Solani 779: English Mixture

A light and faint English mixture. Moisture in tin is ok for me, some may prefer to allow a short drying time. Very good stuffing, lighting and smoking conditions. My palate detects some minor casing (sweetness, among others) what I generally dislike. All developing tobacco flavours are rather pleasant and harmonious, but far too weak and faint for my personal taste. No aftertaste at all.

This mixture does not dig deep in any way. It’s a superficial everyday/anytime smoke. I would only recommend this mixture to beginners, to smokers in transition from other blend types into the world of English mixtures, and to a heavy smoker that has a pipe in his mouth all day long.

No way this can be considered an homage to Balkan Sobranie 759... The name would suggest so, and the colors on the tin too: Solani should be tortured for such a shameless trick!

This is an OK medium-light English blend, plesant but not memorable. I have never bought I tin but I was offered a bowl in several occasion: it never struck me as flavorful or complex enough to make me wish for a whole 50g...

Well... this one didn't work for me. I like mild/medium english blends so I was looking forward to this one, but I was kinda disappointed. I can definitely taste the orientals. But that's pretty much it. The latakia didn't provide enough smokiness and virginia didn't provide enough sweetness, so the result was quite bland oriental-forward smoke with some sharp notes. Next time I will want some medium orientals-forward english blend, I'll rather choose Presbyterian Mixture, which in my opinion is much better balanced and unique in taste. If you're new to the world of english blends, maybe this one will work for you, but if you're more experienced pipe smoker, I think there are better blends in the same category to choose from.

Meh. I'm enthusiastic about English blends and Solani for their quality. I'm sure this is good quality, but I couldn't get into it. There are so many better English blends that I'd rather smoke. I ended up letting this one get too dry and now just use it to pack the bottom of a bowl for other, better blends and throw it away as dottle.

I'm sure it would be good for some who don't like heavy Balkans.

Back in 2009, I bought a tin of this just out of curiosity figuring I'd be in for a real treat. I had tried a few of Solani blends already & was quite pleased with them & especially liked the Silver Flake #660. I noticed that this blend had received some really good as well as some bad reviews. Oh well, I'll take a chance on it anyway. At the time, I was mostly into VA/Pers & VA/Burs as well as straight Virginias but thought I'd give a mild Latakia blend a trial run. This blend produced a mild & smooth smoke without any bite. Back then, I couldn't handle the heavy Latakia stuff. This mix was very mild & if not for the smoke and Latakia smell, it seemed to me like pulling on an unlit pipe... really wimpy & bland to me even after I got down to the halfway point. I almost went into shock & couldn't believe that Solani could turn out something I didn't like very well.

The room note was fairly pleasant, not extremely noticeable and didn't stink up the place like some stronger Latakia-dominant blends. I didn't get any sweetness from the Virginias and the mild Orientals were almost as tasteless as the Latakia & I didn't notice the Perique at all. However, although rather bland, the marriage of the various varietals took place at about the halfway point offering up a little bit of flavor but was exceedingly mild & rather bland for me. I guess I just prefer something a little stronger with more flavor. The burn rate was fast but smoked relatively cool. I can certainly understand why some pipers could find this appealing & I respect that & can understand why some found it rather un-pleasurable.

However, we all know that taste preferences differ considerably which is understandable & that's why we enjoy sharing opinions on Tobacco Reviews, right? I guess I fall somewhere in the center of the like & dislike category. Today, ten years later, I'm sure that I'd still find it a little too "wimpy" as I've come to enjoy blends that provide more of a "jolt" but that's just me. FWIW, those of you who enjoy a cool, & very mild smoke with a touch of Latakia, a goodly portion of Orientals with a pinch of mild Virginia & a smidgeon of Perique, this one's for you!

Maybebecause of two unfortunate tins, but 779 is more a Cavendish-based tobacco: almost no Latakia and poor Orientals and Virginia. The same "cardboard taste" i felt in some recent tins of Early Morning and 965. I don't know if I'll try these mixtures again. 2,5/5 in my personal rating system.

When I first started smoking English blends I loved this blend. However its been several years since I've smoked some so I decided to grab a tin a few weeks ago.

The first thing I noticed was the strong berry topping ( very similar to Peterson University Flake). If I were to guess, I'd say it was a black currant flavoring. This is a great tobacco and the Syrian Latakia is great but the topping is just too much. My tin has been opened for a couple weeks and the topping seems to be increasing in strength. This would be a 4 star blend if it wasn't for the topping.

After retrying this mixture 2 years after, I have noticed a significant difference in the cut and composition of this blend. And a negative one, I am afraid.

From a cut similar to the White & Black, but definitely more rubbed out, a nice mostly medium brown and black leaf,a tin aroma closer to natural tobacco combined with some Latakia and oriental; a slightly sweet taste combined with bolder VA/LA taste and an agreeable room note, this blend has evolved in an acrid, somewhat low quality smoke combined with a disastrous, very acrid room note.

I opened 3 tins in the hope of realizing I just had one bad tin but alas! all three were similar.

I do not know who made those changes. All I can say is: please, give us back to older recipe which was fantastic!

Although I appreciate the way 779 is balanced as a blend, for me, finally, it is not a top-tier choice for two reasons. First, I dislike the bitter undertaste. Second, this blend smokes too hot for me to compare it with the best Latakia blends I've tried.