McClelland Syrian Super Balkan

This is a really nice smoke. There is a fairly strong woody note with lesser notes of smoke and leather. A mild fruity note with ample sweetness and spice. More spicy than sweet. Straight from the tin it burns pretty well, but needs a re-light here and there. A little drying time improves that. A very nice blend that tends to grow on you.

Mild in body. Mild to medium in flavor.

I haven't been posting in several years, it seems enough time has passed and I am ready to make a return. Years ago I sold Melvin S. Shwartz his first tin of Penzance and showed Ian Weeks how to pack a pipe, what a great hobby! Anyways, Syrian Super Balkan has a very distinct wine like character of the Syrian I smoked when it was readily available years ago and in various G.L. Peace blends and C&D's Baalbek. My Grandfather cellared several pounds of a Syrian/Basma/VA blend he purchased from a tobacconist in Eugene Oregon and this blend reminded me of that blend and brought back fond memories. Light in nicotine yet tasty and very unique.

"May my last breath be drawn through a pipe, and exhaled in a jest." - Charles Lamb

I happened across this six year old tin at a local B&M a few weeks ago and thought I would give it a try. The tin contained loose ribbons in various shades of chocolate brown with a little black mixed in. The tin aroma was one of the often mentioned McClelland ketchup, but the few times I have experienced this smell personally have never bothered me. This tobacco was a little on the dry side, which suited me fine. An unlit sip tasted of the sweet Virginias in the blend.

On the charring light and the first few draws I mostly tasted the sweetness, and it remained dominate throughout the bowl. As the bowl progressed I also detected both fruity and peppery tones, and every so often a hint of chocolate. After smoking a few bowls of this in a row I could really feel the Perique at the back of my throat, and other than that this blend was very mild. It was not bad in briars and meers, but I preferred it best in a cob where the flavors just seemed bolder. The room note was tolerable; it reminded me of saddle leather that had just come off of a horse's back, that pungent animal sweat and leather smell.

Overall I really liked Syrian Super Balkan. I liked how every puff seemed to contain a little surprise, and how subtle the blend was. I like more aggressive blends typically, but this is a good change in the rotation in the form of a mild English and I will definitely be buying more. I would recommend this blend to anyone looking for a mild or first time English smoke.

The tin aroma of this medium-cut, medium ribbon is spicy, pungent, and fruity. The perique element is immediately apparent.

The flavor is dominated by a large dose of subtle and mild orientals and large measures of syrian backed up by a vocal dose of perique. The perique and the syrian dialogue nicely. The matured VAs, red and black stoved, add richness.

A flavorful blend, Syrian Super Balkan is full and complex, though perhaps a bit lacking in punch for some balkan expectations. This went well in a chamber of any gauge.

Syrian Super Balkan is a nice blend; I'm really beginning to like latakias, and as such, after smoking this blend, I find that I still prefer Frog Morton for a latakia fix. However, this one is rather different to me, and the comparison is like apples to oranges. I found that it lit easily, produced quite a bit of smoke, and lasted FOREVER. The perique was a nice touch. It would get hot and bite a little easier than I would have expected, but once it cooled down, it was quite nice.

I guess my feeling is, that if you are wanting a nice, rich latakia fix, this one's not it. If you want a Balkan, this might or might not be, as I have no experience with Balkans. But on it's own merit, this one is a medium-latakia bold perique/oriental blend which I find smokes well. I wouldn't mind it as a nice changeup every once in a while.

Syrian Super Balkan is another blend from the Syrian Treo ( Super, Rose, Full) . This one has Perique which adds some additional interest and a spice to its "Full" sibling. The Perique is most interesting during the first 1/3 of the bowl where it adds a nice fruity incense scent and taste, and also blends very well with the Syrian. Unfortunately , it seems to fade and becomes muted in the second half of the bowl. Early in the bowl the blend has many similarities to Dunhills Night Cap ( "Super" is milder) , however I feel that , "Nightcap" continues to deliver flavor ,where this one becomes muted.

If I didn't feel that this blend faded quickly, it would rate 4 stars. My preference for the "Treo" is Rose, Super, Full , in that order. However, depending on the time of day and my mood, I could rate anyone of these a 4 star blend. What I don't understand is all the low ratings for these blends, perhaps it's the lighter hand of the McC Syrian Latakia flavor.

Rather than repost the observations of many here before which seem dead on correct for the most part, let me say that this is a different blend entirely from its seeming sibling, Syrian Full Balkan. While SFB struck me as somewhat monotonic in taste, Syrian Super Balkan seems well-named. If one enjoys the McClelland Grand Orientals just imagine the addition of Syrian Latakia and Perique to some of those and you have Syrian Full Balkan. This presented to me a symphony of flavors with each major component having a distinct movement as the burn progressed down the bowl. I might not want this as steady smoke fare, but the occasional bowl is pleasant enough. There is some nicotine kick here as I am very satisfied in that area for several hours after a bowl, well sated in fact.

Rating: a hair over three stars.

As my first foray into the wide wild world of tinned tabac, SSB holds a fond place in my memory.

I found it to be different depending on the vessel in which it was smoked - an unremarkable phenomenon, but one which seemed more pronounced with SSB than with similar blends. It was perfect in my Tsuge bulldog, and helped imbue that pipe with the delicious phantom of latakia that happily haunts it to this day. If you will pardon a bit of synaesthesia, it tasted of deep purple (Smoke on the Water pun not initially intended). In that pipe all the components of the blend were present with none overbearing. Faint and pleasant cigarish undertones were present as well. My friend's fiance remarked favorably on the aroma, but she has a more enlightened and pipe-friendly nose than your average non-smoking lady. I certainly think it smells good. (Burning Latakia is like liturgical incense to me.)

In a meerschaum-bowled calabash, the sweetness of the VAs and the Latakia were predictably accentuated (and here I could really taste the difference between Syrian and Cyprian varieties), with the inherent smokiness of the Lat and peppery figginess of the Perique diminishing substantially. In a Peterson bent brandy, the Perique was more pronounced. In some other pipe, I can't remember what, the taste was flat and kind of ashy, but I can't hold that too much against SSB since it was so good in the other three pipes.

Having tried a few other Balkans since then, I might concur that SSB is not really much of a Balkan, per se. The Orientals play more of a supporting role than a starring one. It is a very good blend nonetheless, like the likewise misnomered Sam'l Gawith Balkan Flake, if one can clear that semantic hurdle.

I was expecting something heavier like Epicurean from the old Tinder Box days. This was not as I thought, however it's a nice smoke with some good flavor with a sweet undertone.The aroma reminds me of the good old days at the pipe shop on a winters day. It fit's the middle of the road to me but I enjoyed it. Will update after a a few more bowls!