Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Balkan Sasieni

The description on the tin hints at it: This is legendary Balkan Sobranie's twin tobacco or replacement. So what is it?

First of all, it's a genuine Balkan mixture with the Orientals and the Latakia in the forefront and the Virginias in the background. And the Latakia is what you smell first when you open the tin: There's a full bodied, pungent, peaty, and spicy scent complemented by sweet, floral, incense-like notes.

The ribbon cut makes it easy to fill your bowl, in doing so I personally prefer the Frank method. It usually only takes a single charring and true light to get your pipe burning evenly.

Balkan Sasieni has a rich smoky, tangy flavor with some sweetish, exotic, floral aftertaste, that will please any lover of English tobaccos. At first, the Latakia dominates the taste, but as the bowl progresses it makes room for the Orientals and the Virginias. That way it burns down slowly and coolly leaving behind some dark grey ash, all the time being mild on your tongue. Despite the full taste nicotine content is not as high as to make your head spin. It's a great, satisfying all day smoke.

The room note is spicy and incense-like.

This is a wonderful Balkan blend, it starts with a nice Latakia bitterness, my wife always comments on the nice aroma in the room when I smoke this. Half way down the bowl, it becomes a wonderful experience, rich and tasty when gently sipped. It burns well and doesn't need much relighting, it has a lovely vapour that just adds to the experience. It is smoky and rich. It is similar to Balkan Sobranie, which I really enjoyed, but not quite the same, not as sweet and not as tasty. It does have that crackling , splutter near the very end that BS had, which is fun. This is good value at £10/50g tin in 1kg bulk. If you like Balkan, this is a very good one and one of my favourite overall, and I will keep a few tins of this. I also like the Dunhill London Mixture, EMP, MM965, Delux Navy Rolls, and ElizM. and Ashtons Artinsen's Blend & Schurch's Tarek Robusto. I have 10 pipes, one Savinelli 603 Punto Oro bought from new in Sheveringtons for £120 in 2000, the rest are Savinelli Autographs and 2 Dunhills all second hand on ebay - good briar pipes do help the enjoyment. 10 pipes is a good number to have, could still do with a couple more 🙂

This is the one that got me into Latakia. Open the tin and you get a typical Latakia, charred, oily, sooty scent. like last nights campfire the next morning when its cold and a pile of blackened embers. But thats the magic of a well blended Latakia. Its the curtain that reveals each scene as you make your way through the bowl. From start to finish it provides floral then vanilla then coffee then herbs. A well blended latakia always performs. Easy to light, easy to smoke. This one gets even friendlier if you let it sit for a year, opened or not.

I wanted to like this blend because I love the combination of VA/Lat/Oriental. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I didn't think this blend was terrible, but I don't want any more of it. Burned hot, bit my tongue. Tastes fairly one-dimensional. Smoke Penzance instead.

**UPDATE** Im boosting it up to four stars. Its really grown on me. I liked it ever since the first bowl, but with a little airing out and perhaps a little time, i have grown to love this blend. Smokes cool, has a very nice taste, mainly latakia, mixed with a good amount of oriental muskiness, and a little virginia sweetness. Fantastic smoke!!



This is a delicious blend. the perfect mix of latakia and orientals. Perfect late afternoon/night time smoke for me, especially now in fall time when its a little colder.

The most prominent taste i would have to say is latakia, with orientals a close second. The virginias do provide a pleasently sweet background flavor which becomes more noticeable if the pipe is beginning to go out. This is a fantastic blend that isnt too strong, could possibly be an all day smoke if i ever wanted one,

This is a great tobacco. It's unlike any of the English blends that I know so far, and definitely more rounded than any aromatics.

Unlike many tins, the Sasieni arrives at the perfect moisture level for smoking, easy to pack and easy to light. When you buy several tins of various tobaccos at the same time, this is the one you get to smoke first while the others are drying. +1 rating just for that!

Because of the proper moisture level, you get all of what you pay for instead of paying for water weight, and the price matches the quality.

It smokes perfectly before needing to be tamped and re-lit. No need to puff like crazy or too hard to keep it lit, and because of the proper moisture, you almost don't need a pre-light to get it started.

Sasieni is spicy without tongue bite and has a distinctive herbal taste that closely matches what you expect from the smell upon opening the tin. It's earthy but without tasting like dirt. Very pleasurable!

Sublime stuff. Rich and complex but still light and smooth. This feels like sipping on a thick citrusy cloud. Burns beautifully with no need for a charring light. Leaves a very pleasant and dare I say refreshing aftertaste.

Okay, this tobacco is probably one of the best Balkan / English blends I have ever tried. It is extremely similar in my opinion to Dunhill MyMix965. It is presented on fine ribbon cuts, mixing all lovely leafs - virginias, orientals and rich smokey latakias. Comes ready to smoke, no drying necessary. Tin note is marvelous - sweetness and smokiness together in the best possible format. Mechanically- packs great in the pipe, light easily and burns steadily to fine dry ashes. Flavour profile - rich spicy taste and a wonderful aroma of campfire. I love this blend so much! If you are looking for a keeper on the Balkan / English dept this one is a true contender. STG and Peter Stokkebye did a fantastic job here.

Alright boys and gals, here's what's up. When you buy this baccy, you take it outta the tin and put it in a jar. You can smoke some of it right away and it'll please you, for sure. But make sure to keep some in the jar for a month. Now I just got back from a walk in the streets of Montreal during a quiet Saturday night. And this was the most pleasure I got from this famed blend so far. I noticed how the nose exhale made the smoke taste like a faint mint. I'd never really gotten that before with the sasieni. I thought it was really great, especially since this blend can be pretty monochromatic and one dimensional. Albeit, it's a great dimension, truly. Anyway, I think it's important for anyone who likes Balkan blends to try this one out. You won't regret it.