Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Balkan Mixture

Though it has been over a decade since I smoked this last, my impression is still that it is a closer resemblance to the original BS than most other recent clones. Of course, no Syrian anymore, and the oriental varietals (e.g., Yenidje) are sparse here.

But Latakia fans rejoice. Not a bomb, but rich, rich, rich. Almost too much for me, but good for lonely moments.

If you crave a full smoke and have that Latakia bug, this will satisfy. Leather, woody, charcoal, intense, etc. Spice but no sugar.

Praise the Latakia lords.

Gawith, Hoggarth & Co’s Balkan Mixture presents as broken flakes (ie., chunky ribbons) that range from reddish brown to dark brown and black. Scent is principally slightly doctored Latakia, with earthy, loamy Orientals and what I take to be mostly stoved red and sweet, air cured, brown VAs well down there. This blend seems to benefit from some rest, including some airing. Then it takes readily to flame and it smokes down like a champ. Loaded into one of my large Balkan pipes it starts out “smoky”, with some English “soap”, before the Orientals come up. They are more savory, woody, and fragrant than spicy, and they are a little musty, though not especially dry. The VAs trail, but not by much, and there is some dark fruit leather under the sweet, brown-bread-y, brown VAs. The lot is well melded and very well balanced, IMO. It begins to sour about mid-bowl (at least, that’s when I notice it), and by that time I'm thinking, “this is a classic English Balkan!”, something that might be 30 years old. There is just a breath of the Lakeland essence. Strength is mild to medium. Tastes are medium. Room note is pleasant for the genre. Aftertaste is a sweet and sweetening trailing off of the best of the smoke.

My first bowl of GHCBM was smoked in a #4 briar I use for Balkan-y English blends. This made for too much Latakia, IMO. A loose pack in the large Balkan pipe I prefer brings the Orientals up where they belong, and my 4 star recommendation depends on this happening. This blend is smoother than I typically like my Balkans, but I’m guessing this will only endear it to non-geezers.

Yet another tobacco upon which a goodly number have passed judgement. At the time of writing 37 have graded it four stars, and 22 awarded three, out of 83. Of those granting only one star two have presumably reviewed the wrong tobacco (lakeland??, lavender??). Perhaps they need to see a vet.

This is another tobacco upon which I took a chance, however I have had good experiences of tobaccos with Balkan in their name in general, and this has proved to be no exception.

25g duly arrived, and was eagerly unpacked and smelt. Just a good earthy nose of tobacco arose from the pack, with hints of leather kept in a tack room. Moisture content is bang on; a Kilner (Mason) jar should ensure it remains so.

The flakes, dark speckled brown in colour rubbed out easily and the first was packed and lit. Bliss. It takes a light readily, but if not steadily and gently puffed will go out, however, a touch of the flame and it's off producing lots, and lots of creamy, delightfully tasting smoke.

A tobacco which all should try, unless of course you are of the Latakia loathing ilk, in which case, run along, pass it by, the loss is truly yours.

So, yes, one to recommend.

I'm a new pipe smoker and I had to try different tobacco to find what was best suited for me.
It's a very good GH.
I can smoke it daily. Medium on nicotine, I use to mix it with Kendak Kentucky for a little more hit nic.
Even if you puff hard, it don't bite. The taste is full with a good smoky note. Very creamy and sweet and salty. It don't have Lakeland taste (little bit in a pouch I bought, but not in bulk).
It's my number 1 in my cellar.

This is extremely good. Deserves far higher ratings, but I suspect the true Balkan lovers haven’t discovered this yet.

I’ve just smoked a bowl of Balkan Sobranie (rated 3.7 on this website!) and then 15 minutes later, after cleaning the pipe, smoked a bowl of the Balkan Mixture.

They are almost the same! The flavour profile is basically the same, except Balkan Mixture is a touch lighter in the flavour than Balkan Sobranie.

If someone gave you a bowl of this and told you it was the Balkan Sobranie which you haven’t been able to smoke in years, you’d believe it!

Balkan Sonranie has the best tin note of all tobaccos, hands down. Balkan Mixture isn’t so good there. BM is just a tiny fraction lighter on strength of flavour to Balkan Sobranie. But only noticeable when you test them back to back.

Balkan Mixture behaves perfectly! Smokes all the way down. I have a very sensitive roof of mouth to ‘tongue bite‘. None whatsoever, ever from BM.

Other reviewers in 2018/19 state they had a Lakeland flavour. No way! They must have had a bad batch, or the company selling to them did a sneaky move of mixing some blends. I can confirm that is not the case now at all. Do not be in any way discouraged by other negative reviews - whatever bad batch that was, it’s long gone now and you can be sure to buy an excellent tobacco.

If you want to try the best tobacco ever produced - Balkan Sobranie - but can’t find it, buy this. It is basically the same.

It’s impossible to say how this tastes - for goodness sake if you don’t know just buy it and find out for yourself.

Once you have discovered Balkan Sobranie and Gawith Hoggarth’s Balkan Mixture, the search for the Holy Grail is over. This is it. God’s own tobacco.

Find a better tobacco still in production! I’ve tried dozens of others. None even close to this.

This is the only tobacco I will back to back smoke two bowls in a row. You will wake up in the morning craving the flavour.

All my other tobaccos are now redundant. Even Dunhill’s Nightcap isn’t half as good.

Searching for your favourite holy grail? You’ve found it now. Congratulations! And a happy lifetime of smoking now awaits you.

Updated 6/12/2008

It never ceases to amaze me how some tobacco can change after sitting on the shelf for just a short while. I loaded up a bowl of this in a bent Comoy and it was easily one of the best smokes I've ever had, period. I've got Balkan Sasieni and Yenidje Highlander sitting right next to it and this one blows those two away. It was so good, in fact, that if every bowl is like that, I would have to say this is better than Balkan Sobranie. Do yourself a favor and get some, just let it sit in the jar for a while until it has a chance to dry a bit. The flavor is a scintillatingly strong, spicy, intoxicating smoke in the Balkan tradition. Utterly sublime and 5 Stars!

Original Review from 5/29/2008 follows

A very solid Balkan with lots of taste and a very nice aroma. I really find myself sniffing this stuff while smoking. It has a healthy dose of incense-like smell to it that I adore and so I'm guessing there is some Yenidje in here. In fact I'd swear there was more than in Yenidje Highlander, that I also have on the shelf right now. A great smoke and I will definitely sample some more of this company's blends!

I decided to buy and try this mixture in a pouch of 100 g. After opening the pouch, a powerful smell of Latakia: the smell of fire and fragrance. This mixture is dominated by Latakia. I recommend waiting 15-20 minutes before filling the pipe. Since this mixture is strong, I used a 9 mm charcoal filter. I sat down. A cup of pleasant aromatic black coffee with cream in the fresh air. It is immediately felt that the mixture is strong with a powerful aroma. You need to slowly fill your mouth with fragrant smoke to feel the aroma of the mixture. A good combination of coffee and this mixture. It is for evening time after a heavy dinner from my point of view. I recommend it for experienced connoisseurs of tobacco mixtures.

A delicious mixture to smoke at night. A powerful latakia aroma balanced with a Virginian sweetness that makes this an extremely tasty mixture and that remains present throughout the smoke. It does not need many re-ignitions.

Unfortunately, the problems of the Gawith house make me fear that in the future I may not be able to find a replacement for the tin that I am already finishing.

Well, since I am a newbie (albeit a passionate one) I will certainly not dive into the depth of flavours and tastes. I have smoked the Balkan Mixture several times, using different pipes - from a small bowl briar churchwarden to a Kaywoodie Minaret, and I have enjoyed the experience very much. A friend, who is much more experienced than me, told me that perhaps I simply like Balkan the most, but I guess it is thanks to a thoughtful blending that this tobacco has proved so balanced and pleasant to me.

Addendum: I have now enjoyed this tobacco many more times, also using a small Dunhill shell from the 50s. It still remains one of my favourites.