Dan Tobacco Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend

This is my absolute favorite "English"...Even though it's a "Balkan"...When I need a nice, dark, heavy, smokey pipe that won't overwhelm me, this is it! I love the smokey Latakia that is so prevalent through every puff. Obviously, the dark-fired Kentucky supports that smokiness but is not heavy with the nicotine. It lights easily, though at 9 months I find it a bit drier. It still smokes beautifully with almost no relights. A nice blue gray smoke and a bit of Perique spice comes through about midway through the bowl. I find the Orientals a wonderful compliment to the strong Latakia.The aftertaste is flavorful but not bitter or distasteful. II really love how flavor forward, but not overwhelming, this tobacco tastes. Without a doubt, It is my go to when I want a good solid smoke.

BBBB – I have smoked this on and off over the years and is another one that I really love and wonder why I do not smoke it more often. I bought this in bulk at a Tobacco Store and jarred it. I really could not get much of a tin note so to speak but every time I fire this one up, I love it. I have reviewed a number of pipe tobaccos and am running out of descriptors but just to say this is a nice full Latakia blend or Balkan however you want to call it. Since Balkan is in the name then Balkan it is. Nice smooth somewhat sweet smoky Latakia taste with nice billows of smoke. I don’t know if this makes sense but when I smoke this, I just want to sink my teeth in it, it is that good. This would be one of my top 10 if I had a top 10.

A very good tobacco from Dan tin note is Latakia dominant cut is coarse ribbon cut with dark and reddish color. Fills bowl easily latakia plays center stage role with smokey and incense like orientals and Kentucky bodied it and that pinch of perique really pinches occasionally when you retrohale. Highly recommended English forward blend.

Perique, Kentucky, Latakia, Turkish, Virginia combo sounds like tobacco soup, tastes like tobacco delight. Unexpectedly sweet and savory, though you still get hit by various spices now and then, it is full of surprises throughout the bowl. Adventurous and one of my long time favorites. Sadly I don't have access to this particular tobacco and majority of DTM offerings anymore.

Full of flavor this is a beauty to look at and to smoke. Ribbon cut with Kentucky so it smokes nice. Anyone who likes Balkan and Kentucky should just absolutely love this. You would be hard-pressed to find anything exactly like this. it is straightforward and honest with quality tobaccos.

Those who like me incline English and Balkan blends, will find this savory, fragrant, pleasant and remarkably easy to smoke. It is rich and complex, harmoniously weaving together the distinctive flavors of Latakia, Orientals and Virginia, each enhancing the characteristics of the others, as a proper blend should.

The obvious need to sip slowly applies to every pipe-bowl, and this tobacco is no exception. Nic is mild to medium. A hint of moisture and white to gray ash sign off a very satisfying smoke.

I would propose it would work well to break-in a new pipe, and wholeheartedly recommend it to both the consummate expert and the novice.

Bit of a concoction, but one that works.

Got a huge bag of it for what must have been an admin error on a site (less than $10 for 16oz) and have had it chilling out in a mason jar at the back of my cupboard for a long while completely forgotten about.

Smoked a big bowl of it in a nosewarmer with a deep bowl.

Open up to some sweet latakia with instantly a very nice taste to the palate. Nothing bitter about it. It was a very dry bowl and crackled a little during packing, but lit and charred easy.

Nothing much going on for a long while but decent latakia, and then the orientals came through with a hint of spicy perique in the background. Stayed like this most of the way through needing some occasional tamps to keep it going which was surprising as it was so dry, and then into the final 3rd the latakia really took a back seat to the orientals and perique.

Didnt detect much of anything else.

Good stock balkan with a fairly heavy nic hit. I just finished and needed a sweetened iced tea to stop my head spinning a little.

Could do a lot worse, and depending on the price you get it for could be a real steal.

This is a very different Balkan. It has the most unusual flavor I have ever had the privilege of tasting.This is actually a bready, yeasty,tangy,and slightly sour blend. There is so much going on all at once it is hard to keep track of what you are experiencing at the moment.The Latakia used is Syrian without question. They say 40% Latakia. Fear not!If this were Cyprian Latakia it would be nothing more than a smoky Latakia dump. This however is Syrian and has a rich deep taste to it without overpowering the entire blend.There is an interesting balance and flavor interaction between the Latakia, Orientals, and Burley. The Perique only pokes its head out occasionally for a little tang and zap of spice. This smoking experience was similar to taking a very expensive and delicious "Pulled Pork Sandwich" and smoking it in your pipe! I know that sounds odd, but it is true.It is kind of a cross in flavor between McClelland's Oriental # 14 and Cornell and Diehl's Pirate Kake. The treatment is definitely European implying there is a slightly higher nicotine level. It however, is not overpowering at all. I think this is one of the better European tobaccos I've had in a very long time. I'd purchase it again. 3.5 of 4 Balkan Stars!

Bill Bailey's is for the Latakia junkie, not the Balkan connoisseur. As a cautinon: DO NOT SMOKE THIS ON AN EMPTY STOMACH OR AFTER TOO MANY AFTER-DINNER SINGLE MALT SCOTCHES!

There is nothing bad about this blend; it is full and tasty, and for a Cyprian Latakia fix it will do fine. Dan has done a commendable job of replicating John Cotton's Smyrna Blend. Unfortunately--for me--that is a "bridge too far."

For a far-more-refined Balkan blend, I would recommend GLPease's Abingdon or Odyesey...or, if one is so fortunate, the REAL...I mean 35-year+-old...Balkan Sobranie. After the 2-oz. size went to the flat tins, the tobacco went thin and watery. The real McCoy was thick, rich, and oily.

For a full Balkan blend, one could do far worse than Bill Bailey's...but one could (at a reasonable price) do better.

Update 12/2/2006

Like the REAL Rattray's Red Rapparee and Dunhill's Nightcap, Bill Bailey's Balkan reveals a more companionable presence in a Meerschaum pipe. A Calabash would probably do more to trim the rough edges off this over-the-top mixture. Make no mistake, this is a blend to be addressed with caution and respect, unless your constitution is far stronger than mine.

Anyone fortunate to have smoked the authentic (pre-1976) Balkan Sobranie or John Cotton's Smyrna will reccognize that Bill Bailey's is NOT a British-style Balkan blend, but a Teutonic interpretation. The Dark-fired Kentucky is there to add body and nicotine, not flavor. This was once common practice in American/English blends...Iwan Ries's Canadian Plug comes to mind...and where the Kentucky was missing, cigar leaf was added.

As to the Virginias...they're present, as required, though undistinquished. For that finesse, you still need Greg Pease. Bill Bailey's is a great Latakia and nicotine fix; not subtle, but satisfying.