Mr. Pease's Balkan Sobranie Article

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Kyle Weiss

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I fell down the rabbit hole, once again, because I have discovered I like Latakia a lot. Granted, I frown upon my own unfortunate timing in this regard, as I'm faced with less choices in this area, especially with the Syrian availability and debacles therein, but I can enjoy the smoky, setting sun of this fine tabak. For now.

I happened upon a couple of tins of the newly-released Balkan Sobranie, and with that, trying to discern (without popping open the tins like a kid not wanting to sully his new toy in the box, mind you) exactly what I was in for.

As with a vast majority of Greg's writ and wit, worth the read:

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/balkan-sobriety/#more-5519

This article was searched-and-found after the most recent obtuse and hyperbolic review of the same stuff on tobaccoreviews.com, which besides piquing interest to find the referenced article, said nothing of use to anyone except perhaps himself and a few of his ilk--meanwhile somehow weirdly connecting the article to support his opinion. Hey, to each his own.

Greg's article simply states that the history, product and pursuit of this tobacco has gone through many changes, and creatively seemed to say, "It is what it is now, and what it is probably isn't what it was. Godspeed."

After the ace article, I'm even more curious to see what Balkan Sobranie is now. I actually feel lucky not being an older-generation smoker, having not tried Pipe Ambrosia, because at this point: I can't! It isn't the same thing as sitting down with your grandfather and listening to an old 78 record so you can experience "how it used to be," since that's all the poor old guy talks about. Comparing an old, discontinued pipe tobacco mix to the new stuff is a pipe smoker's generation gap of infinity. Forever ignorant, we must go on. Maybe we'll tell some snappy 30 year old, when we're older, how Balkan Sobranie was so much better in 2012, because it had (XX%) real Cyprian Latakia in it rather than the Taiwanese box shavings they just add liquid smoke to--or worse, "...too bad tobacco's all illegal, I sure miss my pipe..."

(*Disclaimer:* ...all references to perceived ageist statements, while making a point, should be taken with a tone of respect, and any other reference is purely coincidental...)
:lol:

With that said, I'll be embarking on an entirely new journey with this stuff when I finally crack the tin open, and my "I Just Tried" report will be a new tongue paired with a totally different breed of Balkan Sobranie. I look forward to it, and I encourage others in my position to do the same: find out for themselves.

8)

 
Kyle Weiss":zkkac3hn said:
I fell down the rabbit hole, once again, because I have discovered I like Latakia a lot. Granted, I frown upon my own unfortunate timing in this regard, as I'm faced with less choices in this area, especially with the Syrian availability and debacles therein, but I can enjoy the smoky, setting sun of this fine tabak. For now.

I happened upon a couple of tins of the newly-released Balkan Sobranie, and with that, trying to discern (without popping open the tins like a kid not wanting to sully his new toy in the box, mind you) exactly what I was in for.

As with a vast majority of Greg's writ and wit, worth the read:



This article was searched-and-found after the most recent obtuse and hyperbolic review of the same stuff on tobaccoreviews.com, which besides piquing interest to find the referenced article, said nothing of use to anyone except perhaps himself and a few of his ilk--meanwhile somehow weirdly connecting the article to support his opinion. Hey, to each his own.

Greg's article simply states that the history, product and pursuit of this tobacco has gone through many changes, and creatively seemed to say, "It is what it is now, and what it is probably isn't what it was. Godspeed."

After the ace article, I'm even more curious to see what Balkan Sobranie is now. I actually feel lucky not being an older-generation smoker, having not tried Pipe Ambrosia, because at this point: I can't! It isn't the same thing as sitting down with your grandfather and listening to an old 78 record so you can experience "how it used to be," since that's all the poor old guy talks about. Comparing an old, discontinued pipe tobacco mix to the new stuff is a pipe smoker's generation gap of infinity. Forever ignorant, we must go on. Maybe we'll tell some snappy 30 year old, when we're older, how Balkan Sobranie was so much better in 2012, because it had (XX%) real Cyprian Latakia in it rather than the Taiwanese box shavings they just add liquid smoke to--or worse, "...too bad tobacco's all illegal, I sure miss my pipe..."

(*Disclaimer:* ...all references to perceived ageist statements, while making a point, should be taken with a tone of respect, and any other reference is purely coincidental...)
:lol:

With that said, I'll be embarking on an entirely new journey with this stuff when I finally crack the tin open, and my "I Just Tried" report will be a new tongue paired with a totally different breed of Balkan Sobranie. I look forward to it, and I encourage others in my position to do the same: find out for themselves.

8)
Having smoked both the White Tin and it's brother, 759 in it's Black/Gold tin back in the and thru the 70s my preference was for 759. I could not say which Latakia they had in them at that time, they really did not specify the difference. The white tin had a harsher, less subtle flavor than the 759 and as as such 759 was my favorite. ( I still have two tins from the late 70s to smoke and this blend matures and is fantastic, albiet a bit dry now :p ) As far as Latakia goes, have you ever smoked JUST Latakia in a pipe? In my experience, it is NOT a pleasurable smoke. Way to harsh and believe it or not it smokes hot and not at all pleasurable to my taste buds. But BLEND it with some nice Virginia's and add various Oriental tobacco's and the world is a TOTALLY different place :p After all these years of smoking, I realisticly could not tell you all the seperate types of tobacco I'm tasting, but I can give my IMPRESSION or FEEL of the smoke as I smoke the bowl. Added in proper amounts, with additional condiment tobaccos to a blend , it can add a RICHNESS or FULLNESS to an otherwise just plain blend. This subtilty is what made these blends so different and wanted really. The best way I can say it would be, I can drink Everclear and get drunk, or I can drink a fine malt Whiskey or Blended whiskey and have a nice drink!! As far as a blend similar to the old 759, for me it is McC's Scottish Woods and because of what I felt about the White tinned Sobranie I have not looked for a current replacement for it. But crack open one of those tins and smoke a few bowls before you give us your impressions, I'd like to hear 'em :bounce:
 
...the Everclear-to-Latakia comparison is fair, except for one thing: Everclear cannot be mixed with other components and taste good. :lol: At least not as a general rule, and certainly not in my experience. :lol: I never really was too curious to taste Latakia a-la-carte from a mix--as a former cook, I know what big, red onions tastes like, taking a bite out of it to test the ingredient is probably not what I need to do, although a purist might disagree. 8)

I do see the point you made, though... things have alcohol in them, some more, some less, others have been crafted (or even blended) to make ingestion pleasurable... and some actually succeed! (thankfully... :lol: ) Eventually I'm going to have to go beyond the cans and learn a little about blending, just out of sheer curiosity. Difficult it must be to not only make a blend I, myself might like, but one someone else could also enjoy.
 
I have been blessed enough to get my hands on all of Pease's Syrian blends. There are still several makers who have Syrian though: McClelland and MacBaren come to mind.
 
joshoowah":je0rm711 said:
I have been blessed enough to get my hands on all of Pease's Syrian blends. There are still several makers who have Syrian though: McClelland and MacBaren come to mind.
You are indeed lucky. Maybe I'll get to chance upon a tin or two some day.

Those are who Greg suggests, as well. I have a small collection of Syrian stuff, "HH Vintage Syrian" (Mac B) and "Rose of Latakia," (McC). If I really need to get to the heart of the matter, and want to do some personal blends, McConnell’s Pure Latakia seems to be one I should pick up.
 
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