Sobranie of London The Balkan Sobranie 759

In my opinion....this was by far and away the finest tobacco blend that money could buy. Even though I continue to search.....I have yet to experience a better smoke. If it was available to me today....I'd smoke it exclusively.

In this blend....the latakia plays a supporting role to the orientals and does not dominate the taste like I've experienced in other English / Balkan blends. The aroma and taste of this tobacco is simply to die for.....smooth and creamy with no hint of a bite. It lights well and burns superbly...leaving a well formed white ash that almost falls out of the pipe in one piece.....much like a cigar. This mixture was always consistent....bowl after bowl....can after can.

This exquisite smoke had a loyal following at one time. The reason quite simply...... there's no finer pipe tobacco to be had.

This is the greatest tasting pipe tobacco ever created as far as I am concerned. I tried the Schurch brand, so I'm hoping it's the same stuff, but it is absolutely marvelous. A deep, smokey taste with a rich, robust nuttiness accented by the slightest taste of clove. This is without a doubt one of the greatest tobaccos I have ever had in my entire 29 years of life. Whomever created this blend... My hat goes off to you. It's spectacular.

It's a crying shame it's not available in this great country.

This blend is becoming a rare, dwindling vintage so buy a couple a pouches where you find them. In the pouch it smells smokey, rich & prime. replete with a large dose of latakia, this is a Full flavoured blend, yet smooth & cool. It tends to maintain a sort of smokey, spicy fullness throughout the bowl- a very solid, earthy taste it is. The tobacco in the pouch I bought would not have wanted to be any drier though- the last 1/4 of the pouch was crumbling so I reckon you outta keep the pouch in one of them hermetically-sealing fliptop jars. A classic outdoor smoke - or indoors if you want to drive your wife out of the house!

Pouch Aroma: This stuff smells rich with Latakia and the dusty, spicy aroma of Turkish tobaccos. I'm not a huge fan of Latakia blends, but I smoke ?em the most in fall and this is making my mouth water.

Appearance: A short, fine ribbon cut tobacco that's probably 80% deep brown to black with the remaining 20% a smattering of hues from golden to medium brown and a few flashes of greenish.

Packing and Lighting: For this tobacco I've selected my best Latakia pipe - a ½ bent Don Carlos partially rusticated bulldog/volcano wannabe sort of thing. The bowl is large and deep and the draft hole is wide open. The pipe packs easily enough though many fragments come flying up through the huge draft hole - but I'm used to that with this pipe. The pre-light puff of air tastes smoky, slightly bitter and faintly like the breezes that blew over the golden hayfields of my childhood.

The first match lights the surface evenly with only shallow puffs, as this tobacco was of my preferred moisture level - just moist enough not to crumble. The first few puffs have a gorgeous silky feel on the tongue with a light, spicy tingle being all there is of an aftertaste. All I can sense here is Latakia in the foreground, treading firmly on the dusty, dry ground of the Mediterranean provided by some of the most incredible Turkish flavor I've ever known.

Exposition: This is a VERY smooth smoke at the start which leaves a room aroma that Latakia lovers might die for - the orientals providing a sweetness that perfectly balances the smoky tang and what I sense as being a very light sprinkling of Virginias providing some high-end to the flavor and smell.

Relighting after five minutes or so to be sure I have an even burn causes the Latakia to fade for a moment, bringing a bright spiciness out that matches most amazingly with my morning beverage: Taylor's of Harrowgate "Yorkshire Gold" tea brewed in the Irish tradition, i.e. strong enough for a mouse to run across the surface and barely wet his wee toes.

The nose, or smoke rising from the bowl when I puff out lightly, smells strongly of roasting nuts - a mix of cashews, almonds and chestnuts. Smoking this in a straight pipe would almost be a waste of time as this part is as enjoyable as the actual puffing and french-inhaling.

The Story: Although Latakia has a tendency to dry my mouth a bit I'm really enjoying this smoke - it seems to be complementing the smell of rain and damp leaves riding the breeze through my window. The flavor hasn't changed much really. Some of the sharpness has toned down and there's an underlying bitterness creeping in, but these are subtle. Mostly I'm still getting a nice rich Latakia smoke laden heavily with aromatic Orientals and a tangy, spicy bite. Not tongue bite, but a light spicy tingle that wakes up the tongue and tickles my sinuses when I exhale.

Denouement: As I ease toward the final 1/3 bowl, I love the fact that any changes in flavor have been VERY subtle and pleasant. I'm not getting any great sense of strength here, but the flavor is full, rich and not very sweet at all - a nice change from the Virginias I've been smoking of late. The spiciness is getting more intense and the nose is sharpening up quite a bit, but overall the flavor is just ?more of the same'. This is a GREAT autumn smoke, and would go well with strong tea, single malt scotch, porter or any other heavy beverage. It also seems to have an appetite stimulating effect - I don't normally eat breakfast, but right now a full eggs, toast and bacon meal would go down easily. Weird.

The only depressing part of this smoke was the fact that, before I was ready for it to end, there was nothing left by dry salt-and-pepper ash. I wasted a match finding this out as there was no flavor change to indicate that I was at the bottom. Just *poof* and it was done!

Pros: Full, rich flavor, excellent room aroma (if you like Latakia, that is) and perfect burning qualities. This is an amazing tobacco for those times when you want to be mentally elsewhere, or for a walk outdoors.

Cons: I honestly can't think of any unless you just hate latakia or crave at least /some/ sweetness to your smoke. "

Oh man. How do you review a classic? In a way reviewing this tobacco is like going out and reviewing an old shelby GT500. It's a legend for starters. Wrapped in a mystique as only the out of production can. Familiar to many. Could the reality of the product possibly live up to the fond memories? How many "land mines" could you potentially wind up stepping on if you pointed out that some things are best left in our memories, and not necessarily on a grueling test track?

Even stranger, perhaps, if the legend lived up to it's reputation and more, given that no one besides the reviewer has immediate access to the product, would anyone not familiar with it even believe you?

This used to be my "serious" tobacco, the one that I would smoke around other seasoned pipe smokers, to show that I "knew tobacco". I always found it very heavy in Latakia, my wife called it my "sausage tobacco" because of it's unmitigated "campfire" smell. I wound up smoking it pretty much outside, on my fall walks, where the fall breeze would dissipate the smoke adequately. It was, in the 1980's my favorite English tobacco, though to be fair, I was still smoking a fair amount of aromatics at the time, so saying "favorite English" was like saying favorite green veggie, something that was "ok" and you knew you should rotate in to your diet, but didn't exactly sit at your desk praying that 5:00 would come around so you could partake....As usual, I digress.

Things have changed for me. As assuredly as one usually appreciates "Bird" more as an older adult than one might have as an adolescent, my preferences have shifted from aromatics to predominantly Latakia Blends and some Va/ Perique mixes I opened the package and was greeted by a slightly different smell than I was used to. A little softer, rounder. This shouldn't be surprising, due to it's age, as was the fact that the formerly fairly stark contrast of Virginias and Marylands against Latakia had mellowed to become almost monochromatic. The tobacco packed very well with a slightly "wiry" feel to it.

Test Drive: Flame released quite a shock. Because of memory reinforcement, I was prepared for a strong hit of latakia, supported by the Va/ Maryland vocal backup. Singing together but playing out of "different speakers". The latakia had mellowed considerably and was almost (I said, Almost) supplanted by the presence of the Turkish elements. The taste was unbelievably smooth, with harmonies being supplanted by one beautiful note. What was lost in sheer boldness, was now being represented by a clean concision. This was one of the most interesting transformations that I have experienced in a tobacco. It burned beautifully down to the dottle and I was shocked to find out that I had smoked it down to the briar, the taste being so uniform throughout the smoke that I had no real hint that I was "bottoming out".

If I have one criticism, it is a small one, the tobacco didn't display the multilayered finesse of my "grail", Renaissance. It was ever so slightly monochromatic in it's taste (But what a taste!)

Burning qualities: 10 Strength: surprisingly mellow 6 Taste: 8 Room note:8 Overall score: 9 out of 10 Bear Claws

Bear

Another gift from a grand fellow, this gave me a little trepidation when I sniffed the contents, since it smelled

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sweeter than I'm prone to like. In smoking, though, it proved to be a nice tobacco. The mix is too heavy of Virginias for my tastes, and it

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gives me that tongue-snipping bite on occasion, but overall it's a pleasant experience. I haven't really been bowled over by the flavor,

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though. I find it generic to the point of pointlessness - sort of the Ford Taurus of tobaccos. Yes, it's competent, and tons of people seem to

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like it, but it's not something I want to immerse myself in every day. I'll enjoy it while it lasts, but it's not going to send me out on horseback

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with sword and lance questing for more, unlike its cousin 759.