While smoking this tabak I was reminded of a painting I saw once at the MoMA in NY. Its a large wall sized work by Matisse called 'the piano lesson', (1916): a small boy peers out over the top of a his sheet music, a steel grey room is illuminated by strong green light from a French balcony, a teacher sits perched and distant, faceless, watching from far in the background. The boy isn't so much looking at us as within himself; at once discovering that all these push-button notes he's been plodding away at actually come together to make music. He has had to stop to take in this discovery of a whole new world of pleasure, suddenly available to him.

I'd seen the painting many times in books, but I sat and stared at the real thing for over 20 minutes, even with the evening crowds of tourist passing in front of it. I looked at the way the greys were quite varied, how a lot of attention was paid to the way the disperate edges came together, creating more than architecture, but a real moment in time. And that look on the boy's face!

That (amongst all the fine sentiments mentioned by others) is how this tobacco works, tastes and is savoured, and I fianlly have my first 4 star smoke.

To be more clear, this is and probably always will be my primary Balkan mixture. It is WAY beyond good! Oh, and to any who might question what I said about Sobranie...... I smoked MANY, MANY cans of that wonderful classic. While memory can fail, my sense of smell is pretty accurate most of the time. :)

I asked today and the backy seller just happened to have some that Stokkebye had sent by mistake - it was going back today, so I'd have missed my chance if I'd visited the shop tomorrow.

After having had several bowlfuls of this blend, I have to say that this whole thing must have been down to divine intervention, because I cannot imagine a finer tobacco. It has redolences of many of my favourite tastes; peaty malt whiskies (particularly Lagavulin and Talisker)and Lapsang Souchong to name a couple. It has a satisfying complexity of taste which lasts the whole bowl through, and the room note is very pleasing. I can see this being a favourite for many years to come, and a mainstay of my fledgling exploration of the world of fine pipe tobaccos.

I don't do huge concentrations of nicotine very well (I shall be posting about my hilarious encounter with Gawith Hoggarth's Black Irish Twist shortly) but have found Balkan Supreme to be just right in this regard - it's got a pleasant nicotine kick but mild enough for relatively inexperienced/occasional smokers like myself to enjoy thoroughly too.

Wholeheartedly recommended.

Very smokey and musty in a nice way. Not very "complex", but tastes good from top to bottom and is different from other English/Balkans on the market. I do not get any sweetness from the blend as others mention, but my sample was somewhat dry and this could have effected that

I can see how this is stocked in so many cellars. Not quite sure if it will be in mine yet- but I do recommend all Balkan fans try this.

Marvelous, the best Stokkebye tobacco far and away.

The cavendish and Virginia provide a very pleasant sweetness, with the Latakia and orientals providing some robustness. The tobacco yielded a very cool, flavorful and full smoke and burned extremely well. I have smoked this in a Savinelli bent volcano and in a Charatan Dublin, and the larger bowl of the Charatan seemed to bring out the full character of this tobacco.

The blend didn't offer up any "changes of pace" and may not be deemed to be very complex by some reviewers, but the excellent flavor of the smoke remained consistent from start to finish.

This outstanding blend should be a staple for every smoker of English/Balkan mixtures.

This is not a bad blend for sure, but not one that really rings any bells with me. It's available at a very reasonable price. But as I have said before, price is not a big issue for me. I would be much happier to buy quality than quantity. And if that means cutting back on my purchases and/or smoking less...so be it.

With that said, this is more of an english than a balkan. The latakia is more in the front and the orientals tend to follow. The quality of the leaf is good, not great. It is priced as it is for a reason. There are no free lunches...lol. It does tend to leave a rather mouth filling aftertaste that is not very pleasant. Don't get me wrong, I love latakia, but this just has an off taste to it. Not enough off that I will not smoke it, but enough that it will not make it into a regular rotation on my tobacco table.

My hope is that with a little time in the cellar, the components will settle into a more palatable harmony. I will retest this at the three year mark to see what has happened.

BTW, I found another bulk Balkan in Altadis Byzantium that ranks right with this one in terms of taste but did not have the alkalinity of the PS.

I read a post below posted in February 2009 where it sold for $21 a pound. I paid nearly $30 a pound at 'pipesandcigars.com'. Get it while you can while it's still legal and while the price is still lower than all other tobacco products. I see other premium bulk pipe tobaccos are selling for over $60 a pound, too expensive considering that this premium tobacco is really all you need! I think on my next order I'll be ordering several pounds of this for the canning jars.

By the way, this is a fantastic website and has really helped me to buy my tobacco with no regrets. I usually buy by the pound without even trying a tobacco, then ask for a few small samplers along with my order just for kicks. I still have about a dozen tobaccos in the cellar that I haven't even tried yet, I'm looking forward to it, and stay tuned for the reviews!