Happy Birthday (early!).
If you go with the Balkan Sasieni, I'd love to hear what you think. But I'll warn you that I was seriously disappointed. . . it actually felt to me as if the oriental flavors/aromas were the result of added flavorings! I know that sounds crazy, but every single bowl I had lost all the oriental aspect entirely midway through. Since I've never encountered a leaf that actually disappeared halfway down a bowl -- for an entire tin -- the only thing that occurred to me was that it wasn't actually there much at all in the first place. . . that it was, in reality, a flavoring that burned off as I smoked. (This would account for the budget price of this blend when it was first re-introduced, something like $6.99/tin.)
I hope I'm wrong. But I just don't know how else to account for the way this one smoked for me. (I really hope I'm wrong, too, because I've still got 20 tins from 2008 in the cellar!)
Bob
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