Have You Heard of Škija Ravnjak / Drina / Herzegovina Flor?

[rakovsky]

I'm pretty sure that "даст фор" in Mayakovsky's "poem" means "give a fora". "For" rhymes with "Flor", while "fora" doesn't. Mayakovsky was a part of futurist movement and as such, felt free to modify the words to fit them into rhyme meter.

Dear Ziv,
Thanks for writing. Have you heard of these blends before much like Kapitanskiy, Golden Fleece / Zolotoye Runo, Herzegovina Flor?

You are right that Mayakovsky was inventive with language. Is there a word like "headrush" or buzz in Russian like "For?"
I can understand Mayakovsky taking a word like "fora" (headstart) and then changing it, like into "for". A headstart means that in a race, either one runner starts off fast, or that he starts off before another runner. Besides that, the genitive plural of fora is "for" (In English, we would say headstarts' with an apostrophe at the end.

What would the resulting meaning of the stanza be?

Maybe it would mean, "Herzegovina Flor will give a 'headstart' to any papirosas?"
Then it is a little confusing, because how would a premium brand like Herzegovina Flor give another brand a headstart, in other words, let the other brand start faster and earlier?
I guess the idea could be that it is polite and very confident, so it lets people try other brands first. This is because Herzegovina Flor is rare, so most people don't have a lot of access to it.

 

[ziv]

Dear Ziv,
Thanks for writing. Have you heard of these blends before much like Kapitanskiy, Golden Fleece / Zolotoye Runo, Herzegovina Flor?

You are right that Mayakovsky was inventive with language. Is there a word like "headrush" or buzz in Russian like "For?"
I can understand Mayakovsky taking a word like "fora" (headstart) and then changing it, like into "for". A headstart means that in a race, either one runner starts off fast, or that he starts off before another runner. Besides that, the genitive plural of fora is "for" (In English, we would say headstarts' with an apostrophe at the end.

What would the resulting meaning of the stanza be?

Maybe it would mean, "Herzegovina Flor will give a 'headstart' to any papirosas?"
Then it is a little confusing, because how would a premium brand like Herzegovina Flor give another brand a headstart, in other words, let the other brand start faster and earlier?
I guess the idea could be that it is polite and very confident, so it lets people try other brands first. This is because Herzegovina Flor is rare, so most people don't have a lot of access to it.

I've definitely heard of Herzegovina Flor before, in connection with Stalin. Not the other ones though.

As far as I know, "for" is not a word in Russian language. Plural for фора will be форы (fory). No one says "дать форы" however - it's "дать фору". So I think that was an invention of Mayakovsky there.

"Дать фору" is an idiomatic expression in Russian - it means that something or someone is so good that they can give a headstart to something/someone else and still win. So Mayakovsky was basically saying that Herzegovina Flor could beat any other papirosa.

 

[rakovsky]

"Дать фору" is an idiomatic expression in Russian - it means that something or someone is so good that they can give a headstart to something/someone else and still win. So Mayakovsky was basically saying that Herzegovina Flor could beat any other papirosa.

OK, that's a great explanation, thanks Ziv. I'd been wondering for a while what it meant.

 

[rakovsky]

@Bosnian piper
Check out this tobacco museum with its own restaurant in Ljubuški, Herzegovina:

In May of this year, a tobacco museum was opened in a former cigarette factory in Ljubuški. This tobacco museum is the only one in the region. The Tabak Restaurant, located within the museum, is filled with antiques, including needles, shredders for cutting tobacco, scales, hooks and strings on which tobacco was hung up to dry, and so on.

Revitalization of Herzegovinian Tobacco - Remembering the Tradition | Balkan Diskurs

The climate and soil in Herzegovina favor the development of one of the most consumed plants – tobacco, the so-called “yellow gold” which ensured the financial income of numerous Herzegovinian…

balkandiskurs.com

 

[Bosnian piper]

@Bosnian piper
Check out this tobacco museum with its own restaurant in Ljubuški, Herzegovina:

Wow that interesting I'm going to check it out if I one day visit I'll tell you how it went.

 

[Bosnian piper]

In Elena Arsenievich's article, she talked about Ljublinje as if she visited it, and she posted a photo of a very old tobacco factory there.

I told @Bosnian piper that the region is special at a global level for tobacco connoisseurs, and that to get the blend, you would probably need to go to a market, store, or grower there. It would be exciting to travel to Sarajevo, then to Mostar, then to Ljublinje looking for Herzegovina Flor. A train goes from Sarajevo to Mostar, and a bus goes from Mostar to Stolac. But I imagine that a traveler would need a taxi or their own car to get to Ljublinje.

The red circle is for Ljublinje.

The Old Tobacco Factory is one of the special sights of the town

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

Most of Hercegovački tobbacco is grown in bosnia and especially in hercigovina. It's also quite easy to find tobbaco sellers here you can even buy whole plants! If you go to hercigovina you will find fields of tobbaco plants! Also Montenegro and Slovenia produce tobbaco to and have some well known brands in the countries. You inquired about tobbaco from former yugoslav countries so I thought I'd add that in.

 

[mingc]

Most of Hercegovački tobbacco is grown in bosnia and especially in hercigovina. It's also quite easy to find tobbaco sellers here you can even buy whole plants! If you go to hercigovina you will find fields of tobbaco plants! Also Montenegro and Slovenia produce tobbaco to and have some well known brands in the countries. You inquired about tobbaco from former yugoslav countries so I thought I'd add that in.

Are there local pipe blends available made with leaf from those areas?

 

[rakovsky]

Are there local pipe blends available made with leaf from those areas?

That is a good question that I would like for @Bosnian piper to give his own answer to.

I think that you mean to ask if former Yugoslav countries have "brand name" pipe blends from local leaf.

For reference:

• "Škija Ravnjak" is the Yugoslav/Bosnian name of a special tobacco leaf variety.
• "Herzegovina Flor" in Bosnia refers to "Škija" leaf if it is well de-stemmed and de-veined. It is a premium type of processed tobacco, rather than a Yugoslav brand. Yugoslavs smoke it in pipes.
• "Drina" is a Yugoslav/Bosnian cigarette brand that uses Škija.

All the best.

 

[Bosnian piper]

Are there local pipe blends available made with leaf from those areas?

Several well-known companies incorporate Bosnian tobacco in their blends:

1. **Duvanska Industrija Sarajevo (DIS)**: One of the largest tobacco companies in Bosnia, known for producing various cigarette brands that feature local tobacco.

2. **Duvanska Industrija Banja Luka**: This company produces several brands, utilizing Bosnian tobacco to create distinct flavors.

3. **Tobacco Company "Banja Luka"**: Specializes in blends that highlight the quality of Bosnian tobacco.

These companies are recognized for their commitment to using local tobacco, contributing to their unique flavor profiles and regional identity.
Also if your interested in bosnian tobbaco brand that makes cigarettes look into the drina company.

 

[rakovsky]

Several well-known companies incorporate Bosnian tobacco in their blends:

1. **Duvanska Industrija Sarajevo (DIS)**:

2. **Duvanska Industrija Banja Luka**: This company produces several brands, utilizing Bosnian tobacco to create distinct flavors.

3. **Tobacco Company "Banja Luka"**: Specializes in blends that highlight the quality of Bosnian tobacco.

Dear Bosnian Piper,

Thank you alot for your reply. I enjoy the discussion.

In the 19th century in the United Kingdom, the Redstone family had a company called "Sobranie of London." Their company made a tobacco blend ("smjesa") that had Latakia, Oriental Leaf like Yenidje, and Virginia Leaf. They gave this blend the brand name ("marka") "Balkan Sobranie."

Would you happen to know whether before WW1 people in the Balkans were actually commonly smoking blends with Latakia in it?

I mention this as a classic example of what is called "Balkan" tobacco in Western markets, in case you might find it interesting. It also helps show the difference between companies, "blends," and "brands."

Duvanska Industrija Sarajevo is a major producer. I would be interested to know what blends and pipe brands have Škija or Herzegovina Flor. Drina cigarettes are the only brand that I know of with this leaf variety.

 

[rakovsky]

The basic features that I take Herzegovina Flor papirosy to have are:

1. Herzegovina Flor Leaf
2. VA-Oriental Leaf in addition to Herz. Flor, and a VA smell in the blend
3. Light soft fluffy luxuriant smoke quality suitable for smooth inhalation
4. Geranium casing tin note.

 

[mingc]

Several well-known companies incorporate Bosnian tobacco in their blends:

1. **Duvanska Industrija Sarajevo (DIS)**: One of the largest tobacco companies in Bosnia, known for producing various cigarette brands that feature local tobacco.

2. **Duvanska Industrija Banja Luka**: This company produces several brands, utilizing Bosnian tobacco to create distinct flavors.

3. **Tobacco Company "Banja Luka"**: Specializes in blends that highlight the quality of Bosnian tobacco.

These companies are recognized for their commitment to using local tobacco, contributing to their unique flavor profiles and regional identity.
Also if your interested in bosnian tobbaco brand that makes cigarettes look into the drina company.

Thank you. Do any of these companies make pipe tobacco?

 

[rakovsky]

Spoiler: Click here for a bigger size.

I was watching "The Real Causes of Yugoslavia's Collapse" (Реальные причины распада Югославии) on Youtube and saw this photo in the video.