Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Balkan Sasieni

For me, the sometimes wonderful taste of Balkan Sasieni is not worth its awful sourness and tendency to bite. These days, I smoke Sasieni only as a constituent of the Oscuro blend, created by the Barcelona Pipe Club, which is one- half Sasieni and one-half MacBaren Scottish Mixture. When I'm in the mood for a Balkan, I smoke Greg Pease's Caravan, which is a wonderfully full smoke without Sasieni's problems.

I know quite a few people enjoy this blend, but personally i find it lackluster, especially when compared to other Balkans currently available. The slightly buttery, woody Orientals lead, followed by the smoky Latakia. The Virginias provide a hint of sweetness, hay, and earth. It's not bad, but considering there's bulk tobaccos that easily outshine this offering, it gets 2 stars from me.

Preparation & Burn: 9/10 Decent ribbon cut. Nice moisture. Easy to light and keep lit.

Taste: 9/20 Pretty dry in taste. Nothing special, and no subtle nuances.

Mildness: 7/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Not much nicotine here.

Total: 25/40

Sampled from a fresh tin, aired out and dried a little. Tin aroma...Typical English aroma...Latakia & Orientals. Aroma reminds one of the Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture but that's where the similarity ends. How could anyone possible rate this comparable to the BSOM is beyond me. I'm using The Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture for comparison purposes since it is unquestionably the hallmark of Balkan blends.

This stuff has a good burn rate. After a light & relight to let my pipe cool, I'm getting a slightly bitter taste. With Balkan Sobranie, I got an abundance of sweet, creamy smoke from each draw after the first few puffs. This blend was also little wimpy in the nicotine department... closer to the mild spectrum than medium. The Balkan Sobranie OM was perfect in strength for any smoker...medium to strong. I toked on this until there was nothing but ashes left & I failed to get that depth of tasty flavors from the aforementioned king of Balkans. An awful clone! Beware as I know of what I'm saying. Try if you insist but prepare to be disappointed... IMHO, of course.

Sampled from a fresh tin, aired out and dried a little. Tin aroma...Typical English aroma...Latakia & Orientals. Aroma reminds one of the Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture but that's where the similarity ends. How could anyone possible rate this comparable to the BSOM is beyond me. I'm using The Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture for comparison purposes since it is unquestionably the hallmark of Balkan blends.

This stuff has a good burn rate. After a light & relight to let my pipe cool, I'm getting a slightly bitter taste. With Balkan Sobranie, I got an abundance of sweet, creamy smoke from each draw after the first few puffs. This blend was also a little stingy with the nicotine. The Balkan Sobranie OM was perfect in strength for any smoker...medium to strong. This is wimpy! I toked until there was nothing but ashes left & I failed to get that depth of tasty flavors from the aforementioned king of Balkans. An awful clone! Beware as I know of what I'm saying. Try if you insist but prepare to be disappointed. Pay no attention the wannabees.

I do not want to sound nostalgic, but I had the chance to smoke the previous production, which came in a pouch. The tobacco was much darker, the cut much longer and it was lovely to smoke, truly enjoyable. This effort from Peter Stokkebye, unfortunately, is a good try but does not stand up to the previous production, sadly.

My review is from a 2005 tin which arrived somewhat on the dry side and perhaps a bit over the hill.

First third of the bowl was pleasant enough, with smokey latakia nicely balanced with an interplay of oriental influence. A low quality Virgina base was somewhat astringent and can bite if one is not careful.

Sadly, as the journey through the bowl continued the blend became more and more monochromatic. By the end the smoking experience had as much nuance as common cigarette tobacco.

Again, in all fairness my sample could have been too old and improperly stored. Regardless of age I suspect the tobaccos used in this blend are not of the highest quality.

I've been spoiled by a steady diet of G.L.Pease and McClelland quality.

Two stars as perhaps a fresh tin of this blend would be better. However, I wouldn't spend the money to find out.

Perhaps I missmoked this, and perhaps I simply had too much expectations towards this tobacco. It packs and burns like a charm, I'll give it that, an easy smoke requiring little attention. That being said I found it to be dominated mostly by a very musty taste and little more. It's not a bad tobacco, I just found it lacked depth and complexity. Overall, I'd say it's a straightforward tobacco that's fine if you're going to smoke it absentmindedly or while concentrating on something else, but hardly a vintage blend.

Sampled from a fresh tin, aired out and dried a little. Tin aroma...Typical Balkan smell...Latakia & Orientals. Aroma reminds one of the Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture but that's where the similarity ends. I'm using The Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture for comparison purposes since it is unquestionably the hallmark of Balkan blends.

This stuff has a good burn rate. After a light & relight to let my pipe cool, I'm getting a slightly bitter taste. With Balkan Sobranie, I got an abundance of sweet, creamy smoke from each draw after the first few puffs. This blend was also a little stingy with the nicotine. The Balkan Sobranie OM was perfect in strength for any smoker...medium to strong. This is wimpy! I toked until there was nothing but ashes left & I failed to get that depth of tasty flavors from the aforementioned king of Balkans.

Toward the end of the bowl, I was beginning to get a minute amount of the sweet taste & flavors with only a slight semblance of the BSOM. It was fleeting, however and only lasted a short while. I found this to remain a little more bitter than sweet & it took too long for any flavor to develop.

This blend did not propel me to immediately reach for a second bowl. I found it rather bland near the end, whereas BSOM flavor remained to the end & kept me coming back for more of that elusive, palatable flavor that I deemed exceptional. I also preferred PS Balkan Supreme over this mixture. It had more flavor & sweetness nearing mid bowl.

This will be my first & last tin although I'm glad to see that many pipers like it quite well. I will however, keep searching for that Balkan Sobranie flavor in a blend or start blending my own. I will air this tin for another week and opine further if any change in character is noteworthy. Therefore, IMHO, I feel that Balkan Sasieni only merits two stars. Sampled in a size two Dunhill.