Sutliff Tobacco Company Match Balkan Sobranie

BSOSM - came in bulk bag with perfect moisture . I like to pack this fairly tight in burns better that way . Lights up and stays lit very easily. The Virginias are sweet and tangy and are balanced nicely with the buttery creamy , spicy and very lightly sour orientals . I really like the yenidges taste and they really seem to smooth the blend out with the bright Virginia. The latakia smokiness balances out the sweet and sour spice . 4 stars for Russ the man ! I like it a lot !

I never had the original and the new release seems impossible to buy as it's always out of stock. Do I care? No. We are in a fortunate time when so many blends are available. This is a wonderful blend with the Orientals taking the main stage. The latakia and Virginias interplay nicely. I bought 4 ounces and jarred 2 as was recommended by some reviewers that I follow regularly. Came with the right moisture level, lights easy and smokes to a dark gray ash with no dottle. Can easily be an all day smoke and the wife loves the room note. What can I say, I got me a good women! If your a Balkan fan I highly recommend this as a lighter fair, but a wonderful smoke.

Lager

I love trying new blends, and generally smoke a pretty diverse bunch of tobaccos. But there are a few blends that make up the bulk of my everyday smoking. Blends like Presbyterian, Essenza Cipriota, Early Morning Pipe, and Sutliff's Match Balkan Sobranie, are in my pipe nearly everyday.

First few puffs... a good amount sweetness and lots of the sour, musty incense of the Orientals. I've never met a Macedonian leaf I didn't like... they always seem to add a nice floral/musty complexity. And they're the main player here. There's a perfect amount of Latakia in this blend, too. It's strong enough to be a satisfying Balkan, but not overpowering or bitter. The Virginias are back there providing a lot of sweetness, some light grassy notes, and some zing. This is a very flavorful, satisfying smoke. No bite, and it burns smoothly from start to finish.

Bottom line: A smooth, really tasty (and really cheap!) Balkan blend. One of the best bangs for your buck in all of pipe tobaccoland. But even if Sutliff's Match Balkan Sobranie were an expensive tinned blend instead of an inexpensive bulk blend, it'd still be one of my favorites.

This is a great light latakia blend. Period. I'll let the other reviewers speak to the nuances of the blend. If you want a Balkan blend, then this is sure to please. While Balkan blends differ from each other in their nuances and constituent tobaccos, this one is just as satisfying as others, but completely different from something like Tastykake or Plum Pudding.

You can smoke this all day if you are an English/Balkan fan. I bought a pound based solely on reviews and I'm not disappointed. I stuffed it into two large wide mouth mason jars.

Mine came somewhat dry, which I guess isn't a bad thing. It shouldn't get any drier in the jars, so it's basically ready to smoke with no drying time needed. Some reviewers said that theirs was moist, so I guess this varies. I actually rehydrated a bit by adding a folded up damp paper towel to one of the large mason jars that I am using to keep these in, and this brought back some moisture nicely. That's a great thing about pipe tobacco that you can do this easily.

If you are a fan of the genre, then at these prices you can't go wrong to buy a whole lot and jar it up. You never know when our crazy Uncle Sam or your state or locale goes ape crap and decides to regulate so that you can't get it anymore.

Think of this as a Balkan "bread & butter" blend that you always want on hand.

I plan to buy more in the future (obviously have to fit it in with other planned cellar bound purchases) but for now I have my two large mason jars to smoke from.

Sutliff Match Balkan Sobranie, this one is very interesting. Last year I picked up an oz to sample but decided that I needed more before doing a proper review. That I smoked new, this has been jarred for 6 months and the time in the jar has made all the difference. The jar note is deeply smokey, sweet, and slightly buttermilk sour. The smoke is very campfire smokey, leather, woody, earthy, herbal, and sweet. There are some notes in the background that are citrus with some bread notes and some dark fruits, it is lightly spicy and has that great buttermilk sourness that counters the creamy sweetness. The finish is medium with smokey, sweet, and sour playing off each other. The overall strength and nic just touch the med mark as does the taste. The room note is fine for me but others found it strong. I have just finished smoking this back to back with WhiteKnight and I have to say they are remarkably similar. I did not get the unflavored soda note in this one but that is a very minor nuance in WhiteKnight, so the Yenidje may not be here or just lacking in the bulk 4 oz that I have on hand. That said, this is a major winner in my book, it may improve more with age too. At $33.00 a pound vs $14.00 a tin the differences are so minor for me I see no reason to buy more tins but I will be ordering a couple of pounds of this one in my next order.

So Balkans…

From 1976 to 1995 I smoked BS759 almost exclusively. I only tried the OSM when my local B&M was out of 759. Always liked it a lot, just liked 759 better.

This match OSM is excellent. Very similar to my memories. With every puff I seem to taste something different. One puff says latakia and the next says oriental. I smoked this fresh from the blender. Should be even better with some age, so I ordered 2 pounds more for my Mason jars.

For me this, Odyssey, Abingdon and Balkan Supreme are the best balkans out there and I have a generous supply of each. OSM match is also quite reasonably priced if that is part of your consideration. Smokers Haven Exotique would have been on the list, but I recently opened a 200 gram can from 2005 that was still sealed properly, but somehow had lost something through the years. Never had that before.

Tried the 759 match and still drawing a conclusion on that. Quite good, but probably needs some aging. Will let it age and then try it again.

Also tried the Crown Achievement match. This may make the Balkan cut at a later date, but that one most definitely needs aging. The orientals need time to make friends with the VAs and latakia. Almost all oriental now.

Initial smoke of this product was detestable and left a strange film in my mouth. The following review is based on my experiences after cellaring for 6 months. I'm a lover of balkan blends and anything with yenidje so take that into account for this review.

In the tin: smells like a quintessential balkan blend, leathery, spicy, a hit of tang and smoke. moisture was perfect. Texture has a slight powder on the ribbons typical of latakia blends. a few stems throughout but nothing worth worrying about.

Packing and lighting: packs with ease and I've yet to experience a less than perfect draw with this blend, it seems to have the perfect springiness to stop you from overpacking. Charring light and first tamp were uneventful. Takes an ember nicely and burns evenly from the start with few touch ups.

First third: Creamy, rich smoke with a tangy leather background. a slight bitterness on the back of the tongue, but not overwhelming. the orientals are definitely noticeable and the latakia is in such proportions as to be a member of the blend without overwhelming the other flavors.

Second third: the bitterness is gone now. the spice of the orientals has increased. The tanginess has taken a back seat but is still present. leather, spice, woodsie, warmth, and hardwood smoke are the things that come to mind.

Final third: the spice is heavy, the creaminess of the smoke is at its peak and the latakia is more noticeable. almost sad to see that it's almost gone. The flavor at this point is perfect but I'm not sure my nose can handle anymore retrohales.

Summary: If you like traditional balkan blends then this is worth picking up. Produces good smoke and a fine white ash throughout the bowl. I would highly recommend a bit of age prior to judging this tobacco. I will be purchasing several more pounds of this for the cellar. Will not bite even when pushed however there is a bit of harshness in the throat that remains even the day following the smoke, nothing bad enough to stop me from purchasing again. Room note was judged by my wife.

Oh buddy. I love this stuff.

For the price point alone, get this. If you’re a Balkan fan or even think you might be this is worth a shot. You have nothing to lose (well less than $3 an ounce) so what are you waiting for!

Pencil shavings, smoke, and herbs is what this tastes like. Sounds so bizarre but it’s true and it’s absolutely delicious. Easy burning, due to the fact that it comes somewhat dry but can be rehydrated to your tastes and apparently betters with just a few months age. I’m ready to order pounds of this stuff. Just complex enough that you can sit back and get lost in the reverie but not so deep and thought provoking to have to sit back and think about if you don’t want to. Cheap enough and readily available to be a reliable all day smoke that won’t break the bank. What more could I say? I’m a huge fan. It’s great.

Jar note of sour vegetation, smoky, and a tart sweet. Tobacco is a wide ribbon cut of black, brown and tan. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and consistent, with notes of smoky, sweet citrus, wood, floral, musty herbal vegetation, leather, spiced bread, fermented sour, spicy, zesty sweet and tangy fruit, creamy savory, a rich peaty lemon grassy background note, and a peppery retro. Oriental/Turkish is leading with Latakia and Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.