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dcon

Lifer
Mar 16, 2019
2,713
22,981
Jacksonville, FL
All of the blends mentioned are fine blends. I, for one, like to distinguish between Balkans and “regular” (less Oriental forward) English blends. Since you mentioned English, my recommendation for a bulk is Peter Stokkebye PS #52 Proper English. It is well named. If you want a budget Balkan, my recommendation is Sutliff Balkan II. It is IMO a superior product to the often recommended Balkan Supreme.
 

rushx9

Lifer
Jul 10, 2019
2,299
17,245
43
Shelby, NC
Looks like this one is out of stock. P & C has one like this too, Best of the Rest English. I may hazzard a try on that one too, at 16 bucks a pound.

I do wonder though, would these blends basically taste the same if you ordered them twice?.. I guess you'd have to risk the 32 bucks to find out. It's still not too much to gamble.

I had great luck with my pound of BOTR English. Best value I've ever gotten in an English blend. It didn't seem cheap or like scraps or floor sweepings either, just a great medium English/Balkan.
BSOSM/759 Matches are fantastic. I'd recommend 759 since you like dark fired and a little more nicotine.
Balkan Supreme is probably the best of the budget blends. As good as anything in a tin. Plenty of oriental presence and the interplay of latakia, Cavendish, and Samsun gives a very full flavored, cigarish smoke that really sticks to the inside of your mouth, beard, face, clothes, room, and everything else it comes in contact with. I think it's fair to say Supreme gives the most Dunhill/Germain's/Sobranie -esque experience of any bulk English. Not exactly the same, but way up in the ballpark.
 

mingc

Lifer
Jun 20, 2019
4,258
12,602
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I had great luck with my pound of BOTR English. Best value I've ever gotten in an English blend. It didn't seem cheap or like scraps or floor sweepings either, just a great medium English/Balkan.
BOTR has got to be a blend with a recipe, because I don't see how a business that sells by the ounce has enough leftovers/sweepings to make up multiple 1 lb bags to sell. Any leftover would have to be less than an ounce and they'll need lots of them to make up a bunch of bags.
 
Dec 6, 2019
5,163
23,718
Dixieland
I had great luck with my pound of BOTR English. Best value I've ever gotten in an English blend. It didn't seem cheap or like scraps or floor sweepings either, just a great medium English/Balkan.
BSOSM/759 Matches are fantastic. I'd recommend 759 since you like dark fired and a little more nicotine.
Balkan Supreme is probably the best of the budget blends. As good as anything in a tin. Plenty of oriental presence and the interplay of latakia, Cavendish, and Samsun gives a very full flavored, cigarish smoke that really sticks to the inside of your mouth, beard, face, clothes, room, and everything else it comes in contact with. I think it's fair to say Supreme gives the most Dunhill/Germain's/Sobranie -esque experience of any bulk English. Not exactly the same, but way up in the ballpark.

Thanks for the answer. I'm going to try that BOTR. Balkan Supreme is certainly worth a try, I've heard people bragging about this one all over the site.

Last time I posted a thread like this I found my 5 Brothers replacement... at a fraction of the price.

BOTR has got to be a blend with a recipe, because I don't see how a business that sells by the ounce has enough leftovers/sweepings to make up multiple 1 lb bags to sell. Any leftover would have to be less than an ounce and they'll need lots of them to make up a bunch of bags.

Yup, that story seems unlikely to me.
 
Last edited:
May 2, 2020
4,664
23,786
Louisiana
If you like a little vitamin N, you might order an ounce of C&D Bayou Night just to try out. It is a Perique bomb, but if you like really bold blends, it scratches the itch. It is more of an acquired taste than the other recommendations, but different enough to warrant trying. If you mix it with Balkan Supreme you’ll get a sort of low rent Quiet Nights.
 

BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,041
IA
BOTR has got to be a blend with a recipe, because I don't see how a business that sells by the ounce has enough leftovers/sweepings to make up multiple 1 lb bags to sell. Any leftover would have to be less than an ounce and they'll need lots of them to make up a bunch of bags.
It’s the tobacco co that puts it together not P&C from what I thought? Also it says that every bag is slightly different.
 
Dec 6, 2019
5,163
23,718
Dixieland
P&C's Description-

"Best of the Rest English is another addition to the Best of the Rest family. The blend is constantly changing as we take left over English blend tobaccos and mix them together and sell them at a ridiculously low price. So, if you're a Latakia lover on a budget, stock up on Best of the Rest English."

I guess I've been thinking it was from leftover bulk orders.. so I figured it was probably made up of scraps from the english blend they sell the most of. I don't know where I came up with that after reading that description.. it's pretty vague.

Maybe its like store brand stuff, where they buy whichever brand is cheapest at the moment and repackage it..
 

gatorhazard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 26, 2020
114
426
I’ve enjoyed the C&D Engine #99 I bought in bulk as well as the PS Proper English. Right now I have a lb of Arrango Balkan Supreme on the way. I had bought 2 oz of Iwan Ries Balkan Supreme and it seems to be the closest thing to my mystery blend I bought ages ago from them that I dont remember what it is. Arrango is in the Chicago area, and I am wondering if IRC Balkan Supreme is actually Arrango, someone somewhere may have said as much. I figured with all the people talking about how good it is I can’t go wrong. Glad to see people talking about it so highly on here. Fingers crossed it shows up and I can have a few bowls of it this weekend.
 
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