Erinmore Balkan Mixture

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

jorgesoler

Can't Leave
Dec 3, 2014
401
74
I am smoking this now as we speak. I find the tin note quite pungent. I am a regular with English/Balkan blends, and this particular one seems to have a nice combination of oriental and virginia tobaccos which I find quite balanced. I cannot detect any toppings or added sweetness at all and it seems to smoke quite cool in your bowl. About the moist content I'd say goldilocks, so it does not require much drying time. The tin note would suggest a more dominated latakia blend, but it is the virginias and orientals I detect most of the times. Flavours are difficult to explain, but the experience is that of a tug of war in between the ones and the others. At some point the virginias seem to dominate, whereas later on the orientals might take the lead. The latakia only seems to flare up in the front as you smoke more and more, but it is never so dominant you loose track of the other two. The ribbon cut is quite consistent throughout, but you might come across a twig or two. It might be true I have smoked more complex mixtures in this range, but in its simplicity, I think this tobacco is great. I had chosen a bigger bowl to review this, but you won't need much time to get your head around it. I cannot detect any tongue bite at all and I particularly like how these flavours will linger at the back of your throat as you pass it through your nose. Indeed, this is very fulfilling and an invitation to puff away at a lower pace. This is a full bodied tobacco that can be smoked any time of the day. Highly recommended to both, the more experienced pipe smoker and those who are venturing into pipe smoking for the very first time.
erinmorebalkan_zps6f20537d.jpg


 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Sounds good, subtle and with some interesting complexity. I think of Balkans as a sort of

surprise package because the Orientals can come across so many different ways. This makes

me want to at least look at the specs on Erinmore Balkan Mixture at the retail sites and see how

they size it up in terms of strength/taste/room note, and how they peg the constituent tobaccos.

Thank you for the intriguing review.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
jorge', I checked several sponsor sites and none have the Erinmore Balkan. Did you get it in

Europe or otherwise outside the U.S.?

 

jorgesoler

Can't Leave
Dec 3, 2014
401
74
jorge', I checked several sponsor sites and none have the Erinmore Balkan. Did you get it in

Europe or otherwise outside the U.S.?
I live in the UK, so I am not sure whether this is available in the US.

 
K

klause

Guest
Jorge, that's a superb write up - thank you.
I've got a few tins that have spent a couple of years at the back of the sock draw waiting for my attention - I've been reluctant because of some less than glowing comments - your comments may just have brought the day of reckoning for these tins forward, quite considerably.
Good stuff!!!

 

jorgesoler

Can't Leave
Dec 3, 2014
401
74
Jorge, that's a superb write up - thank you.
You welcome mate: I am honoured. BTW, this tobacco is quite expensive in the UK. If you want to buy some try Spain instead.

 

robykeys82

Lurker
Nov 6, 2015
30
0
I'm smoking it right now. This is a good choice here in Italy if you want to try an EM/Balkan mixture without spending too much with Samuel Gawith or Dunhill blends.

Tin note reminds me the one of 965. It smokes easily and cool all the time. I am not sure if it's available in the USA, though.

 

menuhin

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2014
642
3
Hasn’t it been discontinued a year or two ago?

Or is it now available again?

 

didache

Can't Leave
Feb 11, 2017
480
8
London, England
Thanks to this thread I checked out most of the online retailers in the UK. Sadly it does in fact seem as though Erinmore Balkan has been removed from the market. There is one (that I found) retailer who still has stock - but as it is pretty much a clone for EMP which is readily available, I will just cherish the couple of tins I have in stock. It's a tobacco I have enjoyed, but I won't lose too much sleep over its demise.
It still won't make me like the Mixture though!
Mike

 

menuhin

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2014
642
3
The good thing about Erinmore Balkan Mixture is that many people said it is a very high quality "clone", even more so than the EMP back then.
Dunhill's production changed hand so many times - to Murray with inconsistent quality issue, and then out of English to the sticky-label tin versions by Scandinavian Tobacco Group. It is no longer original since the early / mid 90s, and people including me just trust the blenders who dare to say certain blend is EMP and certain blend is Nightcap because they obtained trusted recipe and production information and they have done their best job so they are comfortable to name the blend as such. Obviously, if it is all about the recipe (and of course the source and quality of certain Tobacco leaves), anyone has enough skill can replicate a blend given the recipe.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.