Blend-Type Contradictions. What's What?

[thechristophershow]

I do a lot of reading on TobaccoReviews, but I've noticed contradictions or inconsistencies in the "Blend Type" field of a tobacco's profile.

I'll search for Balkan blends, click on a Balkan tobacco, and see that its ingredients are "Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia." Penzance is an example of this, but there are tons of others.

I'll then search for Oriental blends, click on an Oriental tobacco, and see that its ingredients are exactly the same as the Balkan blend. McClelland Oriental Mixture No. 1 is an example. Tons of others.

I'll then search for English blends, click on an English tobacco, and see that its ingredients are exactly the same as the Balkan blends and Oriental blends. C&D's Star of the East is an example. Tons of others.

So are "blend types" arbitrarily assigned? I picture the blender going, "This one has latakia, Turkish, and Virginia. Let's call it English. Oh, and this one has the exact same stuff, but let's call it Balkan." Or is this "Blend Type" field on TR bugged?

Imagine having a cookie with the three ingredients of oatmeal, chocolate, and raisin and saying it's a Swiss-style cookie, and then having another cookie with the same ingredients in roughly the same ratio and saying, "Ah, but this one is an Italian-style cookie." What's going on here? What makes one blend what it is and another blend what it is, despite both having the same ingredients as each other?

I saw a video, produced by Mac Baren, on Oriental blends. I understand that what makes an Oriental blend is its use of the Oriental varietal of tobacco, which has smaller and more aromatic leaves. If the inclusion or Oriental leaves is what constitutes an Oriental blend, then why aren't half the "English blends" and "Balkan blends" on TR labeled "Oriental blends" instead?

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Ratio of the different types of blend leaf is part of the answer. Blurred lines of distinction is another part. I say don’t get too wrapped up in it. ?‍

 

[BROBS]

Ratio of the different types of blend leaf is part of the answer. Blurred lines of distinction is another part. I say don’t get too wrapped up in it. ?‍

Agree.. one person can say a blend is one thing and another person could say something differently.
It's mainly based on what the company that produces it calls it.
It's not like these term "names" are some type of technical archetype.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

You’re trying to apply logic to an illogical situation.

 

[danimalia]

It really can get a bit confusing. It's like pitch types in baseball. One pitcher might call a pitch with a certain grip and arm action a slider, and another may call it a curveball... TR is generally a very helpful site, but it can be easy to get bogged down in semantic details that are really open to interpretation. Some people get real pedantic about these things, which isn't that much fun, in my opinion. If you stay focused on the big picture, the major components of a blend and the dominant leaf types and flavors in a blend, I think that's how you can get the most out of the site.

 

[canucklehead]

Generally speaking, any blend that has Latakia in it is an English blend, blends containing Orientals are Oriental blends, and English blends containing a higher portion of Orientals are considered Balkans. Latakia is itself an Oriental variety. So, a blend has the potential to be considered an English, Balkan, and/or Oriental blend just by the addition of Latakia to any other components, and many companies label their products as such.

 

[haparnold]

I'd say this is one of those things where the difference is subtle, and you have to smoke lots of different blends to get your own feel for what's a Balkan vs. an English mixture. But eventually you'll develop your own understanding of the distinction. If you're lucky, it will be in line enough with what the majority of people online say that you'll have a better idea of what you're getting when you buy a previously untried blend.

 

[Chasing Embers]

It's just a marketing term.

The Briar & Leaf Chronicles » Blog Archive » What is a Balkan Blend?

glpease.com

 

[jaytex1969]

 

[python]

It's just a marketing term.

The Briar & Leaf Chronicles » Blog Archive » What is a Balkan Blend?

glpease.com

^^^^^^^This is a great article to read about it.

Here is another one that may help:

The Mystery of Balkan Blends

By Bob Tate Balkan Blend. That term is very mysterious. Is there really such a thing? If there is, what is it? What distinguishes a blend as a Balkan Blend? These and many other questions arise from the mysterious term of Balkan Blend. This is one of the most debated and discussed subjects...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[cigrmaster]

It is a major conspiracy designed by the tobacco mfgs to confuse the shit out of you so you try every single blend . Totally brilliant if you ask me. Just keep the orders coming and be happy.

 

[BROBS]

It is a major conspiracy designed by the tobacco mfgs to confuse the shit out of you so you try every single blend . Totally brilliant if you ask me. Just keep the orders coming and be happy.

Haha must be the same marketing geniuses that like to leave tin descriptions to mystery. Without the internet I can’t imagine how you’d know what 1/3 of the blends really are.

 

[thechristophershow]

It's just a marketing term.

The Briar & Leaf Chronicles » Blog Archive » What is a Balkan Blend?

glpease.com

That was one of my suspicions.

 

[mso489]

Pipe nomenclature is interpretational to put it politely. Same with pipe shapes. Apple and brandy shapes are a ref's call, or usually the carver. Some brandy shape pipes are also called volcanos. The best spin on blend names is that the blender is trying to let you know what genre the flavor fulfills, or is intended to. English aromatic blends seems like a contradiction in terms, yet I think I know what the blender is trying to tell me. The language here is subjective, not technical, but generally it seems to me to be meant to enlighten and not confuse, mostly. The distinctions are pretty subtle but sometimes intelligible.

 

[greeneyes]

Idiosyncracy is part of the charm. I did one am content to leave certain things beyond the real of comprehension.

 

[anotherbob]

I will always when answering what makes a blend English or Balkan or whatever say that it's because that's what they want to call it. There are really no hard and fast rules just general guidelines for what makes a blend a certain type or not. I've read that what makes an English an English for example is just having any Latakia as well as what percentages of various leaves make it an English. Of course both examples were written with definitive authority. I've read the same way that a Balkan is a type of English and that a Balkan is not an English blend.

 

[thechristophershow]

Thanks for everyone's responses. It's all cleared up now for me. That is, it's still unclear, but it's unclear for everyone, so I'm satisfied.

 

[saltedplug]

If you smoke a tobacco alone its flavor changes when blended with another tobacco, and so forth and so on. So in conjunction with multiple tobaccos its taste can change a great deal. Then there is the proportion of each tobacco in the blend, which changes its taste dramatically.