Balkan Sobranie New vs Old my review

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jaysin

Lifer
Feb 8, 2012
1,083
1
Indiana
Today a old friend came by to see me and pay respects over my fathers passing.

He brought with him as a gift, a tin of Balkan Sobranie and a genrous sample of some of the orginal from the late 20s or early 30s. Having had the chance to smoke plenty of the old stuff it was time to do a back to back comparison of the two. I cannot compare the old to a fresh batch of the old as this has had many years of age on it and wonder how it changed it for better or worse. So for what it's worth here's my thoughts on the 2 blends.

Both blends to me were very mellow despite being billed as Medium to Full.

The taste between the 2 are close but can taste a difference. Both were very smooth and mild in taste with a great lat comback finish and no bite. Taste of both linger around for a bit maybe 15 min or less.

Room note was no different than any other Balkan or English of that type of mix i.e. wife don't like the smell much but the 3 yr old does. Over the 2 I like the old better as the new is just missing the "it" factor of the old. I will keep some of the new on hand as I like it. Even though I would have to say the new can be more compaired to a later version of Presbyterian in taste. That's just my opinion though. If you are a fan of Balkan tobacco give it a try I would give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

 

rcstan

Lifer
Mar 7, 2012
1,466
8
Sunset Beach NC
Very nice, it sounds right up my alley! Where would one find Sobranie these days ( and I don't mean the insanity on eBay )? SP and PC still list in "unavailable, will get more one day" .....
Also, how would you compare it to Sasieni Balkan, if you've smoked that, or FMOTT ?

 

jaysin

Lifer
Feb 8, 2012
1,083
1
Indiana
rcstan to me Sasieni Balkan is a totally different critter be like compairing a cake doughnut to a yeast doughnut.

Both are good but different in their own way. As far as i know p&c is still out. I am begining to think its out of production. Sasieni Balkan is avable at cup o joes.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,070
Maryland
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I bought a tin each of Sobranie and Sasieni last year. I didn't care for the way the Sobranie smoked, but really enjoy the much more available Sasieni. Wingenroth's in PA did have a rack full of Sobranie a few weeks ago, $16/tin.
That was a nice tribute to your dad from your friend.

 

papipeguy

Lifer
Jul 31, 2010
15,778
35
Bethlehem, Pa.
Interesting review. I would have thought that the aged blend would have been significantly different due to its age and the time that the tobaccos had to meld with one an other. To me, this speaks highly of the "new" blend. I smoked a fair amount of Balkan Sobranie in the 1970's; so I guess I'll have to get a tin of the new offering to satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

jaysin

Lifer
Feb 8, 2012
1,083
1
Indiana
to me they were both mellow somewhat a different tast between the 2 due to what i believe different type lat but over all it was to me not a major difference that would drive me to pay outragous prices for the old as in the end it had all i would have desired.

 
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