Comparing it with Squadron Leader, like others have done, I find it a tinny bit stronger in nicotine, maybe with a little more latakia, and much spicier. SL is sweeter, tangier and fresher. This Erinmore Balkan Mixture is deeper in taste and rounder. In truth, it's not much similar to Squadron Leader at all... Great for a night smoke, or on the colder days.

UPDATE: some british stores are announcing this as a fine replacement for Early Morning Pipe... if it's not similar to SL, I find it even less similar to EMP. EMP's orientals are not as spicy as Erinmore Balkan Mixture's, and EMP has almost no latakia (maybe 10%, tops).

UPDATE 2: Abingdon is very similar to Erinmore Balkan Mixture, although not as rich and complex.

It's O.K (and if this sounds a little like 'damning with faint praise' then I suppose I can live with that).

Everyone here (so far) has done justice to this blend in their descriptions, so I don't feel any need to be redundant -- perhaps Pipe4ever's comparison to a less sweet but stronger, tangier Squadron Leader is most apt. I would only emphasize that (for me at least) it is quite a bit stronger -- indeed it has a surprisingly strong kick for such a mellow blend: I didn't notice it at first until, after two consecutive bowls, it snuck up on me and smacked me upside the head, which only made me love it more.

Delicious, with zero maintenance. If I were an all-day smoker this would probably be my default, which Introibo says would "prove to be too much of a good thing", to which I say, "so be it!"

For me this blend is a masterpiece. Definitely one of my desert island blends.

Erinmore Balkan Mixture is in excellent oriental blend, mellow, tasty, cool and well balanced, Turkish/Virginia is about 40%/40% , latakia is about 20%, I would say.

Comparison: somewhere between Davidoff Royalty and Squadron Leader, sweeter and milder than Davidoff Royalty with more latakia/Turkish and less Virginia. Stronger in nicotine and less sweet than Squadron Leader but less edgy, less spicy with more latakia and less Turkish.

Erinmore Balkan Mixture is a delicious Balkan blend, it is now a new favorite of mine, I have already 10 tins and I will certainly buy more in the futur (on my next trip).

ORIGINAL JULY 17 2008 Unlucky Rob, I was given a pouch of this as a gift, as soon as I saw the name, I gave it back. However, they insisted, so not to be unkind, I accepted. This is the first Balkan that I have tried, so I have nothing to compare it with thus I am unable to say whether this is a good Balkan or a poor imitation.

All I can say is that it packs easily, burns well and has an interesting taste and flavour, slightly sweet, cool smoking, the Latakia coming to the forefront without being overwhelming by any means, in fact the more I smoke it, the more I am inclined to seek out other Balkan blends and give them a try.

Seems to keep prety well, I've had this pouche open a week or so now, no evidence of drying out to dust. I could even be tempted to buy the occasional pouch of this, but it would be interesting to read the impressions of the more experienced Balkan boys. So for the moment, a cautious 3 stars.

However, if you are looking for excellent value for money, a light, well-balanced tobacco cut for easy packing, a blend that tastes oriental all the way to the end of the pipe, give it at least a couple of smokes in different pipes to see whether it is strong enough, has enough flavour and gives you the satisfaction that you get from other blends.

As always, I tried this out in several pipes. In a couple of them it was tasteless and laid a kind of greasy coating all over my mouth. In another pipe it was as if I was smoking ash. But, finally, in the right pipe, it starts with a strong, sweetish wiff of that familiar territory -- East of Italy, the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, down south of the Danube as far as the Bosphorous and beyond. I would like to say that you can almost hear the Orient Express whistling by, but that would be exaggerating.

You get brief waves of intensely oriental flavour -- the surf washing up on the shores of the Dardanelles -- and the Latakia lurks in the shadows, like Peter Lorre in a doorway filmed by Fritz Lang.

It is not, one hastens to add, a Sobranie. If pressed I would describe it as a little like Davidoff's Royalty, but with less of the Virginia and more straightforward oriental taste. A "by the numbers" oriental, but excellent value. I went out and ordered 10 50 gram cans. At at third of the price of Royalty, it is worth it.

Never likely to be an all day blend -- the orientals would prove too much of a good thing, I think.

A note about the tin -- it says "Murrays" on the top, but on the back "Orlik". I take it this was one of the blends that got transported to Germany. One can only suppose a couple of Macedonians employed in the Orlik factory persuaded the bosses to leave out the cavendish and aromatic flavouring.