Peretti Royal Blend

The only Balkan blend that I smoke these days. Yes, it reminds me of the Sobranie's Original Mixture but I certainly don't mistake it for that classic blend.

Love the type of leaf used and the proportions. This tobacco is fairly smooth and cool smoking for me but it does contains a light colored virginia base. So it can smoke too hot if drawn too hard.

I have a one year old tin and aging these Peretti blends does help diminish the rough edges like it would any others.

Update:

As much as I like this blend I've given up on it. This tobacco always gets too hot about 5 minutes into a pipefull. It's a shame because I love the components, it's aroma in the tin and while burning. It's just too damn hot.

It is claimed that Royal Blend was created in an attempt to replicate the recipe of the legendary Balkan Sobranie. It's hard for me to judge how well Peretti blenders have succeeded, as the original Balkan Sobranie blend is also a legend to me. Unlike many manufacturers, Peretti specifies in this blend that Enidje is dominant among the Orientals, and this fact definitely caught my attention.

Appearance: the tobacco was purchased by me around mid-2023. Roughly sliced short ribbon of a mixture of different tobaccos, after a few months in the jar it has taken on an almost uniform light brown color, except for the significantly darker Latakia. The tobacco has a fine consistency and does not require drying or shredding.

Flavor: a mild, smooth, but quite bright bouquet. Undoubtedly, Orientals, led by complex spicy, slightly sour, slightly "buttery" aroma of Yenige, are the main note, giving out amazing tones of a complex mixture of spices, sandalwood and musk, but latakia softened by them with the aroma of leather, light smoke, adds density, making the overall ensemble almost tangible. Light fruity and woody notes from the virginia complete the picture. The overall bouquet so impressed me with its volume and integrity that I enjoyed just sniffing it for almost a full minute, and finally felt the barely noticeable citrus notes of the light virginia.

Taste: very mild, medium-bodied, with a spicy bouquet in the base but no peppery spice. The creamy taste of latakia framed by its light smoky does not interfere, does not contrast, but, on the contrary, weaves into the overall picture, playing the role of "just another Oriental". Barely noticeable sweetness and even lighter sourness are present in the taste, light woody notes are felt on the retrohale. The Virginia is definitely high-quality, but it is not the component that draws attention to itself in this blend. The mix of different notes weaves together very quickly into one complex bouquet where the individual notes are almost indistinguishable - I've smoked quite a few blends, and rarely have any of them fell in one together so quickly. This blend doesn't bite, has no sharp edges or gaps, smokes slowly, cool, quite tolerant of overheating, but immediately loses a fair part of taste. The strength is medium, my standard pipe gave me no trouble. However, from a very large pipe I got a weak but quite noticeable nicotine hit. The tobacco burns out almost completely, turning into a light gray dusty ash, leaving no moisture in the pipe. The aftertaste is unstable, woody-sweet, with barely noticeable salt on the tongue.

The smoke has a spicy woody flavor with a slight touch of sandalwood and a very slight smoky whiff of latakia. It is quite persistent, but I find it hard to call it unpleasant to others.

The bottom line? My best regards to Peretti blenders and some good men who made this opportunity possible! I have smoked almost all of the Royal I have, and I can without exaggeration call it a luxury tobacco. I will gladly replenish my stock at the earliest opportunity, although I skipped the last shipment of this tobacco in favor of other Peretti blends. After all, someone else should be given the opportunity to admire this blend!

Back in the day, I smoked Balkan Sobranie (the Original) almost exclusively, and had an ongoing mail-order subscription. There are some imitators, and without mentioning brand names, a couple that come close, but IMHO, this one comes as close to the original as is possible these days. The Yenidje and other orientals give a wonderful bit of sour tang to the tobacco, and while the Latakia isn’t what it was, this tobacco holds an honored place on my rotation. For those who are searching for an English blend that brings back the good old days, this may be the tobacco for you.,

Let me stary by saying that I am on a quest to find my favorite balkan blend. My requirements are that i want it to have a full complex taste, medium or more strength, some sweetness but most importantly I want it to start out with a tantalizing sort of zing to the tastebuds and meld on from there. Royal blend is an excellent Balkan blend. It is woody, smokey, slighly saltted buttery and has a little sweetness, grass and spice. It builds to a little deeper interplay as you get down the bowl and then melds into a singular woody taste. Royal Blend however doesn't start with a tantalizing zing to my taste buds. Its kind of starts off how i want my ideal balkan to be about midbowl. That is its only fault. If you dont need that more agressive jumpstart at first light this may be a winner for you. The taste and mouth feel is medium. The nic hit is mild to medium. Edited to add there is a slight peppermint topping

I am a Huge fan of Peretti tobacco . i have tried several of the blends and have been to the store many time while in Boston. this blend has many of the flavors that i like , it is a nice well balanced English style blend. I would say its half way down the list of my favorites from them . give it try. as with all there products they are very well crafted with great ingredients . its a 3.2 in my book

40 years of pipe smoking have led me to this point. I’ve been in search of a replacement for Balkan Sobranie for most of that time. Upon recommendation of a friend I have tried Perretti‘s royal mixture and proclaim it the closest I’ve found to the original Balkan Sobranie. The flavor of the Orientals comes through as a buttery sweetness that is most pleasing. The Latakia is perfect albeit Cyprian.

Royal Blend has been my favorite balkan for a couple years now, and among my top period. I have tried many of the best rated balkans on this forum, and am always trying new and comparing, but this blend does my palet right! (I favor balkans, english, straight virginias most of the time). This is a wonderful blend with the right combinations and perhaps the Yenidje is indeed the star of the blend, as it plays with the latakia and virginia. Such a deep, rich, rewarding balkan. In my opinion, it's worth your time and could turn into a daily smoke. I have noticed differences in batches, but do believe it is probably simply a difference in age. My most recent batch now has over a year and a half in a jar with me and I can tell and enjoy the age.

This is my favorite blend from Peretti. Oriental is the main note here and it is awesome. From the first light the Yenidje takes center stage, with Latakia and Virginia playing base. The note from the Orientals are dry, pinching way up in the sinuses, with curry and bitter orange notes. Think incense over smoky sweet leather.

This is simply one of the best (tied with Dunhill London Mixture & Three Oaks Syrian) English/ Balkan blend you can buy. It is absolutely delicious and the Turkish tobacco used is unlike anything I have ever tasted. It has a very luxurious buttery mouthfeel and has plenty of nicotine. Peretti blends are at the perfect moisture level for immediate smoking BUT they tend to dry out fast so make sure you have a way to keep it moist or order a small amount at a time.