Dan Tobacco Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend

Too much Latakia in this mixture (40% declared) and too little Virginia (30 – 35% maximum). It is practically impossible to taste the Perique and the Orientals. Difficult to taste the Kentucky. Really I do not appreciate this blend. There is no equilibrium. Latakia is too strong (in taste I mean) and the others tobaccos too weak. Not a great taste. Monothematic, with too little nuances. Again, in my opinion, too weak is also the nicotine content. So, for all these reasons, in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 4 and only one star.

Excellent Orientals and Latakia, predominant as it should be in a balkan mixture. There is also Kentucky which to me is always a little bit risky - for example I don't like it in G. L. Pease Key Largo - but in this case it add more body, intensity and strentgh. 4,5/5 in my personal rating system.

This is good English blend, but just a bit too austere for me. What's that mean? I prefer blends with a toasty and slightly sweet (naturally sweet, not artificial) flavor. This one is a bit too "dry" in wine terms. This is pure tobacco flavor and I don't detect any flavoring. Some of you may love that, but I have to settle for three stars.

A friend of mine will rarely even try a sample of any other tobacco he is so enamored by BBBB. He generously gifted me a tin and continously inquired as to how did I like it. Normally I never open a tin until it has been cellared at least a year, but I gave in to opening this after only a month (he can be very persistent). It was POWERFUL!!! Actually a little overwhelming and not what I had expected. Some reviews here have stated the Latakia is Syrian and perhaps it is, but it was nowhere as smooth as other blends which clearly indicate their Latakia to be Syrian (e.g., Balkan by Brebbia, Syrian Latakia Blend by Mclintock). I cannot say this will make my regular rotation, but perhaps I simply need to smoke this in a smaller pipe like a Dunhill Group 2S or my similar sized Castello (I'll update following a couple of bowls in those) instead of in my Brigham pot. All in all it came a bit damp in the tin but 20-30 min of dry time for a bowls worth solves that. It burned slow for its cut leaving no wet dottle at the bottom of the bowl but the flavour profile remained consistent so if you want a true Latakia bomb this would be it as the orientals and the virginia played a very backseat role throughout the smoke. This leads me to wonder if another factor may be the lack of aging so I'm going to wait at least three months before my next sampling. Given the 1.76 oz tin price at $25 here in Canada (mostly damn taxes which they then tax a further 13% HST at the till!!!) I think I will be smoking the Balkan by Brebbia (the best price here at $22). Another blend which has a similar strength profile but a more balanced taste profile would be OLB by B&B in Ashville NC.

Well, where to start? First of all this is one of the strongest Balkans I have ever smoked. The tin aroma is very nice, moisture level perfect, packs well and lights just fine...stays lit as well. Plumes! Yes plumes of smoke. This had my car filled with smoke like a Cheech and Chong movie. 🙂 The problem that I have with this fine mixture is it's just too damn strong for me. Its not harsh though like some strong blends are, this, I think, has a nicotine throttle shifted to high gear. Too much for me unfortunately. I had to laugh as I started sweating and feeling a little nauseated, laughter then tears because I really liked the flavor and the pungent aroma of this one. Nutty, some feathery leathery notes along with a winter's chimney outpour and some salty sourness. If you can handle this...have an iron constitution then by all means wo/man up and get this, you will not be disappointed, a fine powerhouse indeed. THLOGSSUTW

First impression at first bowl: 40 percent of latakia? uhmm. Maybe it is chinese latakia. Too dry leafs, too dry tobacco. But burns quite well. Perique: more than a pinch for sure, but good. Or maybe it is the orientals, impossible to know because the kentucky is killing anything else. We are worlds away from Erinmore Balkan Blend.

Second impression after three bowls: this tobacco is one of the worst I have tried so far. It burns out too quickly, very hot, no matter I changed the pipe to a bigger or smaller bowl, doesnt make any difference. Taste is unknown, everything is mixed up and covered by the kentucky.

I will not go any further with this tin, and back to the usual Sobranie and Balkan clones (Schurch, SG Balkan, Erinmore balkan mixture etc.). For me, never more.

Very similar to Vintage Syrian, even better. 🙂 One of the best blends I ve ever smoked.

I don't get it, why all the horrid reviews, this blend isn't all bad, is it? The stuff smokes like a champ, real easy to light and smokes at a smolder . Besides that, the taste and complexity are muted. It starts with a blast of Latakia from the light, then after 10 puffs the Latakia is gone and the Orientals hit you , then nothing , the Kentucky mutes everything, yes, some creaminess. Better than a drug store brand but only by a little, well maybe not , most of the DSB's leave a nice room note! Too much better stuff out there to buy again, I guess it really isn't that good!

This is a great tobacco! It has a Latakia note right from the start, with a burnt coffe flavor, The Perique is in in the background but you know it's there. A nice full blend that I'll be ordering more of when I'm finished here. Some might find it a bit heavy but I think it's just right. Get yourself some and enjoy, it's a one of the better Balkan's I've smoked. It does seem to burn fast(not hot) so smoke it in a large pipe to really enjoy before it ends in a powdery gray ash.