which is greater than sublime. If all this good smoke is coming from the tobaccos alone, that's incredible almost magical! . 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). They've been sold out. Having said that, however, this old Balkan Sobranie White (truly made by Sobranie) is the best tobacco I've ever, ever smoked. !Thats my opinion.Exellent in all respects. Their room note bespeaks a gentleman's presence. Add to Wishlist. I smoked a few tins of this several years ago (before it became a classic) and found it good but unmemorable. Middleton Pipe Tobacco Being a Balkan, the Oriental is the star of the show, followed by the Latakia. Lights easily. At a benefit concert at Town Hall in NYC in the 1960's, I watched Thelonius Monk shambling onto stage with a pipe in his mouth and a can of Sobranie in his hand, which can he proceeded to place on the piano before starting to play. Here's the deal, folksfor as long as it's available, I will own this. Really great because you can taste the love and craftsmanship. For virginia smokers (such as myself) that think balkan mixtures cannot contain the depth of a good VA flake, this one makes a strong argument for the defense. I smoked a pretty good amount of the BS that was sold in the 1990s, and just recently opened a pouch of the last version (sold outside the U.S. until around 2005, if I understand correctly). The other flavors always floated above it, with sweet and spicy notes. This pipeweed is certainly an icon and one of the best oriental blends out there. was it merely an oversight at the factory, or is this really some kind of mythic witches brew. After losing one of my 80s pouches to mold, I've now jarred all of them up in Mason jars in the basement and sealed them up tight. 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? Milan Pipe Tobacco I see why this blend commands a premium & if I had plenty of money, I'd have plenty more Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture. Yes, the contents were a bit moist and could do with a couple of days' drying, and were springy thanks to the ribbon cut. And even with the utmost care and dedication it fatigues my palate after I'm done. Inventory changes daily, call us at 630-834-7777 to place an order. I don't blame smoking pipes, these things happen sometimes I reckon. Min: $ 0. I now understand why so many bemoan the exodus of this from the US market. This is a nice ribbon cut ranging from medium brown to dark brown to black in color, with a very dark tone overall. Resembling the tobacco in my 1981 tin. I've never had the old Sobranie from the golden age, so I cannot compare them but will review this blend on its own merits. It was all I'd hoped it would be and so much more! Brand A - Z | Brand Z - A | Price Low - High | Price High - Low | Best Selling | New Arrivals Balkan Sobranie SKU: BALKSOB50 Limit 5 Per Customer Quick Specs View Your Price: $19.00 Temporarily out of stock. When available. Both should be tried. Two days ago I got my paws on an old tin of BS. The pipe smoking market appears to be . It still is a very tasty, oriental-dominated blend, and one which has no equals. We will deny any order we believe has been placed by a minor. As Balkan blends are a bit lighter on the Latakia and heavy on the Orientals it is a bit different than a regular English blend, but not as light as P resbyterian Mixture. Balkan Sobranie Pipe Tobacco (1.76oz) $ 21.98. Fernandez San Lotano Requiem Connecticut, Aganorsa Leaf Guardian of the Farm Cerberus, Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan, A. Fuente Don Carlos Edicion De Aniversrio, Cavalier Geneve Black Series II Visa Jalapa, Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne Sun Grown, Rocky Patel Cigar Smoking World Championship, RoMa Craft Intemperance Whiskey Rebellion, Romeo y Julieta 1875 Connecticut Nicaragua. This GeoTrust This stuff have cool somoke, something light and very rich. I smoked it constantly from 1975 through the early eighties, sporadically since then till it's disappearance. 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. No one was able to come near this excellence. The outstanding characteristic of this blend, to me, is the complexity and changing nature through the course of the bowl. I loved it. Somehow, with all of that, it managed a very pleasant room note. Just a slight leathery flavor in the background. Won't bite or get harsh. Unfortunately, there was no Original Mixture. Currently made by Germain in UK. S. smoker . It may not display this or other websites correctly. Like probably so many other pipers, I eagerly awaited the opportunity to find this blend in stock and purchase. I need to first say that below, Leiconnsel's review must be the gold standard for all reviews on this amazing blend. I guess I first tried it nearly 35 years ago. The sample I got was aged, obviously. I find Nightcap, Penzance and Black Mallory to be more complex. The smoke is creamy and smooth. But, I don't care. For those who liked the resinous Oriental perfume, Dunhill's Durbar is quite nice. Specifically, the yenidje! Waited a few days until I was off work to try it, opened it up, and found mold growing on it. But the new blends out there (Paul Olsen's, Ten Russians, Larry's Strike Force, Penzance, Knightsbridge) are all certainly worthy heirs to the throne, and I don't feel cheated that I like at a time where I can have such a wide range available to me. Please check back with us in a few days. When I first opened the tin and looked at the contents I was a little surprised. by the House of Sobranie and now produced in the Esoterica Tobacciana Easily qualifies as a four star blendIMHO, of course!!! Hope to increase production, now the demand is far greater than supply!!! Big, full, round, heavy, large, expansive. I withhold most further details of the shop on the unlikely chance I can return someday and the remaining tin will be up there on the top shelf, having once been stuffed back to make room for more recent things. The heavy dense smoke floats lightly over the palate. Packing and lighting are straightforward. I wish more could be imported, I think I ordered a tin from here and I have gotten a few elsewhere. Then I happened on a shop in the Rockies while I was on assignment there. Our Little River, SC showroom, Low Country Pipe & Cigar, is open 10am-7pm US/Eastern Monday - Saturday at 2 Hwy 90 East, Little River SC, 29566. I can see why this tobacco is the one that started the whole "Balkan" designation. Yenidge bulk- Purchased from Carole at Pipeworks and Wilke. Balkan Sobranie literally was Our Best Blend at that time. The return of the classic Balkan Sobranie now manufactured by JF Germain in the British Isles! 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. 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. $30.00. Wow. This is fact for both, The Balkan Sobranie and the 759 Mixture. There was lots of relighting. I'll start with the presentation in the tin. . Yet they did not update the tobacco selections. Pipe Tobacco The tobacco is a very different experience than I expected. The brand was originally produced by Sobranie of London in 1920, and became a top-selling brand worldwide. 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. The inital flavour is of that lovely nuttyness that only Latakia can provide. The nicotine content is not heavy at all, but a solid medium. : the above description is not an unattainable, sentimental concoction born of distorted, rosy memory: it is as accurate as I could make it. It was worth the wait. I want to start this review by prefacing a few things. Same Day on in Stock Items If ordered before 10 am EST. all of which I'll reach for before the new Balkan Sobranie. I never thought the day would come and I would open it, but finally given to temptation here I amSo,the tobacco has indeed had quite a bit of age on it, but it was still quite moist and the surrounding paper stained. and Related Accessories to Discerning Cigar and Pipe Smokers From Our Sure, maybe the initial experience won't be the same, but, overall, the smoking experience should be just as enjoyable and with a lot less waiting and frustration. Aroma: Smoke, sweet vinegar, wood chips, cherry pit, concentrated fig, pomegranate jam. I have smoked for three years this unforgettable tobacco. Whatever or however the process, this is the Holy Grail of pipe tobacco. Think I like it better than penzance. Trough the bowl the mixture burned well, did not have to relight my pipe at all except after some tamping which was necessary after some half bowl was gone to ashes. Burns at a reasonable pace, cool, clean and moderately smooth with a very consistent, mildly sweet and floral, savory, campfire flavor. I wonder if Balksn Sobranie Smoking Mixture will ever re-emerge in the US of A as Dunhill has recently. It's clear to me that smoked fresh this is no lightweight English/balkan. Together with Penzance some of the best tin-smells ever. Track Order. Enjoyed the original many moons ago. Once I opened a can and discovered that one of the stems (it had its share of stems) was in fact a rusty nail. 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. as it blooms midway down the bowl. I believe that now there are better blends of this kind. The leaf was long and stringy - like seaweed. As such it is an oriental fronted mixture balanced with a good amount of Latakia, where the Latakia never seems to take over. Is anyone else having the same problem? It is not nearly as heavy with Latakia that Penzance is, nor is it quite as creamy regarding the mouth feel although there's some. Quite frankly, this tobacco is much better than I remembered. |Forums $7.99. If you receive this confirmation repeatedly, you will need to enable cookies so that your response can be saved. Just like every other pipe smoker on the planet I really wanted to try this. It smokes very cool, but I find it burns quite quickly even when quite moist, which is odd for such a cool smoking tobacco. But dried out some, this is a pretty terrific blend for a special occasion. There are very few aromatics that I like anymore. I would have rated this version of the BS as a two star blend, or maybe 2.5 if I were feeling generous. The Balkan Sobranie Cigarettes Tobacco Tin - EMPTY - Medium Size $34.00 Free shipping Vintage, THE BALKAN SOBRANIE, No.759 MIXTURE, TOBACCO TIN (4 Inch Diameter) $8.50 $4.50 shipping Tobacco Tins Vintage EMPTY Lot 7 MY LADIES DUNHILL FLAKE BALKAN SOBRANIE & MORE $95.00 $20.15 shipping or Best Offer The tobacco for what it is worth did seem a bit dry (just the way I like it). I gave it a star because I think that it is probably a good blend,but it's always gone instantly. To be a very good blend in the downfall years speaks to how excellent it was in years past. No Virginia top notes here. This is the closest I have ever tasted to the original product. A fine grey ash results and despite the high Latakia content it doesn't flavour the pipe too much. As I said in my first review, it is difficult to make comparisons with this blend because even in the days prior to the current Germain production, there were many changes to BS. Now I know how was the original and now i can compare. you certify that you are at least 21 years old and consent to an age and There wasn't much virginia citrusy virginia "pep" but you could still smell it's "expensive cigarette" qualities, I think you can blame the age of the tin for that. Otherwise who cares I will spend my tobacco money on something else!!!!!!! Legends. Rewarding to smoke. Pipe Tobacco No, Sherlock and his Shag were a couple rows back chugging to the next case, too. 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! This tin, my tin, had more or less 30 years, and was perfectly conserved, yesterday a smoked the last bowl during all the time I used a Savinelli King Cross, This is a small pipe, burns a 20 minutes, but a did a 40 minutes for enjoy each portion of this tobacco. There are so many old blends I'll never get to sample, yet I've managed to fulfill a dream by getting to try this one. Perhaps all of the above. The stars are unrelated to this spectacular tobacco. 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. Not so much a difference of taste, as one of attitude! The tobaccos is a ribbon-cut but something coarser than the pouch version. Price: At 4noggins a tin of this new version costs $10.19. the blend i am smoking is the current j f germain version. Well, this has finally become unavailable to me. Sampled from a fairly fresh 50g pouch of the Gallaher version that was eight years old when purchased back in 2010. Rating?I can't smoke it "all the time", due to supply?however, this is a "Four Star Blend". Balkan Sobranie is an all time favorite that, once it had departed,set me off on a frantic quest to find a replacement. 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. Highly, highly recommended. Perhaps it was the tin that attracted me, the white one with the two women on the front. A smooth mellow blend that is simply delicious. 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. As others wrote before, the current production has really few to do with the old. No bite whatsoever. My only gripe is that 70% of the blends that I smoke are made by Germain and most of them are almost impossible to come by. I've never had tongue bite from a Balkan before. If you like Latakia and lots of it, you will love this stuff, a true Balkan blend. : the more it tries to be, the more it is not. All of that said this is a 4 star smoke. Blend with a characteristic, a bit stronger room note and taste. I haven't gotten the percentages down to a science but I started with equal portions of the virginia's, Orientals, and Yenidge. I have just recently secured a few 50gram packets of "Balkan Sobranie" Original Smoking Mixture. Once open the tobacco rests in a paper as is often customary with on top of that a thin round insert with nothing on it. The lighting, and smoking qualities are indistinguishable from the Sasieni. But also of the Smoker's Heaven tobaccos that for years counted as THE replacement for the original Balkan Sobranie tobaccos. Smell from the tin: Yummie! If I had plenty of money, I'd have more Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture. Only a few got somewhat near to it. I don't see how someone can give it "one star" based on them missing the drop..? I opened this tin given to me as a gift by dm14 and I thank him for it. Be patient your time will come.. It is less overwhelming and subtler, perhaps more suited to all-day smoke. This one is smooth and bold with good sourness from the orientals and slight smoke from the Latakia. To everything there is a season, if I may coin a phrase. I wish I could, but that just ain?t happenin?. RYO cigs had become the rage, and we were always hitting the tobacconist for Drum, Three Castles, etc Well, I always went for the Sobranie White Pack. Here you can really notice that there is more of the dark smoked leaf in the 2011 version. 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. and they are just as good if not better. Nothing I could expect, as well as the beautiful contrasted colours and the oily texture of the tobacco in the tin. Originally there was Syrian latakia in it but for yeeaaars that was no longer the case.. The Balkan Sobranie tobacco business was established in London in 1879 by Albert Weinberg (born Romania 1849), whose naturalization papers dated 1886 confirm his nationality and show that he had emigrated to England in the 1870s at a time when hand-made cigarettes in the eastern European and Russian tradition were becoming fashionable in Europe. Isadore Redstone sensed this void in 1995 and negotiated with the Lane Company to manufacture the old blend under a new name "Balkan Saseini." Not sure what to make of this. Similar Blends: My favorite, Wilke's Crystal Palace. It's in current production. . By clicking on the 'Email Me' link you are signing up for a One-Time Alert to be notified when this product's comes back in stock. And I am always happy to try and evaluate new mixtures. No. I could not smoke this all day, but could smoke 2-3 bowls in a row if this were still obtainable. I see why this blend commands a premium. Initial smoke is full and sweet, and the mix of latakia and turkish is beautiful. I could see this becoming my "go to" blend except that it to is mostly unavailable. Pleasant smoky aroma, with a slight odor of burnt sugar. tobacco that gives this blend its characteristic flavour and aroma. Remember that not all of the tobaccos available back then are available now. Smoked Balkan Supreme.love yet again. This was sampled from a fairly fresh eight year old, 50g Gallaher's pouch back in 2010; This BSOM makes you reach for that elusive, sweetness with each draw. Supremely rich and dense in flavor, yet as light as a souffle. View All (61) Balkan Sobranie Balkan Sobranie 50g Reviews. 1.75 oz. Meticulously recreated by JF Germain in England. What I was missing in the 1981 version were the oriental tobaccos that halfway the bowl began to sing the dominant part. Balkan Sobranie The return of the classic original Balkan Sobranie blend. Try a Sutliff match blend, Balkan Sasieni are better than this. Joe had some sort of preferred agreement with Charatan, I believe, and also sold lots of Dunhills. The smoke intensifies through the bottom part of the bowl, with the low notes coming as a nice contrast to the bright sourness of the first light.