Jim's GL Pease Charing Cross Review

The Virginias are moderate, but important players. The bright Virginia is lightly citrusy with a touch of grass and earth. The tangy, fruitiness from the stoved red Virginia plays well with the dry notes from the Orientals/Turkish, helping to create a sweet and savory mixture. The Oriental/Turkish are very woody with some spice and cocoa, and often takes the lead. The latakia is smokey and woodsy, but not quite the star, though it adds depth and complexity to the blend. I notice the Orientals and Turkish more after the half way point. It has a perfect burn rate with no dull or harsh moments, and leaves no dottle. Some liken it to the older Balkan Sobranie, but as a thirty year veteran Sobranie smoker, I do not share that opinion. On its own merits, it's a very tasty Balkan blend with a lot going for it.

The Balkan Sobranie from the 1970s is different than the versions in the 1980s and onward. Those are the versions I smoked. I missed out on the 1970s BS. I did smoke a little of the late 1960s BS, and it was closer to Charing Cross than the later examples, e.g, about the right amount of red Virginia and Orientals. But as good as CC is and as good as WhiteKnight is, they both lack what I call the "unflavored soda note" of the later Sobranies. Apparently the strain of yenidje used in those versions has changed or disappeared. In another thread, I mentioned that Russ Ouellette and I had a detailed discussion about this, because I sure know what I was smoking all those years, and the yenidje I have tasted in current tobaccos is not the same as what I was used to. I also think the latakia content of CC is a shade less than what I smoked, too, and CC is a shade sweeter with fewer dry notes. But there was less red Virginia in the later Sobranie productions, too, just as there is in the recent version.
If the 1970s Sobranie is like the late '60s version I tried, then, yes, Charing Cross is more like that than it is like the 1980s and later Sobranies. I can still tell a difference, but considering the virtual impossibility of replicating that old version by memory due to ever changing tobacco crops, use of different tobaccos, and no recipe for Pease to go by, then it's a pretty good attempt. I'll say the same for Russ' WhiteKnight.
I don't think it matters. The new Sobranie is inferior to the old, and also inferior to Charing Cross and WhiteKnight. These two blends made me decide it was not worth hunting down new Balkan Sobranie. That's a tough thing to say considering my love for the old version, but this is the way I see it.
Doctor Thoss: I think you have different preferences on English blends because you like the higher latakia content. Am I correct?