D & R Tobacco Blenders Bench: Yenidje

This blending yenidje provides little sweetness, some sourness, a couple pinches of spice, a bit of wood and floralness, some earth, and the taste of “unflavored soda” and incense in the mix. The strength and taste levels are almost in the center of medium to full on its own. The nic-hit is medium. Won’t bite, but can tingle the tongue if smoked straight and puffed fast. Burns cool, clean and a tad fast with a very consistent, deeply rich flavor that translates to the after taste. Leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl, and hardly needs relights as the tobacco is a little dry. Makes a very good mixer by design.

-JimInks

Smooth, no bite on the throat whatsoever and absolutely delicious. Unlike any other Turkish/Balkan strain of tobacco this has a very creamy and buttery quality. It's flavour is a light, sweet earth, cream and floral notes with a very subtle complexity behind it that leaves a woody and sweet/sour aftertaste. It has none of the rooty, heavy or stewed fruit type notes of other Turkish or Oriental blends like Ramback. This is a mild tobacco, so I am not sure how the previous reviewer decided it is a strong tobacco, but it has quite a rich flavour at the same time. The cut is not great, as most of the leaves have clearly been run through the cutter still folded, requiring you to painstakingly peel the compressed clumps open into individual strands. A bit of a shame, though not as much of an issue in the pipe.

Yenidje is very much a blending component and I usually blend a little of this in with Ramback Balkan. Adding a little more Yenidje to RB really enhances the blend. I always felt Ramback Balkan was just ever so slightly missing just a pinch extra high quality Turkish leaf and this is the one. I usually also add a little regular Ramback Turkish and Penhooker to this with another pinch of Katerini, making my own ultimate Balkan/Turkish cigarette.

I was so lucky to get probably two of the last tubs of this that were available and use it very sparingly with very little left now. I've never tried any other proper and straight Yenidje tobacco to be able to compare it, but some very high quality Izmir and Xanthi I have been fortunate enough to try have been very similar, only without quite the same buttery/creamy quality and Yenidje (this one at least) has less of the slight sour quality that goes with the Turkish sweetness.