Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Balkan Sasieni

I will preface this review by saying that I have never tried the famous tobacco that this is supposed to be a copy of; Balkan Sobranie. However I have had some fine Balkan tobaccos and this doesn't measure up. It is tasty and a little spicy but that's it, I get more flavor from 965. I was expecting a near religious experience, due to the reputation of Sobranie.

I realize that they were not able to acquire exactly all of the tobaccos that were in Sobranie, but if it tasted anywhere near this then I do not see what all the fuss is about. That being said, this is a good tobacco for those wanting a light Balkan and I can see no major fault in it, except that it fails to live up to the reputation of it's predecessor.

For a rich spicy Balkan try Charing Cross by G.L. Pease.

Since I relapsed into smoking after a 20 year hiatus, I've been looking for a substitute of the vanished Holy Grail of tobaccos, Balkan Sobranie. So far in less than a year I've tried about a dozen "Balkan" style blends from different brands. Somebody mentioned B. Sasieni as the one most closely resembling Balkan Sobranie so I went and got me some.

I don't know if the fact that I got it in bulk has anything to do with its actual quality --it's quite possible that 50g tins are better- however, the weed I got is but the palest shadow of the original Sobranie.

The cut is pathetic; thin short ribbons, almost a shag, that pack unevenly and break into quasi-powder if you rub them loose. Nothing like the even thick flakes of the old BS. The pouch aroma lacks the intoxicating promise of BS; it's flat and unappealing, with a hint of fermentation.

The VA's while good, lack the fullness I had associated with good Balkans. Also, the orientals are timid, albeit giving a sweetish note to the blend that is not unpleasant. The latakias, however, are the most timid variety I've ever tasted and they become almost a whisper. They're there but you have too really pay attention to find them. The variety is almost for sure Ciprus and not Siria, and lacks the great cedar and pine woods aroma that the old BS gave.

The room note is barely tolerable. Thre are lots of "Balkans" that will be well appreciated by non-smokers but Sasieni is not one of them.

About the best recommendation I can give on it is that it lights easily, keeps lit without trouble if you take the trouble to painstakingly separate the ribbons and let the mix aereate for a few hours before packing it again. It usually burns down to the bottom of the pipe with very little dottle or none at all.

If you want a decent BS wannabe, try one of the GLP blends, like Oddyssey or Charing Cross. Another good Balkan blend is SG Perfection, albeit quite different.

Balkan Sasieni is certainly worth a try, but not worth keeping around. The Virginia weed is not quite the quality that I would like, the Orientals are not as buttery as I prefer, and the Latakia is, well, that is fine actually. It smells wonderful in the pouch, is a bit dry in appearance, and smokes fine apart from some slight harshness and the fact that is it rather light. Balkan Sasieni is difficult to obtain and that is just fine as there are much better Balkan blends out there.

This Balkan has undergone quite the change. The price dropped as did the quality. All I really get is some uninspiring Virginias and some bottom barrel Cyprian, a light Camel/Turkish note, though not much of a Turkish taste. I guess its better than no Balkan at all...but only by a little.

WOW! That?s the first word that came to mind when the match grazed a bowl filled with this superlative tobacco. It took less than a second for the spicy orientals to reach my tongue and the explosive peppery aroma to hit the nose. This is an immense, complex Balkan that ranks in the top of its class. Unlike coffee, which usually tastes better in the package than in the cup, Sasieni actually tastes and burns better than the initial pack aroma. As for all the complaints about the Captain Black pouch, though I don?t much care for it either, all I can say is: get over it. It?s about what?s inside the package that counts, and Sasieni contains the best there is. You couldn?t ask for a richer, more satisfying tobacco taste. Anyone savoring a full Balkan blend will find their every need met in Sasieni.

This is a pure tobacco treasure: full, dark, exotic, mysterious, like a beautiful woman on the Orient Express that turns the corner and disappears into a compartment. Sasieni actually gets better as it gets down the bowl, revealing a complexity of nuances, some subtle, others distinct and aggressive. This is the type of excitement I expected from Nightcap. Alas, that blend doesn?t hold a match to this one.

I can?t smoke this all day due to its strength and the fact that if smoked just a little too quickly, can start to burn the tongue. It?s almost a small price to pay for such a luscious, chewy smoke. And it?s a great value, too! I can?t say enough about this one. It will definitely be part of my regular rotation.

Five of five stars

9-1-05 update: i've downgraded. still spicy, exotic, rich stuff, but it's overwhelming and will set your tongue and palate afire. too bad that such a harmonious blend of orientals is just a little too over the top. i still appreciate this blend for what it is, but i can't smoke it very often without serious injury.

I think this tobacco is a good value for the price you pay it, nothing more and nothing less. It's good, that's for sure, but you can find dozens of better blends out there. Nonetheless this can give nice satisfactions to the latakia lovers.

I enjoy Balkan (or Balkan/English) blends but my take on Balkan Sasieni is about in line with "Pipestud" and "RCUSElder". Balkan Sasieni is a good quality blend, and it's tasty, and has pretty decent lighting/burning properties. It's easy enough to understand many Balkan fans liking this one. It's certainly more hospitable than #965 so I think it should definitely be on the short-list of tobaccos to try for anyone wanting to give Balkans or Balkan/English blends a whirl. For me personally, there are several other blends of this genre that I prefer for various reasons.... but mostly because it seems bland, or maybe "uninteresting", to me, and it can go annoyingly sour. Be advised, too, the Latakia dominates the room note and hangs around a goodly while. Will say Balkan Sasieni seems to do best for me in meerschaums. Cool looking can too.

Tiger

A fine mixture, but didn?t really leave me craving for more. Lacks the complexity of other balkans I?ve tried. Strikes me as very Danish in nature; can't quite put my finger on what it is about it. May give it another try in the future, but for now I?ll stick to the Pease balkans and others that are more exciting than Sasieni.

Ok, so they say they recreated the original formula of Balkan Sobranie. Some even say that this stuff is better than the Sobranie of today (which is universally considered worse than the old one). I must confess I never tried the Sobranie of old, so I can't comment on the first statement. What I CAN say, is that this stuff sucks even in comparison to the Balkan Sobranie that is sold now: it takes little thought to understand that probably Sasieni is the loser of the bunch, and that it is NOT a true recreation of the original recipe. And after all, at such a low price, how can you expect it to be as good as a tobacco so famous for its pricey ingredients? The first 1-2 bowls from a new pouch were decent: not memorable (nice smoky and pungent taste at first, but a somewhat dull and ashy second half of the bowl), but at least with some taste. I am beginning to suspect it was due to the pipes I was using: I had smoked Pirate Kake in them, and that had left a nice strong Latakia taste... Why do I say this? Because all the following bowls went downhill. Now, in almost all my pipes (almost, because in some of them it is slighlty better... but not much) it tastes like a cheap, undistinguished light english mixture, with more orientals than Latakia, and a sort of "cardboard"-like taste. You really can't compare the dull taste of this one with the wave of flavors that Balkan Sobranie offers! I have tried several pipes dedicated to english mixtures, and in none of them Sasieni shined. It packs and burns fine, but the taste and flavor leave MUCH to be desired (while not terrible, mind me). No reason for me to try this one again: aside from Balkan Sobranie, which is still available here and which I keep smoking regularly, there are MANY better tasting Latakia mixtures out there!