What is the Difference Between an Oriental and a Balkan?
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Balkan blends are blends that are oriental tobacco forward.
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Comprehensive Guide To Balkan Pipe Tobacco | Smokingpipes.com
Learn more about one of the most elusive families of pipe tobacco: Balkan blends.
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Oriental is a type of tobacco leaf. A Balkan generally speaking is a mixture of Oriental and Latakia and Virginia leaf, where the Oriental is prominent.
If someone calls a tobacco mixture "an Oriental" they probably just mean it is featuring Oriental quite heavily.
If someone calls a tobacco mixture "an Oriental" they probably just mean it is featuring Oriental quite heavily.
The PC police are gonna string you up for this one! Even worse, once they finish cancelling you, they'll totallyOriental blend:
Balkan blend:
What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
I don't think so. It's not poking fun or punching down on anyone. And also it's much easier to get away with making fun of people in power especially if they look like Winnie Pooh.
To the original post. Names on tins mean whatever they want it to mean. I don't think there is any regulation as far as what blends are labeled as what.
Balkan is a marketing term to equate a blend to the old Balkan Sobranie. An Oriental is a blend with a high percentage of Oriental tobacco.
Generally when something says Balkan it is going to emulate one of two blends, both will be heavier on Oriental and Latakia. The Latakia forward ones are trying to emulate Balkan Sobranie 759 in some way or another. Those that are Oriental forward are in the family of Balkan Sobranie or Sobranie White.
Oriental blends are a little vague to me. Are they like Sobranie White? Are they like the wonderful non-Latakia McClellland Grand Oriental blends? Are they like Tashkent with no Virginia? I don't know....but since Orientals are my favorites, I'm going to get to the bottom of it by smoking every damned one I can find. It's tough being the tip of the spear, falling on the grenade.....
Oriental blends are a little vague to me. Are they like Sobranie White? Are they like the wonderful non-Latakia McClellland Grand Oriental blends? Are they like Tashkent with no Virginia? I don't know....but since Orientals are my favorites, I'm going to get to the bottom of it by smoking every damned one I can find. It's tough being the tip of the spear, falling on the grenade.....
Technically Latakia is a type of oriental leaf but generally when people speak of an "oriental" blend they're meaning it's heavy in orientals except Latakia, such as izmir, basma, drama, macedonian, etc.
As for Balkan and Oriental, I'm still confused and I've been (depending on the definition) been smoking those blends for 30 years. The pictures were funny. Take away my sensitivity badge, if you must,
There isn't any consensus, so there isn't any "official" definition. So make up your own.
My "personal definitions are as follows:
Oriental blends showcase a variety of aromatic leaves, often referred to as Orientals, but leave out the Latakia, which is as much, or more, a process as it is a leaf.
Balkans are blends with a greater percentage and presence of Oriental leaf than "English" blends, and include Latakia.
My "personal definitions are as follows:
Oriental blends showcase a variety of aromatic leaves, often referred to as Orientals, but leave out the Latakia, which is as much, or more, a process as it is a leaf.
Balkans are blends with a greater percentage and presence of Oriental leaf than "English" blends, and include Latakia.
I think originally the terms all had very specific correlation to the exact balance of tobaccos in a blend, but now they're all kind of catchall names to generally differentiate English blends.
English - a virginia-based mixture blend with a focus on 'spiced' elements (IE latakia, perique, orientals)
American - a burley-/kentucky-based mixture blend with a focus on perique
Balkan - an oriental-based mixture blend with a focus on latakia (your proverbial "Lat Bomb" category)
Scottish - an oriental/virginia-mixed blend accented with latakia/perique.
I think I'm missing one or two more but can't remember them off the top of the dome. These are also likely to be slightly incorrect, I don't think any manufacturer have been using the terms all that correctly for a while now so it all gets muddled together these days.
I think the best course of action is to forget about the names and read the ingredients. If you like the components smoke it and call it good.
A Balkan is what the English call what the Americans call an English. Oriental generally refers to a mix with oriental tobaccos sans Latakia.
Oriental your jars upright when your balkan up your cellar.
There is a lot of descriptive language in the tobacco end of this hobby that seems to allow for a lot of crossover, but as @LotusEater said, you probably want to focus on the ingredients and their ratio's.
I think 'aromatic' is an interesting one, it is the word commonly used to describe the intensity of tobacco aroma in the older blends, if you look back at old marketing on posters and tins. Now the word has morphed into being a way to categorize blends with an obvious amount of 'non tobacco' flavoured topping or casing, so when your oriental/blend with all those 'aromatic' spicy, smoky, peaty notes is really on top form, you can't describe it as aromatic in a review because it would create confusion...
There is a lot of descriptive language in the tobacco end of this hobby that seems to allow for a lot of crossover, but as @LotusEater said, you probably want to focus on the ingredients and their ratio's.
I think 'aromatic' is an interesting one, it is the word commonly used to describe the intensity of tobacco aroma in the older blends, if you look back at old marketing on posters and tins. Now the word has morphed into being a way to categorize blends with an obvious amount of 'non tobacco' flavoured topping or casing, so when your oriental/blend with all those 'aromatic' spicy, smoky, peaty notes is really on top form, you can't describe it as aromatic in a review because it would create confusion...