J. F. Germain & Son Balkan Sobranie

I've been lucky enough to have the original mixture and this re-release is darn close, if not spot on. It smells delightful in the tin and you will immediately recognize it's Balkan aroma when you pop the top. The first light gives me that same delicious wave of flavor that I remember from the original. As you continue to puff the quality of the leaf shines through all the way to the bottom. Absolutely delicious.

While I have never had the previous incarnations, I find this to be another J.F. Germain home run. This is a fine blend where the Latakia's and Orientals blend together an an interesting way. The flavors come together to provide a malted milk ball kind of flavor, sweet, smoky the orientals give me a "fizz" when exhaled through the nose. Hard to explain. This smokes consistently from first light to bottom of the bowl without much flavor change. The interplay of the tobacco's create a complex smoke. I have a hard time finding the Virginia's in flavor other than to say it provides the sweetness to the smoke. The orientals provide the woody spicy flavor and the Latakia its own smoky sweetness. A legend in its own time. Now it they would just make an 8 oz tin...

I was pleased to find a current production tin of JF Germain's The Balkan Sobranie at my local B&M. For me, the “signature” of the old The Balkan Sobranie was a certain, almost effervescent, sour, somewhat bitter, alkaline astringency that rather reminded me of sparkling quinine or “tonic” water. Without this, at a minimum, the New TBS would be a disappointment. I braced myself when I opened the tin, and the first thing I smelled was a generic Liquid Smoke additive over the tobacco. Oh, I get it: it’s “Latakia”! Why Germain chose to do this is a mystery to me, but the good news is, the tobacco can be removed from the tin and “blanket tossed”, and this will get rid of most of the additive smell before smoking it. There seem to be two widths of ribbons in the tin, with fine dark and wider golden brown ribbons, rather than the consistent, almost RYO shag/ribbons of the older TBS. Tin note is “smoke” over a loamy, peaty, Lat/Macedonian mélange, well over mildly pungent, mildly earthy, sweet VAs. Balkan spices are damped by the smoke scent. The ribbons are moist in the tin, and they dry quickly. I treat TBS like I treat other Balkans, packing it loosely into a large Balkan pipe. It lights with patience and burns down quickly if it’s kept lit. When it’s lit, I am pleased to note the quinine I’ve always enjoyed. Soft, sour, woody Latakia is more forward than the original, well melded with the sour, astringent, woody, loamy, rather dry orientals, and savory baking spices are diffused, subdued the Lat and the quinine, which seem to meld the spices. The VAs are slightly earthy and hay-ish, also slightly piquant, and they do add some sweetness. They also temper the spices from the Orientals and round out a blend that might otherwise be too sharp, sour, and/or bitter. In a nutshell, the new version is softer, smoother, and less pungent, generally a little lighter in Orientals than the older version. The lot is not really simple so much as it is well-melded and closely knit, and it is pretty consistent, top to bottom. Strength is mild. Tastes are close to medium. Room note is barely tolerable, according to bystanders. Aftertaste is a refreshing cool-down lap of the best of the smoke, and it lasts quite a while; very nice.

I would not be surprised if others take the Liquid Smoke scent to be “real”. In any case, if you can get past the fake smoke, JF Germain’s The Balkan Sobranie is well worth seeking out, IMO. I’d say offhand that it’s in the vein of and on par with Gawith’s Skiff Mixture or Germain’s Eighteen Twenty, which is to say, top quality, 4 stars.

This tobacco is wonderful. The tin art could have been more elaborate, but such a minor point. The tin aroma is musty and smoke like...very alluring. This needed a little drying time and after fluffing up the top layer in the tin and then recapping it loosely, it was ready to go in a few days. This packed easily enough, lit quite well and what can I say?...Delicious!! The smoke was creamy, nutty in an exotic manner, pungent, just perfect. The bowl burned cool, no bite and though this is an expensive treat, It was worth the 17 bucks I put out for it at my local B&M (I captured 3 tins in total). When people talk lovingly of the previous BS they will, in time, certainly talk about its progeny in the same manner.

First of all, forget the old stuff. You can't compare the tobaccos we had way back when with what is grown today any more than you can compare the 1961 Yankees with this years team. So get over it. Found my 50g tin to be wet and immediately put it in a tight sealing jar packed loosely. Opened the jar once a day to let in some air give the tobaccos some time to work together. Was not impressed with my first bowl. Gave it some more time and tried again. Much better. Gave it a week. Freakin' Awesome! This is quality tobacco and as good as I've had in a long time. Found it to be one of the best I've smoked in recent years, much better than anything from the new Dunhills or inconsistent C@D blends. Was lucky enough to find 3 more tins and clean out my local B@M as you can't find this anywhere right now. Four stars in my book anyday. Hope it's readily available in the future.

I'm old enough to remember the original Balkan Sobranie and smoked it often back in the day. I'm also lucky enough to have cellared several pouches prior to the disappearance of this blend. I've smoked both blends side-by-side and while the new release is good, it's not the same as the old.

Remember, we're talking about a blend that disappeared over 20+ years ago. I applaud the attempts to copy long forgotten blends, but when you're talking about blends of this age, it's very hard to make an exact copy when the blending tobaccos have changed so much. The Latakia we smoke today, it nothing like the Latakia used when this blend was so popular.

Both blends exhibit similar flavor and aroma profiles, but the original mixture offers flavors that are deeper and richer in my opinion. The new blend's moisture level is good and it can be smoked right from the tin, without any drying. The tin aroma is musty and earthy, as it should be. It packs and lights very well. The overall flavor while smoking is pleasant and I don't get any kind of bite.

I have a friend who also was lucky enough to purchase one of the early tins and he opened it right away and smoked several bowls. While he enjoyed it, he felt is was a bit "sharp" and would benefit with some cellaring. When I bought my tin (in October 2011), I stored it away for a couple of months. I choose to open the tin on Christmas Day 2011 and break in a new Tinsky pipe with it. Excellent choice!!

It appears that supplies are very limited at this point. The online tobacco merchant I generally purchase my pipe tobacco from has been out of stock almost from the beginning. They sold out of their limited supply in under 15 seconds.

IMHO, you won't be disappointed with this mixture. It's clearly been well blended, using quality tobaccos. However, if you're seeking a copy to be exactly the same as the original, this is not it.

Happy Puffing!!

A fine cut ribbon tobacco that burns exceptionally slow for the cut. A very smooth English that's easy to smoke with no bite. Many consider this the holy grail of tobaccos.

Smoking now:

Tin note is a sharp and pungent Latakia musty aroma. It’s a nice floral herbal smoky Latakia smell not too astringent. This particular tin is starting to rust so it’s got some age on it.

The flavor is nice and mild, not overwhelming. The Latakia is obviously the star player. It’s floral herbal smokey and it’s nice. There’s a mild spice to it too. Slight sour note in the background. The retrohale is a bit sharp but floral. Gets bready and yeasty as the bowl progresses and the Latakia dies down. Never harsh or overwhelming. Has an after taste that does linger. Smokes to ash. Very well done.

This is a very enjoyable tobacco blend, which is just as well given the legendary status of its name. I have not smoked this tobacco fresh from the blenders; the tins of this that I do own are at least a couple of years old.

The first third of the bowl produces a sweetness that I attribute to the Virginias. This is not a fresh, grassy Virginia sweetness but a rather more fermented sensation - the sweetness that one gets from aged tobacco leaves (there were visibly noticeable sugar crystals forming on the tobacco) which reminded me somewhat of stewed fruit.

As one smokes through the bowl, the sweetness declines and the smoke develops a much more savoury tone (almost salty/meaty). Personally, I prefer a sweeter smoke and very much crave the sweetness that tobaccos develop having been cellared, but the savoury flavours of this blend are really very moreish and encourage further exploration as one smokes through the bowl.

Before long, the savoury smoke is accompanied by spiciness which takes centre stage. From what I have read of this blend, I gather that it is this spicy quality that every iteration of the Balkan Sobranie is known for. The spicy and savoury notes continue to compete until one nears the end of the bowl where they are re-joined by the aforementioned fermented sweetness. At this point, all the present flavours meld into one, creating an enjoyably complex "sweet-and-sour" effect on the taste-buds. One finishes a bowl of the Balkan Sobranie feeling as though they have returned from an adventure!

This blend will smoke down to a dark-grey ash with a little dottle. The nicotine is only mildly present until the last quarter of a bowl when it'll make itself more known. I'd recommend smoking this tobacco slowly and gently if one intends to embark on the adventure that I have just described.