Peterson Balkan Delight

Just too much perique for in this mixture for me. It's a good smoke but I am not a perique fan and this has enough to make its presence strongly known. If you are a perique fan you will love it. Just way to spicy for my taste.

Many people seem to really enjoy this tobacco blend. I am not one of them. The tin opening note was good and heavy--filled with the promise of a satisfying smoke. My first visual observation was that the blending was rough--meaning that the majority of the Latakia was over to one side of the can. Very odd, and had not ever seen anything quite similar before.

So I mix it up a bit and let enough for a bowl dry out for about half an hour. The charring light caused the tobacco to present quickly, requiring a very quick tamp to contain tobacco that was falling out the top. On the smoking light, my disappointment began.

First, the Lat made itself known. Cyprian is a bit more forward than the Syrian I usually smoke--but this is the sort of Cyprian that has notes of burning rubber in the leading edge. Before this really sunk in the Perique showed up and in an unhappy, bitey manner. This all tamed down in a bit to a fairly tame smoke. But it seems rather muddled and to be missing 'something.'

Not to judge any tobacco on first blush, I am now almost through an entire tin. Smoked in different pipes with different chamber sizes and geometries. My opinion has not changed. To me this tobacco misses the satisfaction mark and is something that others will will need to find a liking for.

Sand to black colored ribbons and clumps with a tin nose of latakia and a breadish Virginia. I really didn't whiff any perique. Clumpy stuff tended to clog a couple of my pipes but I was eventually able to work around this annoyance.

Unfortunate name aside... as I classify a "Balkan" as a blend heavy on orientals... this reminded me of one or two of the Sam Gawith latakia-no oriental blends I've smoked. And it suffered the same fate, which I hasten to add is a personal preference. To my tastebuds, orientals make latakia snap into focus, and this blend never really did. It started as latakia forward and the lat was always prevalent. The perique picked up relatively quickly and replaced the Virginia as 2nd lead. By the time this blend settled in, it was the usual smoke and spice of latakia with a mild pepper from the perique. The Virginias lacked the sweetness I prefer and mostly acted as a base for the two condiments to rule. There was a slight bready quality to the VA but this was a "spice forward" blend. To my mind, condiments are supposed to be just that, and asking them to take this much of a lead provided a bitter smoke that was very dry and murky. Very one-dimensional. As a test, I smoked it while I was outside in the fall air raking leaves and it performed best in that capacity. It was problematic as a sit-down contemplative smoke - just too much jumping about with the smoke and pepper. If you like this type of thing, however, give this a whirl. K&K does a very credible job of recreating blends and I have no reason to doubt the quality of the leaf. This one was just not for me. I need those orientals with latakia to provide depth and focus.

The best descriptor I can apply to this blend is "imported drugstore tobacco."

The complexity is quite low and only perceptible with restrained sipping. Push this blend and the complexity disappears completely, leaving a hot acrid mess. The laudable qualities of this mixture don't survive long, and no matter how carefully you sip it, it never survives the half-bowl mark.

It's not terrible. A little more depth in the Virginia department would have improved this mixture dramatically. And the Latakia appears to be "bargain-basement," sufficing to do what it must to fulfill its condimental role, without contributing character or depth whatsoever.

It could be a workaday, all-day blend, especially for some of the less contemplative activities of the day.

This was my first Peterson blend. I'm curious about the plugs and flakes, but frankly this blend has scared me off trying any of the others.

***UPDATE 6 March 2018

My sense of smell was a little more acute yesterday, due to a tin of palate-cleaning mild ale. I was able to detect a pleasant complexity to the aroma of this blend that I hadn't noticed earlier. A natural Virginia sweetness similar to blueberries. A delicious but very fragile aroma. In agreement with my earlier evaluation, this blend has no body to hold any complexity and all of these pleasantries vanish somewhere around the half-bowl point.

Wow - I think I've met my match. Or rather, I've met an english blend that is too 'strong' for me. For comparison, I do enjoy blends such as Old Dublin and Nightcap, and find them miles lighter and tastier than this. To be honest, it's a bit like trying to smoke a railway sleeper - already when opening the tin, the tobacco has the same colour, and the tin note resembles a burnt-out campfire made from splinters of old sleepers. Not bad enough to throw away either, but definitely not an all-day smoke for me and needs to be sipped in small quantities with black coffee, cognac or something like that as a chaser.

Many seem to say that it's the perique that makes this strong, but to my taste it's the latakia that sovereignly dominates this - I have not noticed the same effect in other perique-heavy blends that I have generally liked. Also, other reviewers point out that this isn't really a 'Balkan' blend without the oriental leaf, which only makes me more intrigued to try a true 'Balkan' blend now.

So, add that to the shopping list and cross out Balkan Delight from the 'English blends to be bought again'-list. Only recommended for fans of latakia/english blends, cautiously.

Unusual mixture, and the name, as others mentioned, is misleading. Still, it's a pleasant enough smoke if you like Latakia-Virginia mixtures.

Open the tin and the aroma is predominantly latakia smokiness. This doesn't mean it's a very heavy latakia blend, but the Virginia and Perique don't make themselves prominent at this stage. The leaf is cut very unevenly, some very fine shag, some wide ribbon, and various bits of broken up Perique. Mostly brown peppered with black, some flecks of gold. The last few bowls from a tin will be mostly crumbs, which worsens its tendency to burn away quite fast.

It takes a flame easily, and will burn all the way to the end without relights. The flavour is mild to begin with, the Virginia and Latakia harmonising to make a flavour like well done toast. As it progresses the flavour before richer, with some leathery notes making themselves known, and the Perique adds a subtle spice and sourness toward the end. The Latakia is never heavy, but its the main player here. It's not a big nicotine hit, but satisfies, and there's no tongue bite.

Overall, it's a bit one dimensional, but I may be biased as I like a good dose of Oriental leaf in my English mixtures. Worth a try for a change of pace if nothing else, I can't think of a mixture quite like it, it's just tickling the upper end of medium in terms of flavour and strength for a mixture.

It could be nice tobacco but peppery taste of perique, gives a nasty bite in my mouth, which ruin the smooth taste of latakia and virginias. Only for perique lovers, for me it's way too hot. Balkan Flake or Commonwealth Mixture in my opinion are much better choice, if somone is looking for this kind of blends.

not quite satisfied with this latakia blend. bit bitter for my taste, maybe for some other pipe smoker out there.

tak sedap, kurang lancar masuk tekak & rasa pahit agak jelas. abis satu pek taknak dah beli lagi

I bought and smoked this tin immediately for a "Balkan delight"' which was lacking indeed. A whole chunk of V and someone swept the mixing table floor and found some Latakia from somewhere. Very disappointed and the Virginia was too moist anyway.

Having given up trying to find the holy grail oriental mixture I forgot about this for a year or so.

Trying again I was much happier and did indeed find some Balkan spice. I would dry it out if I were you and give it a go then. Still, don't expect too much. Las Vegas versus Paul Daniels springs to mind.