English / Balkan Blends

ash13brook · Jan 17, 2015

I just opened a tin of H&H White Knight. I bought it because, per H&H's description, it is supposed to be an imitation of the original Balkan Sobranie, which I've never had.

It really does nothing for me, but I'll smoke the whole tin to give it time to maybe hit me.

I've recently been considering trying a few English blend tins and was wondering if the Balkan Sobranie clones are an English blend? If so, I might want to reconsider.

So, the questions:

a) Are the BS clones a type of English blend?

b) Did I choose the wrong BS clone?

c) What is a good English blend to try?
Thanks,

Matt

mso489 · Jan 17, 2015

Defining Balkan (in terms of pipe tobacco blends) has been batted around on various threads in Forums lately.

Bottom line by my reckoning, Balkan has Oriental or Turkish leaf as part of the blend, but beyond that, there

isn't a distinction.

mikestanley · Jan 17, 2015

If you want a nice intro to Balkan you can't go wrong with McClelland Wilderness and/or Yenidje Highlander. Mike S.

mcitinner1 · Jan 17, 2015

Hello Ash, Try Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend from Dan Tobacco, or from C&D, Constellation, or Byzantium, or Super Balkan. I always use the descriptions of blends on the Pipes&Cigars site when comparing blends. You can also use one of several sites that do tobacco reviews. 8)

cobguy · Jan 17, 2015

Do you like Latakia? If so, perhaps it's the Oriental/Turkish component that you don't care for.
If that's the case, just look for Latakia blends that don't use this type of leaf:
Lancer's Slices

Frog Morton

Northwoods

Bald Headed Teacher

Chasing Embers · Jan 18, 2015

Balkan Sobranie

Balkan Sasieni

Balkan Supreme

Yenidje Highlander

Red Odessa
Amazing blends there. Happy exploring!
Duane

uncleblackie · Jan 18, 2015

I can only answer C, and I would recommend avoiding most of the American blends mentioned by the others (certainly try them at a later date if your wallet allows) and get a real English "English" blend, Samuel Gawith's Commonwealth. I'm surprised it wasn't already mentioned.
50% Latakia, 50% Virginias. It's also got some balls to it where many of the other blends mentioned are quite limp in that category.
Try Commonwealth first.

judcole · Jan 18, 2015

White Knight is, indeed, very close to my memory of the Balkan Sobranie Original I smoked in the early 1970s. I enjoy it, and Balkan Sasieni, a lot. I am totally unimpressed with the current rendition of Balkan Sobranie.
That being said, I would not recommend those blends to a beginning piper or as a first venture into latakia blends. Lots of guys think that the Frog Morton series is a good intro to lat. I can't really comment on that in a meaningful way; I have been smoking latakia blends for far too long.
"Balkan" is a marketing term. In the US, it was originally used for blends that were trying to catch some of Sobranie's aura. The line between Balkan and English is pretty fuzzy. In the UK & Ireland, they simply refer to blends with or without latakia.

Chasing Embers · Jan 18, 2015

@uncleblackie C&D's Pirate Kake is 70% latakia. Give that one a try, I love it!

uncleblackie · Jan 18, 2015

Well acquainted with the Pirate, and I do enjoy it for sure.
Of course my tastes may change over time, but currently I've got to have at least 25-30% Latakia in a blend or I just don't care.

Search

Search

English / Balkan Blends

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

ash13brook

Lurker

mso489

Lifer

mikestanley

Lifer

mcitinner1

Lifer

cobguy

Lifer

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate

uncleblackie

Starting to Get Obsessed

judcole

Lifer

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate

uncleblackie

Starting to Get Obsessed