Peterson Balkan Delight

I think the name is meant to suggest "Balkan Light," but they cannot use the word "light" in a tobacco name anymore. So they use an added syllable up front for "de-light," which the blend is for a medium English smoker. Not so much for a heavy Latakia smoker (like Odessey).

The ribbon blend is straight tobacco, cool and burns steady, but does not seem as nearly heavy or full as any Balkan I know. I personally detect a soft bed of Virginia only with a interesting flavor combo of perlque and latakia. Don't know how much. It is lighter then somewhat spicy at times from the perique-Latakia combo, but not spicy in the sense of a blend empowered by much Turkish (Durbur or Sobranie). Could be some hidden Turkish in it.

I personally like the taste (as others do) but it may be unusual to someone who is not into the Perique or favors more Latakia. The combo here comes across bitter at times, but in a good way.

So recommend as something a little different for medium English smokers. I gave it four stars rather than three as I personally do like it.

Peterson - Balkan Delight.

Arrives with a decent level of hydration. The aroma's quite enticing, there's a slight earthiness which I find beguiling!

The smoke: although the Latakia gives a crisp smokiness it's not a Lat-Bomb. This situation's prevented by the Perique, lending just enough spice to brighten, yet not dominate, the smoke. The Virginia acts as the stage, being present but not piquant. The burn's superb, even and cool, and it doesn't bite one bit.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not the best.

Balkan Delight? Four stars:

Highly recommended.

Not quite what I expected in that this is a very mild tasting balkan mixture....but wait for the deepening taste as you continue to smoke! This is a nice melody of woody spice tastes and it grew in my appreciation. Good with a single malt for the evening. I have left the tin a month after opening which I know may sound scandoulous but this has matured the taste. I am having my bowl whilst writing this down.....I have tried most Petersons and Im always apprehensive as some of their mixtures are not that good. But....I count this as actually very good. Welldone Petersons.

Enjoy! :0)

After smoking few bowls of this tobacco, aged for about a year, here's what I think of it:

Firstly, it's not a Balkan blend. Perique adds spiciness, but not the Balkan way, the way orientals do. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just saying. Very easy to keep lit, and smokes smoothly all the way down the bowl. This is the first latakia mixture with a lot of Perique that I actually like. Per is present in small quantities in many blends, but this one is loaded with it. And in a strange way, it's nice and pleasant. Some describe it as a nicotine bomb, but I didn't notice such thing. I like latakia blends, and am very sceptical towards unorthodox Balkan/English blends such as this one. The tin aroma is gorgeous however, and I enjoyed smoking it. I'll give it four stars.

Well, I don't know about being Balkan but, this certainly is a Delight...As mentioned in a previous review there is no mention of Turkish/Orientals in the tin description...If they are there, they are very light...Still and all this is a tastey blend and a 'delight' to smoke.

Latika is dancing with Perique. Hmm, It's delicious. It is a little bit similar to Dunhill Nightcap just not too strong. Highly Recommended who loves latakia/perique.

now this is superb,plenty taste here to get your taste buds going fairly strong but not to strong I think this reminds me of the old balken sobranie my old dad used to smoke, latakia lovers will enjoy this one ,I will be buying more of this another top quality smoke from Peterson.

I've been moving to Balkan/English blends for the last few months and my regular burn has been Dunhill's Nightcap for a while, just recently also Gawith Hogarth's Balkan Mixture for a less intense version of the genre.

This week though, my local friendly tobacconist produced this Balkan Delight which he'd speculatively ordered in for me. I've not had much fun with Peterson baccies so far, but holy crap this stuff is perfection for my current tastes. It's immediately promoted to my Go-To-Tobacco. Yes, it's strong, but not in an aggresive way. Very full range of flavours in the taste which for me remains pretty consistent from about a quarter way through the bowl to the fine ashy conclusion. It burns cool, and I've seen just two vestas get me through the whole bowl even with a little housekeeping tamp a couple of times.

I don't need to dry it out at all even though it seems to be packed slightly moist. Even so, I get little or no gurgle in my preferred pipe - a Falcon "Coolway" briar (cheap but very good smoker) and it's not needed more than one pipecleaner during the smoke.

The tin aroma is for me nothing like the actual smoking flavours. It smells quite smokey, but I don't find that to be very present in the actual smoking of it.

I don't enjoy nicotine at all. I've put aside several tobaccos for giving me a spinny head. Nightcap for example, is to be treated with respect I find. This Balkan Delight stuff doesn't seem to be high in Nic to me, although given the types of tobaccos in this blend it surely must be quite high with it. Well if it is, I don't feel it, so I'm happy with that.

For me, this is a perfect blend. It packs easily, it behaves itself throughout, and most importantly it tastes full and quite excellent. I know I'm really enjoying the taste of a tobacco if I catch myself nodding in approval. As I have with this. Good work, Peterson.

Begins as an Oriental forward but still quite smoky English – I believe some Orientals are used here… Quite soon Perique emerges as black pepper spiciness which gets more pungent as the bowl progresses. There is a toastiness that makes me also think of English style unflavoured Cavendish . I can also feel nutty and dark chocolate notes – not from any added flavoring though, also a suspicion of mushrooms which could be from the Perique.

To me Balkan Delight tastes like an Oriental forward perique-enhanced medium to full English blend which has complexity and which evolves quite nicely to become very spicy in the end. It has a medium to full strength and I find it to be a very satisfying smoke. Can bite a little if pushed.