Balkan Sobranie
Craig Miller
have the original Balkan Sobranie on hand.
Many blends advertise that they are
just like Balkan Sobranie of old. Since it
has been years since I had some, have
you ever found something that comes close?
Thanks,
Remove the _not to reply.
Craig Miller
Michael Parker
>
> A question for any of you that
> have the original Balkan Sobranie on hand.
> Many blends advertise that they are
> just like Balkan Sobranie of old. Since it
> has been years since I had some, have
> you ever found something that comes close?
I was a die-hard Sobranie White smoker for years, now I'm hoarding
what little I have left...
Esoterica Penzance is about the closest I've found, it's not really
Sobranie but it's got that critical saltiness that Balkan Sasieni
lacks. If you're a Sobranie White fan you know what I mean, that
salted beef jerky taste. Penzance has a fair amount of that taste,
but it's not quite as satisfying.
Besides Penzance, I wind up leaning on Dunhill Durbar. While not
resembling Sobranie in the least, it is the only other tobacco I've
found that could easily be my one-and-only, stuck-on-a-desert-island
blend.
Gregory Pease
(in message <3c75a91b...@news2.cts.com>):
> A question for any of you that have the original Balkan Sobranie on hand.
> Many blends advertise that they are just like Balkan Sobranie of old. Since
> it has been years since I had some, have you ever found something that comes
> close?
I've been a Balkan Sobranie fan almost since I started smoking a pipe. In
it's best vintages, the stuff was amazing, and in its worst, it was still
damn good. Sadly, several years ago, the recipe changed, and the Balkan
Sobranie of today is not equal to that of yesterday.
A few years back, I participated in a blind taste test between the Balkan
Sobranie that was available then, and Balkan Sasieni. I had no clue which
was which when I started the test. Dedicated piper that I am, I smoked
both tobaccos in several different pipes, taking detailed notes, and
finally, penning my reviews. It turned out that Balkan Sasieni was the
winner, to my tastes. Though not quite the same as the old Sobranie, it
was much truer to the original than the newer Sobranie.
There's nothing made today that could be considered identical, or even
very close to the Sobranie of olde. But, the waters get muddy here. What
vintage do you want to reproduce? As I said, I started smoking the stuff
in about 1980, and have had many tins that date as far back as the early
1960s. Always willing to dip a toe into the waters of controversy, I'll
state categorically, again, that the tobacco went through many changes
over the years. While all of them were good, some were gooder than
others. So, when I think about Balkan Sobranie, I think about a family of
tobaccos, all similar, but different.
Then, there are the subtle and the not-so-subtle effects of all that age.
If you have tins (real tins) of Balkan Sobranie, you're smoking old
tobacco. There's simply no way to compare anything modern with something
that's been aged even a few years.
There are some very nice tobaccos being produced today, and some of these
will age gracefully into greatness, with any luck. I feel quite fortunate
to have a few tins of old Sobranie put away, and further fortunate to be
able to add new things to the cellar that may become tomorrow's classics.
But, I do miss some of the classics.
-glp
Peter Ebner
Many thanks to you for your comment on Balkan Sobranie - I really agree with
you completely.
Unfortunately I have never tried Balkan Sasieni - but I think I should do
that now. Therefore I would be very interested to know, if this is tobacco
is made in the UK too? Could you please be so kind to shed some light on
this?
As I am an AngloAustrian, living in Vienna, I can't get Balkan Sasieni over
here, so I don't know anything about it.
Many thanks for your help and
best regards,
Peter
"Gregory Pease" <sky...@value.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:01HW.B89B2F610...@news.value.net...
Mike Rothenberg
tobaccos around today. I feel that when people compare one tobacco
against another they may lose out in the long run. I feel the
experience of a tobacco, over repeated smokes is going to yield more
meaning than direct one to one comparison. I may be wrong on this.
All I meant is that Odyssey, as an experience, reminds me of smoking
BS years ago. I never meant the two to be directly compared, but
people have a need to compare, score, and judge. BS was my favorite
for many years, but that was when I had a full head of hair and was
much younger. Now the hair, the youth, they are lost just as the
Balkan is lost, but I have the memories. In the future, maybe Odyssey
can have such a place in my memory as does BS. Time will tell. Smoke
in peace my brothers and sisters.
Martin Farrent
>
> I miss the classics like Balkan Sobranie also...
Okay, let's be really "crass". I've always smoked Balkan Sobranie. I
still smoke it. I can't taste the difference between the new stuff and
the old, but that's possibly because I've never cellared any of it to
make the comparison. I never thought I needed to (though, perhaps I
did).
Martin
John Weatherby
"Gregory Pease" <sky...@value.net> wrote in message
news:01HW.B89B2F610...@news.value.net...
> If you have tins (real tins) of Balkan Sobranie, you're smoking old
> tobacco. There's simply no way to compare anything modern with something
> that's been aged even a few years.
>
only started cellaring about 5 years ago. The couple of tins I tried that
sat for about 2 years are much better. I am just wondering if I can let
those 3 or 4 tins of 3 nuns I have age for another 5 to 10 years. I am
usually bad at breaking them open, but I find after about 3 years of aging I
almost feel guilty even thinking of popping the lid. I am curious if I will
ever smoke them or if I will just open the drawer they are in every now and
then and look at them will drooling lips and utter awe.
John
John Weatherby
"Peter Ebner" <spee...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:a54uke$4le33$1...@ID-110300.news.dfncis.de...
> Dear Gregory!
>Therefore I would be very interested to know, if this is tobacco
> is made in the UK too? Could you please be so kind to shed some light on
> this?
>
it as made in the EU. It also says Sasieni London and New York. I assume
that is made in the UK but it doesn't say for sure. I looked at the US
importers web page and it gave no further info. It says that the mixture was
created in London. Another site said that the blend is the original Sobraine
repackaged however, most reviews I have heard disagree with this. It may be
true it could be a formulation of the blend that existed before anyone who
is living can remember.
John
Peter Ebner
Many thanks for that information. I will give it a try!!
Happy pipesmoking
Peter
"John Weatherby" <jjwea...@earthlink.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:Zrsd8.8085$ZC3.6...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
ip...@ptd.net
> All I meant is that Odyssey, as an experience, reminds me of smoking
> BS years ago.
This I am glad to see.
For the past 2 weeks I have been smoking BS and Odyssey exclusively. Now I
don't proclaim to possess a highly sophisticated palate so barring any
finite subtleties and nuances, I found little difference in the two. Both
are terrific smoking experiences with Odyssey having the edge on flavor and
smoothness.
I wish that Greg would make this comparison and relate his conclusions.
Nizo
Robert Crim
wrote:
Yes. Balkan Saseini. Why? See below.
From "PipeSmoke" magazine, Summer 98
Volume II
Issue 1
Balkan Sasieni In the last two decades of the 19th century, there was
a quantum shift
in the taste of pipe tobacco blended for English gentlemen. Mixtures
of "Oriental," meaning Turkish, Macedonian, Greek, and Syrian
tobaccos, along with Virginia and Carolina tobaccos, became the rage
among upper-class pipesmokers. Rich and smoky, redolent with the
exotic aromas of the tobaccos smoked in the Middle East, Balkan
Sobranie Smoking Mixture was developed for the officer and diplomatic
class concentrated in the St. James district's clubs. Balkan referred
to the growing regions of the flavorful leaf, and suggested intrigue
to the English gentleman. Remember where WW I started, and look at
Eric Ambler's spy novels of the 1930's.
Several generations of the Redstone family blended this tobacco from a
secret formula, renowned worldwide. Then, in the early 1980's, Dr.
Isadore Redstone (an M.D. - "an indiscretion of my youth," he once
told TBTM) sold the trademarks to Gallaher, one of the English
conglomerates, which made it, albeit with a modified formula, for
three decades. When Gallaher ceased exporting Balkan
Sobranie to the U.S. in 1995, Dr. Redstone got another company to
produce the original formula for export. While "Balkan Sobranie" is a
trademark - the term refers to the upper house of the bicameral
legislature, or "Bulgarian Senate" (sorry to kill the romance) - the
regional term Balkan is not copyrightable. To remedy this obstacle,
Redstone partnered with Dan Blumenthal, of James B. Russell, Inc., who
owns the Sasieni trademark, to revive the great old standby
under the slightly altered "Balkan Sasieni," in a package suggestive
of the earlier iterations.
So what is there to Balkan Sasieni besides a name? The blend itself,
which is full of deep, dark, rich, complex, and suggestive flavor, is
beautifully finished and smooth, like a great cigar. Balkan Sasieni
manages to keep the sweetly tarry overtones of the Latakia in a
perfect balance with the dryly pungent Turkish and Macedonian leaf,
punctuated by the natural sweetness of the American tobaccos. This is
an extraordinarily satisfying mixture, at its best indoors where none
of the aroma is dissipated. Great for pipe dreams in a large
curved pipe.
Robert
Craig Miller
Same thing happened to me. Hair fell out. Balkan Sobranie Disappeared.
Martin Farrent
>
> Same thing happened to me. Hair fell out. Balkan Sobranie Disappeared.
Same thing *didn't* happen to me. Hair fell out. BS is still there. Say,
is the stuff you're getting in the US different to the Sobranie we get
in Europe. As I said earlier, I find the difference between the old and
the new minimal, nay, nonexistent.
Martin
Russell Clay
Sasenie, as well as various Balkan Sobranie blend-alikes. My palate
is not as discerning as many, but to me these blends are similar
enough to be enjoyed without hesitation. If you enjoy the
Sobranie-like taste, as I do, then there are plenty of brands and
blends to work with.
On Fri, 22 Feb 2002 02:16:04 GMT, cmill...@cts.com (Craig Miller)
wrote:
>A question for any of you that
Bernard Goldman
I think I have to give Balkan Sasieni another try. I bought some a couple of years ago, when I started smoking a pipe
again ( I had switched almost exclusively to cigars for a few years, and then stopped smoking completely for a year or
so), and I didn't care for it. But I may not have given it a fair chance. Sobranie was my first serious tobacco in the
1960's (ignore teenage indiscretions with Mixture 79 and Sail), and I smoked almost nothing else for years. Then I
discovered Rattray's and McConnell's, and later McClleland's, which became my mainstays. On my return to the pipe, I
discovered that Sobranie was gone, and Rattray's and McConnell's were being made in Denmark (completely changed in
character). So when I tried Sasieni, I was ready to be disappointed. But my tastes may have changed, and memory plays
tricks, and I may not remember exactly what Sobranie tasted like 30 years ago.
Bernie
Gregory Pease
(in message <B89D100E.1A903%ip...@ptd.net>):
Careful what you wish for, Nizo my friend; you may get it.
I love Balkan Sobranie, both the white and the black labels - the
"Original Smoking Mixture" and the "759 Luxury Blend." Probably not
surprisingly, I also love Caravan and Odyssey (I try to make tobaccos I
like, after all). I mention both, because they are both Balkan style
tobaccos. When I was developing these two blends, I didn't set out to try
to recreate the classic Sobranies, but because of the style, comparisons
are inevitable.
While I can critically find similarities in these blends, I find more
differences, more things that make them distinct from one another. The
most profound and obvious thing is the youthfulness of Odyssey. The stuff
hasn't been around long enough to have developed it's true character.
It's going to take a few months or so in the tin for the blend to begin
to settle in, for all the flavors to integrate into a seamless entity.
I'm smoking Odyssey right now, in fact, and after reading your post, my
thoughts turned to thinking about what this blend might become as the
orientals begin their tin-fermentation, as the slight edge of the Latakia
is polished away by the sands of time, as the Virginias develop more
depth and complexity. Truly, I'm enjoying this bowl a lot, both for what
it is, and for the many hints of what it will become over time. Time is
good for tobacco.
There's just no way I can really compare it to either version of Balkan
Sobranie. The Sobranie I have has been around for a while, and there's no
way to subtract the wonderful effects of age, no way to really grok what
it was when it was freshly blended. Speculation is fun, but even the most
experienced speculation can never be more than an approximation in
matters of old tobacco.
Perhaps I'm an odd pipe smoker. (Okay. Wise guys. There's no question
that I'm odd. Fine. That notwithstanding...) I try not to engage in much
comparison of blends, unless there's a good challenge afoot. To my mind,
it distracts from the pure experience of what I'm smoking at the moment.
(I can hear my pal Michael Feldman talking about a "pure, pure pleasure."
Michael's got the idea, I think.)
Getting caught up in the "this is sort of like X" results too often in my
wishing I was smoking X instead of enjoying what I'm smoking now. To the
extent that I can, I avoid this. It's rarely easy.
True, it's tempting to lament the passing of the past, and compare the
new with what we can't have anymore, but that seems too much like a
recipe for bitterness. Smoke for the moment. That's my motto. Sometimes,
I even apply it. It's all part of the Tao of pipe smoking, part of the
Dharma.
When you smoke something you enjoy, and really get into it, you
experience, however briefly, the is of isness. Light up to enlightenment!
If you ever see a pipe smoker dissolve in a puff of smoke, I mean
completely disappear, you'll have witnessed the miracle of bliss. What a
way to go...
In retrospect, I guess you didn't get what you asked for, after all.
Sorry.
-glp
ip...@ptd.net
Seriously Greg, your response goes directly to the point of "experience". It
does clarify that which I was unable to sort out in my own mind. If we see
pipe smoking as a metaphor then yes, as in life, we should concentrate upon,
and soak in, the moment. Savor every note and color to the degree in which
our own experiences allow, and then reach beyond. Makes things a lot less
complicated.
Thanks,
Nizo
Mike Rothenberg
(blend)to another. It will not lead to anything other than opinion
and speculation. Greg and I have agreed about the Balkan influences,
memories,etc. We also agree about Caravan and Odyssey as experiences
paralleling the old Sobranies. But, there is only one point that we
disagree on, and it's a big one. Greg thinks Odyssey belongs in his
usual wrapper, while I beg for a black wrapping with gold lettering
reminiscent of the old Sobranie. I know the tastes of the tobaccos
are different, that Odyssey needs time to age and mature, but that old
Sobranie 759 wrapper was beautiful. My senses include the visual, my
memory clings to the old tin (actually I bought it by the big can
which was even more beautiful), so if anyone wants to debate the old
wrapper with the current white and blue GLP, let's have at it. Greg,
it's the old black and gold. No contest. Tobaccos-a draw! Gosh I'm
pleased with myself for starting this fuss.
Gregory Pease
(in message <9afb6c72.02022...@posting.google.com>):
> so if anyone wants to debate the old wrapper with the current white and blue
> GLP, let's have at it. Greg, it's the old black and gold. No contest.
> Tobaccos-a draw! Gosh I'm pleased with myself for starting this fuss.
I've been enjoying the debate, too, not to mention that everytime
questions like this are posed, they somehow force me to investigate my
own perceptions a little more than usual.
As for a black and gold label, I've been trying to get my ink-jet to do
this, just for you, but the gold leaf keeps sticking in the jets...
I suppose I could use one of those metallic gold markers, and just draw
stick figures on black paper for you. Would that help?
(I like the old Balkan Sobranie labels, too. Very elegant.)
-g
--
Gregory Pease
Principal Tobacco Alchemist and Graphic Mangler
G. L. Pease Tobaccos, Intl.
http://www.glpease.com
Craig Miller
My reason for the original post was not to find a substitute
for Balkan Sobranie. I have not smoked it in so many
years, that I wanted to find something close to jog the
memory of what it was like.
In the meanwhile, a lot of interesting and informative
replies.
Thanks Gang,