Back in the 80s I smoked Balkan Sobranie a great deal - very much my regular tobacco. Despite the fuss about Sobranie now, back then it wasn't a very popular tobacco - most English smokers preferred the less distinctive tobacos like St Bruno or the strange, horrible hot-burning aromatics like Gold Block and Condor. Oriental/Balkan mixes were commonly seen as "too strong" and "too smelly" - and were only stocked by a minority of tobacconists even then.

Anyway, I don't usually go for "bulk" tobacco as it's often very poor quality (or horrible aromatics) but I tried this and....wow.

The smell alone took me straight back 30 years - very much like Sobranie as I remember it; the taste is also very Sobranie-like (again, as I remember it). No, it's probably not exactly the same, but it's very close and will more than do.

If you like to smoke tobacco rather than flavourings, you owe it to yourself to try this. You'll almost certainly love or hate it. Me, I can smoke it all day.

he Latakia, Orientals, Cavendish and even Virginia are easily noted, well balanced, well combined, in a mixture that have complexity.

It not have high bite or pepper residual tastes. Easy and slow burning.

Is a wonderfull tobacco, I fully recommend it.

Observations:

The definition of Balkan Mixture is controversial. For some people, is Englisk mixture with Perique, for others is with Cavendish.

In fact, GlPease try to clear the definitions: English, Sccotish, Balkan and American mixtures:

English Mixtures contains Latakia, Orientals, Virginia Tobaccos and sometimes Perique.The main dominant flavours are Latakia and Orientals.

Balkan mixtures are similar, bu have more virginia ammount, large Orientals ammount and less Latakia.

Sccotish mixtures have large ammont of Virginias,liitle Orientals and a trace of Latakia.

In American Mixtures, an English mixture is modified by addiction of Burley Tobacco and Cavendish.

Irish Mixtures are related to American ones, but have more aromatics and essences.

Packs easy, burns dry, no bite, great taste; an almost there latakia blend; just needs a bit of more nicotine.

Wife hates the smell. She actually said it smelled like meat cooking over a damp campfire with some burning rubber in it. Not to be smoked if you are trying to make friends.

***

Well, after a year and about 2kgs later I have to update this review I guess. This is a smoky, earthy, sweet tobacco that mellows just a bit over time. I don't find the latakia overpowering or too much, it has just the right amount of latakia to give it a pretty much perfect taste/flavour. Smoky latakia sings in unison with sweet turkish on a bed of virginia with cavendish standing just to the side to put in a word or two at times.

It's such a smooth and easy to smoke blend that most of the time I try to relight this but fail to do so; I check the bowl and see that there is nothing left but fine grey/white ash. No bells, no whistles to be found here; just decent, honest, tasty tobacco.

This no nonsense, minimum maintenance, ridiculously cheap blend has become my all day, every day blend over the year.

I opened the can to a tin-note of bonfires, ceadar wood and aultumn leaves. the cut was medium ribbon.

It packed nicely and sat in the bowl well but took a few lights to get going. The taste was powerful of ripe fruit with a very peppery smokeyness. it was rather dry in taste which surprised me as there seemed to be plenty of cavendish in the blend, (I suspect this was more Preique) The smokeyness and pepperyness intensified as the pipe burnt down untill it was overwhelming and my tongue was on fire and the roof of my mouth tingling. It was just too much and I could not finish the whole bowl, I tried coolong my burning mouth with beer but the bubbles made the stinging worse. The dottle left was damp and tar-like.

I am not a fan of blends heavy on Latikia and Preique and this is a classic example of why. The blend had a total lack of balance with one overpowering flavour note with not enough sweet or cream notes to tone it down. No wonder we discontinued it.

some die-hards may like this but it will never get anyone new to pipe smoking into smoking Turkish/Strong English blends.

Gawith, Hoggarth's Balkan Mixture is heads and shoulders above this blend, IMHO.

Burns clean, no bite, just an excellent flavor. Highly recomended.

It’s a delicious Balkan blend. Latakia is the main flavor, but it does not overwhelm. Other flavors include Orientals, Virginias, and a hint of Cavendish. No aromatics. So far, I’ve smoked several bowls (about an ounce / 18 grams) of it. Overall, it has a good mix of Balkan flavors with some sweetness from the Virginias.

The strength is moderate. Neither the flavor nor the nicotine is strong. For comparison, both the flavor and the nicotine are somewhat lighter than Dunhill 965. But, it is not a weak blend, either.

The consistency is even. The mix of flavors has been constant, from the charring light to the bottom of the bowl. There is no or little tongue bite. The intensity of the smoke is mellow, almost “creamy.” The tobacco is ribbon cut with light moisture. It smokes evenly, and it produces a fine greyish-whitish ash.

The price is remarkably inexpensive for a blend of this quality. In September 2011, I bought 2 ounces (56 grams) from marscigars (online). It cost $5.00 plus postage. This could easily become an all-day, go-to smoke.

The Latakia, while not too heavy, still dominates this smoke, sometimes completely obscuring the other tobaccos.

It does bite. At times, it can be a very difficult smoke, harsh and burning. One must pay attention.

It won't displace my usual English and Oriental blends, and I'm not likely to buy more, but neither would I refuse it should it come my way again.

All this to say that it is not a bad smoke and I could smoke this all day long, if I had nothing better to smoke, but if someone wants to really taste a Balkan blend, nothing I have smoked up to now can come close to Blatter's Reserve...it is still king of the hill!

Just the right moisture, it lights easily and stays lit right down to the bottom.

I mixed this (4oz) with Stokkebye's Proper English (2oz), which gave it some depth and taste.

It is a fine, non-biting baccy, but for someone who has tasted a full-bodied Balkan, it falls short of impressing me and is not properly named. Supreme, it is not!

But if you're not into full-bodied Balkan, then this will fill the bill. Its just too wimpy for me...Blatter spoiled me.