Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Palmetto Balkan

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (2904)	2022-05-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The tart and tangy, zesty sun cured 2018 Basma and 2019 Izmir provide a lot of earth, wood, herbs, vegetation, floralness, some dry, bitter sourness, mild incense, spice, and a light buttery sweetness with a hint of smoke. They are the lead components. The Cyprian Latakia was processed to create a Syrian Latakia-like effect. It offers a fair amount of earth, wood, some leathery smoke, floralness, and tart wine sweetness with light spice and mustiness. It’s a supporting player. The Carolina Red Virginias produce some tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, sugar, a little floralness and vegetation, light tart and tangy citrus, grass, a few pinches of spice, and hints of cream and vinegar. They are a couple of steps behind the Latakia in the proceedings. The strength and taste levels start out mild to medium, and gain a little potency after the first quarter of the bowl. The strength is medium. The taste is a slot past that. The nic-hit is a notch below the strength level. There’s no chance of bite or harshness, and has very few rough notes. Well balanced with some nuance, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with a very consistent floral, herbal, dryly sour, spicy, mildly smoky, sweet, savory campfire flavor that extends to the short lived dry after taste. The room note is a little stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl. Requires an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke. Three stars.

-JimInks

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (244)	2022-05-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Right when think the classic tribute blends are a thing of the past, C&D not only brings one back, but they make it cool again! this is a special tobacco. The tin note is slightly smoky with a hint of sweetness. There is a sour note and some vanilla spice that is very faint and enjoyable. The use of the Orientals is masterful and the star of the show. These Orientals have something I love that you don't find in too many blends anymore and I have a hard time describing it, but I will try. The Izmir gives a "fizzy" seltzer like taste?.. feeling?...not sure,what it is but I love it. This is something I have experienced in older blends that are no longer available, more on that later. The flavors are all grounded in a base of red Virginia sweetness and earthiness that support the woody, slightly sour/tangy and lightly floral Basma and Izmir. The processed Cypriot Latakia if quite unique. The goal was to emulate Syrian Latakia and as far as I can tell they did a great job. I had to go and sample this back to back with a few English blends that I still have that have Syrian Latakia, namely McClellands Wilderness and the original Celebrated Sovereign from Ashton along with the recreated Ashton Artisan blend (when it had Syrian leaf). PB had the same slightly sweet and tangy dry red wine flavor that they all had, Wilderness seemed to have the exact same flavor and that may be due to it using both Syrian and Cypriot Latakia. Bravo! This isn't the centerpiece of the smoke but the flavors it adds really puts this blend in a class by itself relative to what is available today in English blends. The smoke is fairly complex and is best when sipped, the retrohale helps separate the flavor notes and leaves a pleasant after taste that lingers for quite awhile. If pushed, which I did do because I really enjoyed the flavor and got a bit excited in the first few bowls, it will get a bit harsh in the last third of the bowl but if sipped it will burn sweet and complex to the heel. Not a drop of moisture in my pipe when the experience was over. This needs a little drying time, One final tasting note, this is best in a briar by far. Cobs, clays and Meers are ok but the briar really makes this blend pop. The cob was my least favorite and it seemed to change the flavor quite a bit, and for me not for the better. I am looking forward to aging this blend almost as much as I am looking forward to the next bowl. I never got the chance to smoke any of the earl iterations of Balkan Sobranie, but I did get to try one of the last batches before it disappeared, with a decade of age on it by the time I got to it. My memory isn't that good when it comes to old flavors but it IS good enough to say that this is similar, if you loved McClelland Wilderness, this is a must try. The only Syrian blend I matched this up with that had no similarities was HH Vintage Syrian and I think that is due to the DFK in that blend really changing the flavor profile form a standard English. If you loved Syrian Latakia of if you never got the chance to try it before it disappeared, I would highly recommend this blend.

Pipe Used: Briar's, meerschaum, clay's and cob's

Age When Smoked: very fresh

Similar Blends: McClelland Wilderness.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (193)	2022-05-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

C&D Palmetto Balkan - Opened the tin to find a lovely shag cut tobacco . The Basma and Izmir definitely in the lead here . There is sweet and sour at the same time . Herbal and floral . Mildly creamy and buttery . Citrus tang . A little spicy. They did a good job giving the Latakia a bit of a wine like essence like Syrian was. The Latakia is smokey and a little salty also . A little fruity sweetness from the Carolina Red Flake . This Balkan blend has a bitter sour edge to it which isn’t really a bad thing and it will probably mellow with age . It is a good blend and I am happy with the purchase . 3

Age When Smoked: Fresh tin

Similar Blends: Skiff Mixture by Samuel Gawith.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (288)	2022-05-26		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I hesitated a little when I saw this was only coming out in 8oz tins but I'm glad I went ahead and ordered a couple on release.

Appearance is C&D ribbon which is closer to the shag end of the spectrum with a variety of colors mixed throughout. Moisture content was a little higher than other blends, so works best for me if dried out for a couple of hours. Easy to pack and light.. takes a few lights to really get going and an average number of relights.

The primary tastes I've gotten through my several bowls in several different shaped pipes is a nice tangy sour, backed with sweet. There is a supporting campfire smokiness especially when sipped. The mixture is very consistent through the bowl and allows the different component blends to work well together.

I'm sure this will age really nicely so I'm glad I got a 2nd tin to put in the cellar for awhile. Freshly blended it is a winner in my book and is in my top "Balkan" style blends for sure.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: 2022

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eduardo Mildner (3)	1 day ago		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Uma excelente mistura, tendo os orientais como atores principais. A mistura é leve, floral, saborosa e naturalmente aromática. O Latakia processado traz nuances diferentes da tradicional versão Cipriota, sendo mais sutil, mais apimentado, menos defumada e com menos notas de couro. Os Virgínias Vermelhos e Dourados trazem um dulçor interessante e casam muito bem com os outros componentes da mistura. Na minha opinião, um ótimo produto. Não é nada excepcional; mas é muito interessante.

Pipe Used: Luiz Lavos Lovat

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: 4Noggins

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