I liked the bowl of Charing Cross, but as Greg Pease stated, you can't replicate the original. The orientals have changed, too, because the unflavored "soda-like" notes of the old Sobranie are not here. They're not in WhiteKnight or other blends with yenidje on the market. At the Richmond Pipe Show, Russ Ouellette and I had a discussion on this very subject. He made the comment that the strain of yenidje currently available is either a variant of yesterday's yenidje, or the kind used in the past doesn't exist (or not available) anymore. That alone would make it impossible for anybody to duplicate Balkan Sobranie even if everything was exactly the same.
I wonder what yenidje Synjeco is using in Torina? I haven't smoked it in about three years now, so it, too, may be different now. Anyway, maybe it's best to just judge blends on their own merit. The Charing Cross I just had was good (I've enough for one more bowl). The new Balkan Sobranie is good, but no longer great, and I would not say it was better than Charing Cross. But I'll smoke a bowl of the new Sobranie now, and see what I think in regard to comparison to Charing Cross.
Edit: I'd buy Charing Cross over the new BS. WhiteKnight, too.
I wonder what yenidje Synjeco is using in Torina? I haven't smoked it in about three years now, so it, too, may be different now. Anyway, maybe it's best to just judge blends on their own merit. The Charing Cross I just had was good (I've enough for one more bowl). The new Balkan Sobranie is good, but no longer great, and I would not say it was better than Charing Cross. But I'll smoke a bowl of the new Sobranie now, and see what I think in regard to comparison to Charing Cross.
Edit: I'd buy Charing Cross over the new BS. WhiteKnight, too.
