Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Balkan Sasieni

A very nice blend with interesting characteristics. It opens with a blast of Oriental spices. As the bowl progresses the Orientals mellow ever so slightly and the Latakia begins to make it's presence known. Eventually a near perfect balance is achieved between the two. It remains spicy from beginning to end. Not sure, but some of the spice may be coming from the Virginias in the background. All in all, well worth trying.

I have been smoking Balkan Sasieni on and off for the past three years. I would describe it as “reliable.” It was love at first puff, but over time it kind of fell by the wayside. I am again smoking it and my tins are all from the last two sleeves I purchased in 09'. So with that in mind, I find BS to be a fairly straight forward Balkan blend, whose moisture content is near perfect upon opening the tin. It greets the nose with a wonderful of leathery pungency and greets the eyes with the typical medium English appearance. BS isn't very complex and therein lies the problem for me. It doesn't have the complexity (for me, but maybe not for others) that I am looking for. Now, three years later, the Virginia's have sweetened and it gives the blend an extra dimension. BS is easy to pack, and it burns cleanly all the way to the bottom of the bowl with no bite. Toss in the fact the price point is low for a tinned blend of this quality and I regret not cellaring more of it. I think BS is an excellent choice to begin a journey into Balkans and I would recommend it.

I only recently tried Balkan Sasieni because I am not a big fan of Balkan blends and so it wasn't on my immediate "must try" list.

It compares to some extent with Dunhill's Aperitif and 965 in that you will taste the lighter Orientals more than the Latakia. While not as sweet as Aperitif due to a bit more Latakia being in the blend, it is certainly sweeter than 965.

I was able to smoke back to back bowls of Sasieni, which is not usual for me and "English" type blends -- if this is an English. And I thought it burned rather hot if puffed too rapidly.

If you like Oriental, Turkish, Latakia types, here you go. I've certainly had worse.

Balkan Sasieni, currently manufactured by Peter Stokkebye which is now a part of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group conglomerate, was intended as a near clone replacement of the legendary Balkan Sobranie, which at that time was no longer in production. Balkan Sobranie was a mixture in which the oriental/latakia component dominated, with the oriental playing first fiddle. In fact, Sobranie coined the term "Balkan" for this type of mixture. Balkan Sasieni was birthed by members of the original family that produced Balkan Sobranie, but they did not have legal right to use the Sobranie name.

Sobranie was noted for its exclusive use of Yenidje for the oriental part of the blend, Yenidje having a slightly astringent note added to the more typical olive/flowery/herbal oriental flavor. Before production ended, Balkan Sobranie suffered from a dumbed down recipe and its quality plummeted. More recently Balkan Sobranie has reappeared, produced by S. F. Germain for persons having the legal right to the Sobranie name. It is quite close to the original Sobranie, although like Balkan Sasieni it uses generic oriental rather than Yenidje. It is a very fine tobacco. In my opinion, however, Balkan Sasieni is even better. And it sells for a significantly lower price.

Open a can of Sasieni ((if memory serves me correctly it was originally in a pouch) and you will find a very fine ribbon cut tobacco about three fourths of which is dark brown. The rest is slivers of medium brown, yellow, and green. I personally find the moisture level correct for quick lighting without having to give it drying time. Sniff it, and you will find nothing extraordinary. It just smells like tobacco which has a noticeable latakia content. The ribbon cut takes the match easily, and the smoke seldom needs a relight.

The strength is medium, and the taste is predominated by the oriental, although the latakia is certainly noticeable. Halfway down the bowl, the latakia portion seems to me a bit stronger than at the beginning of the smoke. The Virginia plays third fiddle, but it adds a needed bit of sweetening. The Virginia seems to be of a very high grade. Only careless puffers will encounter tongue bite. The nicotine level barely touches the medium range, rather low for a tobacco with this pungent an aroma.

Room Note? Non smokers will probably complain that it smells like burning robber or a drowned campfire, Latakia lovers will obliviously puff away in the copious clouds of smoke. It all burns down to a darkish grey ash with only a trace of moisture in the heel of the pipe.

If you smoke this, hopefully you will have a pipe collection large enough to have pipes dedicated to blends with distinct latakia content. For me, Balkan Sasieni is one of the relatively few tobaccos where I note a clearly distinct improvement when smoked in my more expensive pipes.

Those who enjoy latakia will most likely find this to their liking. The oriental forward Balkan blends may not be quite the preference of those who lean toward smokes that are latakia bombs. Those who do not care for latakia need not bother to try Balkan Sasieni.

This mixture is strictly for those who like the aromatic "Turkish" varietals - Yenidje, etc. - what used to be called "Egyptian" (although neither term is really geographically accurate), not the typical English Mix with Latakia as the only exotic aromatic. That said, I wanted much more of the "Turkish" aroma than this offered, so I was disappointed.

For those new to the tobacco world, let me mention in passing that properly speaking "aromatic" refers strictly to the natural aroma of the tobacco (after fermentation, smoke-drying, etc.), whereas other aromas (vanilla, chocolate, brandy, etc.) should be called flavouring or casing, as noted on this site in the review sidebar. This distinction has been confused by the manufacturers of popular Cavendish blends labelling their flavoured mixes as "full aromatic" etc.

I have read elsewhere that this blend was produced according to the original Balkan Sobranie formula by some of the original blenders of that famous mix after the name was bought by another company and the blend toned down to a Latakia mix with no exotics. I find this hard to believe; I smoked the original Balkan Sobranie for years, and this is not a patch on it - nothing like the strong character of that blend. The room note of the old original was powerful, distinctive and persistent (you either loved it or hated it), whereas Sasieni has a quite mild room note.

I found this tobacco somewhat harsh, though no worse than most other Balkan blends, with a fair bit of bite. I could detect no artificial casing or flavouring, which in a true Balkan blend is as it should be. The room note is either "pleasant" or "tolerable" depending on personal taste. I only recommend it because blends with the true Yenidje topnote are becoming hard to find.

Jan. 2006: This seems identical to Balkan Supreme. Both are blended by Peter Stokkebye.

April 1, 2005: This is a review of a post-James Norman U.S. distribution .50g pouch. This probably does not matter, since James Norman-era and current production are allegedly from the same blending house (P. Stokkebye).

This looks like a drugstore blend due to the paper/plastic/mylar foldover pouch ala Captain Black, et al. If you equate drugstore packaging with mediocre leaf, flavored with low quality toppings (as I do), Balkan Sasieni is a pleasant exception.

If you have never smoked a Balkan blend before (as I was when I first tried this years ago) and you are an aromatics smoker or a burleymeister, this is not the place to start. Try McClelland's Syrian Full Balkan or Frog Morton to get used to the tanginess of Oriental leaf and major Latakia. Better yet, get thee to Skiff Mixture or And So To Bed to start with mild English blends. Cornell & Diehl might have some suggestions, also.

Balkan Sasieni is edgy, but not razor sharp, deep but not brooding, and subtly sweet (from dark, ribbon and flake Virginia), but not bright or goopy. Smoke this fast and thou shalt burn, and give thyself ample ventilation to avoid ocular dilation and respiratory arrest. The Turkish is the focal point throughout the smoke, closely followed by delicious Latakia (I suspect a mixture of Latakias here) and supported and reined by quality Virginia last.

Balkan Sasieni smokes easily once lit, burns cleanly, thoroughly and is dry to the end. I do not pack the bowl with it firmly or loosely, as it is unforgiving. One of the few Balkans I can actually smoke back to back bowls of if I pay attention to heat. The intensity of the flavor says use a smallish bowl, but the long, thin strands argues for a larger bowl or wider opening- but I would anticipate heat with too much tobacco-surface to air ratio.

The more I smoke this, the more I like it. It travels with me now. I would not call it elegant, but it is not shabby or uncouth. It is complex, without opacity or high-minded appeal.

It reminds me quite a bit of Paul Olsen's MOB 7000 and Dunhill's London Mixture (faintly of 965). Not as refined as Caravan, but Balkan Sasieni is perhaps a bit more chipper. It has much more going for it than Aperitif or Durbar. This might end someone's allegiance to the Frog Morton series. Just get some experience first.

A very good and true Balkan blend. True because the orientals are definitely out in the front of the lat on this blend with the Virginia merely along for the ride.

A nice blend that will smoke cool and will not leave you with the dreaded lat mouth. I recommend this blend, but will likely not buy much more of it as my tastes go more for the creamy lats such as Blue Mountain, Penzance or Three Oaks Syrian, rather than the more sour blends such as this one. I also think B Sasieni is not as well balanced as the aforementioned blends.

It definitely has its fans and if this flavor profile sounds like your preference, then you will probably like it too. If pressed to compare it to something, I would probably say Odyssey, but I would give Odyssey the edge.

A pleasantly well balanced English blend, well suited for all day consumption. The Virginias are matured, what Orientals are here are well balanced and not perfumey in the least, the Latakia is fairly mellow (which is nice in a Stokkebye blend, for a change). I suspect it a very close sibling to Proper English, if not indeed the same but tinned. Reasonably priced for an import.

Passes desert island test with room to spare.

This has been my GO-TO blend for well over 10yrs now and I really enjoy this blend. My first intro to english blends was Dunhill ( London Mixture ) which I still smoke and find just as enjoyable even though " Murry " isnt the blender. As said by many in these reviews you always remember your first, and I've stuck with it. Hell I have 10 tins tucked away for the future. Now to get back to Balkan Sasieni, I was at my local tobac shop early this afternoon and sat down with a pipe of this fine blend. I dont find BS as sweet as some seem to find it, the sweetness does peak thru once and a while but I just find that it is a smoky, spicy and creamy smoke, and at under 8 bucks a tin you could do a whole lot worse for a whole lot more. I've smoked this blend in all sorts of environs, hot, cold, rain, snow and some humid days when I thought why in the hell am I even smoking? ( But we all know the answer to that ). I'm not a fancy reviewer I dont review a tobacco by how many condiments I can try and name to describe a blend. I just try to let folks know if a blend is worth a try and YES THIS IS.

Your Brother in Smoke

3/4 Stars