Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme

A light "Balkan" at best but for me a very average English, The tobaccos are thrown together with the hope that it will turn well. Unfortunately it didn't for my palate. Starts promising but becomes monochromatic to boredom.

A proper "Balkan" should have fragrant Orientals/Turkish with creamy Virginias with a nice dose of smoky and spicy Latakia, I find all this in Abingdon.

After trying so many pseudo "Balkans" in the Balkan Sobranie vein, I start to believe that it was all hype trying to cash in on the trip down memory lane.

Virginia lover

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.

Lights well, burns well, but did bite me quite a bit over several bowls. I find it to be aromatic, with lavender of all things coming through. Nice and peppery, but not enough oomph or complexity for me. A fine tobacco at a really good price that I could certainly smoke a lot of, but it is missing something that I cannot quite put my finger on.

Gawith, Hoggarth's Balkan Mixture is heads and shoulders above this blend, IMHO.

This is a poor quality Balkan. My bulk sample was 6 months old and on the dry side. I immediately noticed how mild it was, but it smoked hot and could bite even paying close attention. The tobacco did not develop but rather was "blah". It seemed more salty than creamy, with the Balkans out front of the latakia. I followed this pipe with a bowl of Balkan Sasieni which was far superior , more Latikia, burned well , and with no bite. Even though this tobacco is a cost deal, you have to be able to smoke it. I give this one star and one more for low cost. I will not purchase again. I agree with reviewer "Wellpipe "below

Overall a mediocre blend. I like it better outdoors likely due to the fact it's not very complex. Packs well, burns well and just does okay but that's about it.

Not supreme in my books. For the more economical bulk blends I prefer John Cotton's Latakia Junction or Old Limey Bastard.

I want to like these Stokkebye blends, but the casing they use is much to pronounced to my palette. Packs easily, burns easily, but ultimately the blends true characteristics come through when lit in the bowl: ersatz and second rate.

A bit strong for me as I like oriental / latakia style blends. I'll place into storage and see if my palate changes.