What I find most humourous is how this fellow goes on about this re-release being THE Balkan Sobranie Original Blend, which shows the true innocence. Certainly, the blenders at Germain followed the blending notes from the House of Sobranie to a T. Unfortunately, due to the constituent ingredients (Syrian Latakia, anyone?) not being available on the market, this is simply the closest approximation they could create by doing so.
I will add that while I do agree it is somewhat unfair to compare a blend with three to four decades of age on it to one that is mere weeks off the production line, many would argue that representing the Balkan Sobranie as presented by Arango and Germain is unfair in itself, as it is not "Original Blend", for reasons outlined above. Calling it one and the same begs comparison to the real-deal, as it were.
If you read the voluminous literature about Hearth and Homes Black House, the winning entry in the Chicago Balkan Sobranie Throwdown (featuring 759 Mixture; nothing to do with the Balkan Sobranie Original Blend review and comparison presented this month); you'll find that he created the blend not by simply breaking down the sample of 759 into the constituent tobaccos, and copying the mix; but rather by smoking the sample of 759, learning the flavour profile, and re-creating that with varieties of leaf not found in the original 759. To me, while this method doesn't re-create the original blend, it creates a much closer approximation. Perhaps this is the commercial food-scientist in me talking, but this is preferred for to me, the essence of a blend is in the flavour profile. As ingredients change, the blend must as well - either tweaked by the blender to keep it as close to the original as possible, or changed by the market as constituent ingredients become unavailable / more available.
So how does Meridian fit into the picture? Well, it doesn't really, other than a few people had told Gregory Pease that it reminded them of the Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture...so, he figured what the hay; I'll toss a bit in for fun (and my smoking pleasure). It just so happens that in my personal opinion, which I do strive to keep as objective as possible, that it more resembled the flavour profile of the hallowed Original Blend. Certainly, not every one will agree with my opinion, and that's cool! Variety is the spice of life!
I would also like to point out that I did enjoy the Arango / Germain re-release, fitting the bill as a brash and bold Balkan blend. I also noted that the blend would highly benefit from some time to age, letting the flavours meld. So many people have asked how I could find this blend unsatisfactory, I didn't!
oh yeah, hehe, "Mr. Smith" is an ignorant innocent
I really can't argue that.
