Kyle Weiss
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2011
- Messages
- 11,988
- Reaction score
- 7
Bear with me here, and my apologies before I even begin...
...I often talk about how Latakia and I have an odd relationship. Not nearly the bitter way Perique and I tend to flirt, but certainly odd. There's a threshold in my enjoying anything with Latakia that it simply will not give any more flavor. Usually that starts around the 30% mark, ending at around 50%, and when that happens, it's gotta be handled by a pretty talented blender/mixer to make sure it isn't "top heavy." I then got to thinking about how Latakia flavor is shaped like a diamond, and Virginia is kind of a triangle... and then laid them on top of each other...split them in half, started thinking more about where in Latakia mixtures they all work when mixed together...
...oh, heck, here's a graph to try and sort it all out before I hear a chorus of head scratching and furrowed brows at multiple screens across the land, wondering what I'm on about now:
(*note: graph not scientifically accurate, so hush)
...fine, I give in, fit me for a straightjacket.
In the meantime, I'll tell you about Balkan Sasieni.
This tin had been looking at me for over a year now. Not in my cellar, but from the Tinder Box shelf. Everyone has been going on about Sobranie this, 759 that, Balkan-balkan-balkan...but my problem was I never felt like those I had tried "fit" me to any great degree. I liked them, but they were fickle to my tongue some days. The new B. Sobranie was okay, but I the cut drives me bonkers--it's really thin and papery. Greg Pease's Charing Cross and Chelsea Morning weren't my cup of tea, which really surprised me (I still need to jump into Kensington, Caravan, Ashbury, among others, just in case you were wondering).
I could go on naming things from my Master Tobacco List that I need to try, but Balkan Sasieni just happened to be it. A few on here on BoB had mentioned it, one of the young chaps working at Tinder Box Reno said he liked it and urged me to get a tin, so I did. I'm glad I gave in.
To help de-facepalm readers, I'll cut to the chase: Orlik does it for me again--the cut, the smell, the consistency.
B. Sasieni loaded up, lit and tasted familiar to its distant cousins Nightcap and even Early Morning Pipe. In fact, I'd probably put it between the two as far as strength of Latakia, but the nicotine was somewhere in the EMP realm, if not a little less. The flavor, though, was a different world. After a steady winter diet of Mac Baren and C&D "Lat Bombs," I was ready for something different. Peaty, slightly peppery, and pleasantly "boggy" with nods to gentle spices like thyme and tarragon. Not sweet at all, but very alive. Gentle but solid, I was most impressed with the use of Latakia, which is where this whole crazy notion above got started: it stayed true the entire smoke, and has a perfect balance--(guessing) about 25% Latakia. That nice "warm campfire" notion that many of us enjoy stuck around. When the bowl was done, with nothing overdone and everything in its place, I felt like I had experienced a talented, smokey virtuoso and I wanted an encore.
Very impressed. I hope it keeps performing well.
8)
...I often talk about how Latakia and I have an odd relationship. Not nearly the bitter way Perique and I tend to flirt, but certainly odd. There's a threshold in my enjoying anything with Latakia that it simply will not give any more flavor. Usually that starts around the 30% mark, ending at around 50%, and when that happens, it's gotta be handled by a pretty talented blender/mixer to make sure it isn't "top heavy." I then got to thinking about how Latakia flavor is shaped like a diamond, and Virginia is kind of a triangle... and then laid them on top of each other...split them in half, started thinking more about where in Latakia mixtures they all work when mixed together...
...oh, heck, here's a graph to try and sort it all out before I hear a chorus of head scratching and furrowed brows at multiple screens across the land, wondering what I'm on about now:
(*note: graph not scientifically accurate, so hush)
...fine, I give in, fit me for a straightjacket.
In the meantime, I'll tell you about Balkan Sasieni.
This tin had been looking at me for over a year now. Not in my cellar, but from the Tinder Box shelf. Everyone has been going on about Sobranie this, 759 that, Balkan-balkan-balkan...but my problem was I never felt like those I had tried "fit" me to any great degree. I liked them, but they were fickle to my tongue some days. The new B. Sobranie was okay, but I the cut drives me bonkers--it's really thin and papery. Greg Pease's Charing Cross and Chelsea Morning weren't my cup of tea, which really surprised me (I still need to jump into Kensington, Caravan, Ashbury, among others, just in case you were wondering).
I could go on naming things from my Master Tobacco List that I need to try, but Balkan Sasieni just happened to be it. A few on here on BoB had mentioned it, one of the young chaps working at Tinder Box Reno said he liked it and urged me to get a tin, so I did. I'm glad I gave in.
To help de-facepalm readers, I'll cut to the chase: Orlik does it for me again--the cut, the smell, the consistency.
B. Sasieni loaded up, lit and tasted familiar to its distant cousins Nightcap and even Early Morning Pipe. In fact, I'd probably put it between the two as far as strength of Latakia, but the nicotine was somewhere in the EMP realm, if not a little less. The flavor, though, was a different world. After a steady winter diet of Mac Baren and C&D "Lat Bombs," I was ready for something different. Peaty, slightly peppery, and pleasantly "boggy" with nods to gentle spices like thyme and tarragon. Not sweet at all, but very alive. Gentle but solid, I was most impressed with the use of Latakia, which is where this whole crazy notion above got started: it stayed true the entire smoke, and has a perfect balance--(guessing) about 25% Latakia. That nice "warm campfire" notion that many of us enjoy stuck around. When the bowl was done, with nothing overdone and everything in its place, I felt like I had experienced a talented, smokey virtuoso and I wanted an encore.
Very impressed. I hope it keeps performing well.
8)