Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake

Shortly: Unique!!! Delicious! Cooooool! (especially with my Peterson Dublin Filter XL90). Not for everyone.

I found this blend rather bland, I did not taste the oriental components hardly at all. It was mostly Latakia with a Virginia base. I did not get any Balkan character at all. However, the tobaccos used were very good, as usual for Samuel Gawith. I was gifted five bowls of this and will not be purchasing any.

Old Balkan Flake. A misnomer if there was one, since this tobacco seems to be only made of Virginias and Latakia. However I think this is one of those that most people should try once. It can and will grow on you. Unusual for SG tins, it actually holds a while after being opened. I've had this one (from 2006) opened for about 3 months now and it's still moist. Most of the SG mixtures seem to dry out quickly, maybe it's just the flakes that hold up.

Anyway on to the review. Balkan happens to be one of my favorite tobaccos to keep around. It's just complex enough flavor wise to always keep. As far as the tin aroma, someone mentioned meatballs. It just smells like lat and dark va's to me, however I do find it rather yummy as far as aroma goes.

Ive tried both methods on burning, the fold and stuff, as well as rubbing it out (ha), both work fine. I usually fold when I am feeling lazy and just want something to puff on. And that is the good thing about this product. The flavor and aroma stays there. Once you are familiar with it you know what you are getting. Always consistant.

I rank this bad boy above all others in the SG line even FVF (which I was never crazy over) and she is the one I consistantly go back to like the lady you didn't really like too much or too often, but every now and again provided ample entertainment.

I agree with who think that where's something wierd about the flavouring of this tobacco (maybe menthol?), but as long as the thing doesn't affect a good result who really care? When you open the tin it smell like meatballs and that is annoying. So a couple of days of airing are mandatory, also is much better when dried a little, then I recommend to move the content into another tin or better in a humidor after the airing process. Despite all the cons it's good smoke material: very tasty, cool, sweet, and refreshing, not much smoky as a normal Va-Lat flake or as a normal EM or Balkan, but maybe is more acceptable by who prefer aromatized mixtures. So SG Balkan can be a sort of intermediate step for a more classic EM.

Type: VaLat flake ; Contents: Virginia, Latakia ; Flavoring: Menthol? ; Cut: Flake ; Humidity: tends to wet, I reccomend a little drying (become much better) ; Lighting: Easy and constant despite the cut ; Pipe recommended: I prefer straight ones or maybe slightly bent, with a medium size bowl, a Dublin or a Bulldog for example.

It's true that when you open this tin you'll think you purchased death. But you didn't. It's just the smell of the tin for whatever reason.

It's a bit strong for my tastes, but I'm admittedly a huge lightweight... and even as such I rather enjoy this when I want something more than a very-mild.

My first bowl burned for over two hours, I had to put it out because it just kept burning and burning and burning. Never got hot. Left a good taste on my mouth, but the balkans leave something to be desired on my clothing.

I suggest this if you can get past the tin.

This is very good virginia and latakia and that's it. Splendid smoke with the smoky latakia interplaying with sweetness of the virginias. I don't know where the guy below gets his crackpot ideas but there are no weird flavourings here just excellent tobacco.

A lot of people question the name "Balkan" for this blend, since there are no orientals, but the name is perfect. I guess not many people know, but the Virginia used by SG comes from the Balkan states (Bulgaria, Macedonia, etc), thus the name fits perfectly.

To mask the cheap Virginia in this blend, SG has employed the usual aromatic tactics, this time lacing the cheap tobacco with some kind of medicine-tasting casing and maybe a bit of menthol. The menthol is working - no matter how hard you puff on this flake - it will burn cool. The medicine flavor is really weird, it smells just like old pharmacies used to, back in the days, when they actually made drugs on premises.

In a nutshell, if you are looking to try the weirdest aromatic blends, SG does not disappoint. If you want something that even remotely resembles tobacco taste, this manufacturer is not the one.

Pretty good. Nothing outstanding. Good quality Latakia, a rich pungent smoke. Yep, a bit stinky if you are married but I don't mind it. Not a bad choice at all if you need a Lat fix but I prefer SG Commonwealth Mixture by far.

Soli Deo gloria!

I'm discovering latakias so far, first with the "perfection" of SG and now with this one "balkan taste". I wanted to go to a latakia without the vanilia aroma to figure out a little bit more about latakia. I LOVE THIS STUFF. This tobaco is just wonderfull. I smoked it without drying with a long pipe and what a surprise seeing there my true nature. Latakia smoker i'll be for sure. (Sorry for the english native language french) The tobaco is burning perfectly, it stay good to smoke all along, my pipe and i are enjoying it. It was also nice to break the tobbaco for 15mn till it was perfect to full my pipe with. Have fun. Peace