Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Balkan Sasieni

Never tried the original, but with anything that is no longer made people probably remembered more fondly than anything else, this one is just meh, nothing here its horrible but nothing here says "please overpay for a Balkan mixture" this blend reminds me of "Orlik's early morning pipe and I quite like that one, but every ingredient in balkan sasieni just comes along for the ride, so I guess you could do worse.

I bought this one blindly to fulfill a $100 order and make free shipping, suffice to say I had no expectations upon getting it in the mail. I was getting a little tired with all my aromatics and wanted something more traditional. I popped the tin and was met with a very earthy, musty, almost manure scent. I was a bit scared.

I packed a bowl and it sparked to life almost instantly and required almost no relight to keep burning. Thankfully, it was not as off-putting as my initial meeting with the leaves. There was no charcoal taste, just a very deep and heavy "cigar" tasting smoke. I wouldn't say it is something I enjoy, but I felt like I was smoking a "real" pipe for once. There were no distinct flavors, just raw meaty smoke to chomp on. That being said, it didn't leave a thick taste or was hard to smoke.

It was a unique forray for me, just not sure it is my kinda smoke.

Tin: I like the appearance, the picture of a tobacco plant and cart in the front and a village and hills in the back.

Packaging: the usual paper pouch

Tobacco appearance: ribbon cut; most of it is black, some redish-brown and some lighter brown leaves.

Smell: Rich, leathery, smoky, sweetish, makes your mouth water. It is nice on its own. Seems a bit sweeter and less spicy than I remember the legendary Balkan Sobranie.

Taste: First the smoke is Latakia dominated with some Oriental spicy notes. A bit too much charcoal and too little else. Seemed a bit dull at first to me. I even noticed a tiny chemical-like taste -- but I am not sure about that. Mid-bowl the flavours open up and the Latakia starts to get balanced by some Virginia sweetness and earthy notes and the Oriental spices. I detected some flavour that reminded me of bay leaves. Overall the smoke becomes milder, more sophisticated. It is even creamy. At the last part of the bowl the Virginia receded a bit. Flavour & smell is nice and reminded me of allspice, pine and hints of mint.

Overall: It is a good Balkan blend especially mid-bowl onward and is worth trying. Compared to my memories of Balkan Sobranie it seems to be a total different blend and there is no point comparing the two or having any expectations to get a similar experience. Sasieni seemed less spicy and "clean" to me than Sobranie -- which is/was one of my all time favourites.

Short cut ribbon tobaccos, ranging from light leaf with a green tinge thru to jet black. The overall colour is quite dark.

Tin note is sweet and musty, with Latakia predominant.

This is an easy smoke that needs little attention. It is fairly sweet on the tongue with a light perfumed aroma from the Orientals. The Virginas strike me as a bit harsh however and I felt the acidity was a bit out of whack.

Too weak in nicotine, too weak in flavor, and the room note will drive females away quickly. Just not my favorite blend. Don't get wrong, its not so bad that I would throw it away. I finished the tin and enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea.

I am a novice pipe smoker. I have tried some other balkan style blends. This one out of the tin has the signature smoky aroma, my tin seemed a bit dry. The dryness made for an easy smoke, no relights necessary. This blend was lacking body for me. I could taste the latakia in the smoke, but it disappeared on my palate. The smoke also lacked a creaminess. The palate for me was mostly pepper with a little spice and a sour background. The pepper seemed to cover up the little lat flavor this blend imparted. I would rate this on my scale from unsmokeable to super enjoyable at a less enjoyable. There are other balkans that are quite better than this.

Edit: Well, I still had the tin, so I decided yesterday to try another bowl of this stuff. It seems to have calmed down a lot after being shelved for all those months. Much less of a sour taste- it's more mellow now. Still has a moldy, musty taste that I still do not enjoy, but it is much less pronounced. Still stinks the same. So I will add another star to this for improving with age, but I still don't think it's something I will get used to. I can imagine that I might enjoy a blend with just a hint, and I mean a cunt hair, of latakia, so I might try this for blending.

This is the first non-aromatic I've smoked, and I must say it was a rather unpleasant introduction to the English style. The scent and taste of what I can only assume is the Latakia, is incredibly powerful and pungent to the aromatically inclined. I lit up a bowl of this at a smoking area on campus and drove everyone away, with many a mumbled 'that stinks' growled in parting. Most of those same cigarette smokers love the smell of an aromatic, but I agree with them that this tobacco just smells horribly rancid and musty, and tastes the same. I don't know how anyone can truly enjoy this unless it's what they grew up with (i.e. an actual Englishman), and I'm relatively sure it is merely affectation when many reviewers claim to love it. I grew up smelling sweet, aromatic smoke from grandfather's pipe; that's what I like and that's what I'll stick to from now on.

The initial bowlful was unremarkable. I will put it up on the shelf and return in a few months to see if it improves with age.

I bought this brand in expectation of revisiting the pleasures of Balkan Sobranie. However, this smoking experience proved to be not quite the same. The glory of the Balkan pugnent aroma is not quite there. Although the can and component make up of the blend reminds you of the Sobranie at every turn save for the drier nature of the tobacco when compared to the can of the mixture as it was in the old days. I suppose we have to be satisfied with substitution.