Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme

Flavor: Latakia is the main flavor here with Orientals being a close second. Not as full as other Balkan blends and not as close a match to my taste buds as some of the GL Pease blends but still very good. Something I intend to keep around.

Complexity: Although this blend is what I'd call a "simpler Balkan" it does offer some complexity. The smoke starts pretty simple, then it get sweeter and sweeter throughout the bowl until, towards the last 3rd, it turns into a sweet and woodsy smoke. One reviewer said that there might be some Oriental flavoring added to this blend. I can't say that's true but I can see where he's coming from. The Flavor of the orientals remain throughout the bowl but it does taper off.

Aroma: Nice and naturally sweet. The orientals get a bit too strong but taper off quickly, which supports the theory that this blend has some oriental flavoring.

Tin/pouch aroma: What you'd expect from an average Balkan.

Room note: Again, what you'd expect from an average Balkan.

Burning characteristics: Burns a bit fast but not too bad. Even though it burns faster than I'd prefer it still burns very cool. Doesn't leave much at the bottom of the pipe. Absolutely no tongue bite to speak of.

Cut/moisture content: The cut is thin, think Dunhill 965 but only a little thinner. This is why it might burn a bit too fast. A little on the wet side but not sticky. Will dry out perfectly after about 10 minutes.

Overall: Don't expect this to be the best Balkan you've ever smoked (consider the price). It is a very good blend and one I intend to keep around for as long as it's available. I enjoy this a lot more than any Dunhill blend and this will stand up to more expensive tinned blends. Nice change of pace for a Balkan smoker.

Balkan Sobranie? Nope. Only Balkan Sobranie is Balkan Sobranie.

Balkan Supreme is an outstanding representative of the genre and as such is unique. It is not a Pease, C&D, Rattray or any other Balkan blend, so comparisons, in my mind are not useful.

Delicious. Packs, lights and smokes very easily. Flavors are accurate to a Balkan style and develop nicely. The wee tad o' cavendish lends a nice sweetness towards the bowls demise. The Latakia is very high quality Cyprian (IMHO) and is the center of attention. The foundation of virginias is very sturdy and the orientals add their own toasty sweet flavors and aromas in moderation. Never boring, always interesting, but doesn't require the smoker's undivided attention.

Outstanding.

Bought 8oz of this stuff from P&C and had to rehydrate right away. I've had this blend for going on 2 years hoping for it to mellow & sweeten, alas all hope is dashed. Tonight, smoked my last bowl and finally decided not to torture myself any more. The first bowl I smoked, as well as the last tonight, smelled like a chemical factory, tasted like diesel fumes, and burned & bit my tongue like a rocket re entering Earth's atmosphere. I just can't do it anymore...life's too short. Garbage truck will be taking it away tomorrow

I would love to put this in my rotation but, it just bites me to much other than that it is a very nice smoke.

whilst clearing some dusty shelves at the back of the shop I found a drum of this nearly finished but still in a smokeable state. On asking why it was there I discovered we were no longer stocking it as it was not popular enough. I decided to give it a try.

I opened the can to a tin-note of bonfires, ceadar wood and aultumn leaves. the cut was medium ribbon.

It packed nicely and sat in the bowl well but took a few lights to get going. The taste was powerful of ripe fruit with a very peppery smokeyness. it was rather dry in taste which surprised me as there seemed to be plenty of cavendish in the blend, (I suspect this was more Latakia) The smokeyness and pepperyness intensified as the pipe burnt down untill it was overwhelming and my tongue was on fire and the roof of my mouth tingling. It was just too much and I could not finish the whole bowl, I tried coolong my burning mouth with beer but the bubbles made the stinging worse. The dottle left was damp and tar-like.

I am not a fan of blends heavy on Latikia and Preique and this is a classic example of why. The blend had a total lack of balance with one overpowering flavour note with not enough sweet or cream notes to tone it down. No wonder we discontinued it.

some die-hards may like this but it will never get anyone new to pipe smoking into smoking Turkish/Strong English blends.

This is a difficult review for me. I prefer Virginias and VaPers, so I might not be as open to this English/Balkan. I give it a qualified recommendation: Try it. It is inexpensive. It has a lot of flavor. If it suits your palate, it is a super blend.

The Latakia, while not too heavy, still dominates this smoke, sometimes completely obscuring the other tobaccos.

It does bite. At times, it can be a very difficult smoke, harsh and burning. One must pay attention.

It won't displace my usual English and Oriental blends, and I'm not likely to buy more, but neither would I refuse it should it come my way again.

After reading the outstanding reviews posted, I just had to buy some; but be warned, an artsy review was inspired by said concoction...

While smoking this tabak I was reminded of a painting I saw once at the MoMA in NY. Its a large wall sized work by Matisse called 'the piano lesson', (1916): a small boy peers out over the top of a his sheet music, a steel grey room is illuminated by strong green light from a French balcony, a teacher sits perched and distant, faceless, watching from far in the background. The boy isn't so much looking at us as within himself; at once discovering that all these push-button notes he's been plodding away at actually come together to make music. He has had to stop to take in this discovery of a whole new world of pleasure, suddenly available to him.

I'd seen the painting many times in books, but I sat and stared at the real thing for over 20 minutes, even with the evening crowds of tourist passing in front of it. I looked at the way the greys were quite varied, how a lot of attention was paid to the way the disperate edges came together, creating more than architecture, but a real moment in time. And that look on the boy's face!

That (amongst all the fine sentiments mentioned by others) is how this tobacco works, tastes and is savoured, and I fianlly have my first 4 star smoke.

This is the best product that Peter Stokkebye puts out. It, in fact, is better than most tobaccos I have tried. When you get it, the initial look and aroma are of a typical quality English and one supposes that this will be another Latakia dump or English attempt. That's probably why the quality and smoking pleasure seem to be so high. When you pay an average price, you expect an average smoke. But you get a lot more than that here. You get close to perfection! It packs and lights easily and you are immediately struck by the fullness. I don't mean you are over-whelmed, but that the flavor is a naturally pleasant smoke right from the start. No waiting to get to the middle of the bowl. It hits the ground running. The flavor is of an extremely smooth English with more Latakia than normal. However, this is balanced with the addition of a bit of black Cavendish. Don't let the last statement scare you; it's just a bit and it in no way bites. The Black Cavendish only adds balance to the high latakia content. The nicotine level is a bit high, but not excessive. The flavor stays the same all the way down to the last. The ash is beautiful and falls out of the pipe nice and clean. I am glad I never got to try that other Balkan mixture from the 70's and on back. It might have been wonderful, but it is gone and I can't get any of it. Maybe one day, when I am old, I will tell the young smokers that, "This Balkan is nice, but nothing can compare to the Balkan Supreme of 2010." And, looking to the future, if our government finally succeeds in driving tobacco out of business, I'll make sure my last two bowls are Balkan Supreme followed by Peterson's Irish Flake.

Having only just started to explore the world of pipe tobacco properly, after years of messing about with pleasantly inoffensive aromatic blends, I stumbled upon Gawith Hoggarth's Latakia Blend a few days ago and fell in love with the smoky taste immediately. Attempting to find out about my local tobacconists' stock I found this site, and set my heart on obtaining some of this Stokkebye blend.

I asked today and the backy seller just happened to have some that Stokkebye had sent by mistake - it was going back today, so I'd have missed my chance if I'd visited the shop tomorrow.

After having had several bowlfuls of this blend, I have to say that this whole thing must have been down to divine intervention, because I cannot imagine a finer tobacco. It has redolences of many of my favourite tastes; peaty malt whiskies (particularly Lagavulin and Talisker)and Lapsang Souchong to name a couple. It has a satisfying complexity of taste which lasts the whole bowl through, and the room note is very pleasing. I can see this being a favourite for many years to come, and a mainstay of my fledgling exploration of the world of fine pipe tobaccos.

I don't do huge concentrations of nicotine very well (I shall be posting about my hilarious encounter with Gawith Hoggarth's Black Irish Twist shortly) but have found Balkan Supreme to be just right in this regard - it's got a pleasant nicotine kick but mild enough for relatively inexperienced/occasional smokers like myself to enjoy thoroughly too.

Wholeheartedly recommended.