Newbie needs help with Balkans

[LuckyBriar]

Hello all. I'm new here on BoB and fairly inexperienced with pipe tobaccos. The entirety of my tasting have come from local tobacconists, and the selection is somewhat limited. I'm here for some advice on how to proceed with buying and trying the gauntlet of Balkan tobaccos. Here's a bit of background for those that don't mind reading. For those that do, feel free to skip to the end.

I was introduced to pipes and pipe tobacco in the town where I went to college. The tobacconist there sports a decent selection and the clerk sold me a spectrum of tobaccos to try. Of these, one was a house blend that was mainly Burley and Cavendish, one was a Lat bomb they called 'Howling Wolf' that ends up was a McClelland bulk blend of some kind, and one was a cherry aromatic. The crown jewel, the one that really set me to smoking, was two wonderful ounces of what I'm fairly sure was Gawith Balkan Flake. While the Howling stuff wasn't bad (ends up I like a good dose of Lat), the Flake was it. That was what I dreamed of when I decided to take up the pipe: smokey, spicy, complex and smooth. I also sampled a tin of McClelland's Grand Orientals: Smyrna No. 1 which I liked quite a lot. The only one I couldn't make it through was a chunk of Gawith Black XXX Rope the clerk just gave to me. It ended up tossed in the yard. Sadly, that shop is a good hour drive from where I live now. I hit my local shop, which is mostly cigars with a sparse shelf of bulk (no tins to be had). Of the 20 or so jars of bulk, probably 15 are aromatics. I asked about English/Balkans and they pointed me to a blend called 'English Luxury', which I'm fairly sure is the Stokkebye blend. It's not bad as an all day smoke, but it doesn't have the depth and subtly of the Balkan Flake I remember. I've decided I'll have to turn to the internet to get a real variety.

What I've decided I need to do is take a tour of Balkan 'baccys, specifically exploring the range to find a regular smoke as well as to expand my palate and understand of tobaccos in general. From what I've read on tobaccoreviews.com, English and Balkans are really a wide range of flavors and I'd like to see what turns my crank. To that end, I'm thinking about piecing together a large order of different blends to sample. The list I've got so far is:

Gawith Balkan Flake - 2oz tin (benchmark)
Balkan Sasieni - 50g tin
Penzance - 50g tin
GLP Westminster - 2oz tin
GLP Charing Cross - 2oz tin
GLP Abingdon - 2oz tin
Frog Morton - 50g tin
Presbyterian - 50g tin
SG Squadron Leader - 50g tin
Stokkebye Balkan Supreme - 2oz bulk
Gawith Hoggarth Balkan Mixture - 2oz bulk
McClelland 2030 No 1 Grade Balkan - 2oz bulk
McClelland 2045 Oriental Mixture - 2oz bulk

That's the list as it stands right now. It's complied mainly from my digging around the internet and reading tobaccoreviews, certainly not from any sage wisdom. Most, though not all of them get decent reviews or seem to be in the realm of what I'm looking for. My question to you all is what would you add? What would you subtract as too similar? What's the best way to experience these? Do I need seperate pipes? Is there an accepted way to head-to-head tobaccos? Anything I'm missing? Remember, I'm a real babe in the woods at this... I'm just going off instinct and guesswork. It'll be a bit of an investment, but I'm willing to lay down the cash to have the experience of sampling these fine smokes. I'm figuring at the very least I'll end up with a bunch of somewhat similar tobacco to enjoy, or gift away if I find it against my taste. I'm anxious to hear everyone's personal opinion about the land of English/Balkans. Thanks in advance and happy puffing!

 

[Muddler]

It's a good list. To my mind, McC 2045 doesn't really belong there - it's a straight Va/ Oriental blend with no Lat. Ok, I didn't enjoy it either. An addition would be GLP Meridian. Personally, I would use one pipe for all of them - they're all pretty much in the same broad genre. Enjoy the journey & be sure to post your reviews!

 

[Vercer]

More of an English but has a good dose of Lat to my mind is the McClelland British Woods. I recently picked up a 100g of it and am in love so far!

 

[Stogiegila]

Just my two cents, but I would add the following:

Dunhill My Mixture 965 (haven't tried the new blend yet, but the old one was a favorite)

Butera Pelican - Different, definitely pushes more Oriental than Latakia\English, which makes it a Balkan in my book.

 

[gandalfpc]

I have quantities of every baccy on your list and then some in my cellar - if you are liking them you should find them all different enough to warrant a bit of shelf space

Would add Proper English, Ashton's artisans blend, and any other quality blend that stumbled within arms reach - all have their charms...

Also good:

Ten Russians
Peretti's Royal

 

[LuckyBriar]

Thanks for the input, fellas! Taking the suggestions into consideration, I started price shopping, only to run into another issue - it would seem that any single online retailer only has about 75% of my list! I suppose shortages are a common problem given the fickle nature of tobacco production (if only pipe tobacco was as popular as cigarettes...they never seem to run out of those), but I'm finding it problematic to pin down a whole list from one seller. I wouldn't care so much if it wasn't for the obscene flat-rate shipping charges that most places have. Also, it seems many places do free shipping over $100, which is my budget for this adventure and it looks like about what my list of 'baccy will cost. With that in mind, here's where the list for Round 1 sits:

Balkan Sasieni
GLP Westminster
GLP Abingdon
GLP Charing Cross
Frog Morton
Presbyterian
Dunhill 965
Ashton Artisan's
Stokkebye Balkan Supreme
Stokkebye Proper English
Gawith Hoggarth Balkan Mixture

That's from pipesandcigars.com, who had 13 of my 16 or so choices in stock for the lowest price (and free shipping). Sadly, Penzance and my testbed of SG Balkan Flake are out of stock, and they don't even list Squadron Leader anymore. It would seem that many places are out of SG tins. I'm a bit bummed about not having the Balkan Flake as a yardstick, but I may just bite the bullet and get it somewhere else or go without until I order another round. It may be after the new year before the wife approves the funds for Round 1, so some of my out of stock choices may be back in before I order. She's not really sure why I can't just smoke the same stuff I've been smoking. :roll: I'm certainly open to more suggestions if anyone has any.

A couple other thoughts/questions about this. It would seem that almost every blender has one (or many) Balkan/English blends. I'd love to sample them all, as I'm sure they are varied and some real gems hiding out there. With Round 1, I'm mainly looking to sample the 'go to' blends, and then with Round 2 expand the game into some of the less mainstream brands and perhaps into the more English/Oriental realm as well as sample most or all of GLP's English type offerings. If some of the suggested blends didn't make it into Round 1, its mainly because I'm limited in funds and trying to keep this to the big name/mainstream blends. Round 2 should be an interesting hunt for some more offbeat stuff.

I'm considering picking up a new pipe to do this with, because I only own one. I'm not worried about the different blends 'ghosting' since they're all similar, but I'd like to be able to load two pipes with two different blends and head-to-head them without having to dump and reload. Ok, this is really about pipe envy and my growing PAD, but it's a good excuse. What I'm wondering is, would a simple $25 basket pipe do the trick, or do I need a decent piece of briar to experience these Balkan beauties in? Big bowl? Small bowl? Shapes? While I'm sure it could be a thread all its own, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts about how to best enjoy these blends.

Lastly, I've read that the Stokkebye Balkan Supreme is a bulk version of the Sasieni. Any truth? Should I bother getting both to try out, or just buy one and consider the other similar enough? At ~$3 difference, its not enough to break the bank, but I am on a budget here and really don't want overly similar tobaccos if I can help it.

Sorry this turned into a novella, but there's just so much to consider. Again, thanks for the advice. I'm loving all the information here on BoB!

 

[Anonymous]

Cobs are inexpensive and very serviceable -- especially with decent replacement stems (Walker Briar Works).

You can't go wrong with GLP English/Balkan stuff.

:face:

 

[mark]

Just a couple thoughts for what it's worth ,,,give each blend a fair shake,,two or three bowls may not be enough to make a judgement.

Keep some notes as you go.

If you're lukewarm on a blend, stash it and come back to it sometime down the road.

If your budget is tight grab a few cobs.

Most important,,,have fun

 

[Thomas Tkach]

Stokkebye's English Oriental Supreme is one I liked that is cheap and available if funds are an issue.

 

[MisterE]

Just for a middle of the road alternative, I`d add Presbyterian to that list. It has a unique flavor which I got to like over time. PS Oriental Supreme is very similar to the Balkan Sasieni at a fraction of the price. PS Proper English is fine stuff too.

I`d definitely take Dunhill EMP over SG Squadron leader, but both good medium English blends.

I think, again, there is a lot of confusion over what "Balkan" specifically means. Some people use it interchangeably with "English". Others say it`s a category unto itself. Others anything with Latakia in it.

I just kind of take the term "Balkan" with a grain of salt, as everyone has a different idea of what it means.

 

[hobie1dog]

Darn....you had to remove Penzance from the list? :face: :x

 

[LuckyBriar]

Great advice, guys. Thanks for leading by the nose a bit here.

@Hobie1Dog - Yeah, the Penzance is a real shame. I keep seeing it on people's lists of favorites and I'm excited to see what the fuss is about. Unfortunately, it's not available locally, pipesandcigars is currently out of stock and I'm not in a position to pay $10 + $6-7 shipping on one tin. Hopefully they'll have it back in stock by the time I order, else I'll have to pick it up in Round 2.

@MisterE - Actually, Presbyterian is on the list! I've been interested in the blend since reading reviews of it. I've also heard good things about the Saseini and it's fairly cheap so I'm going to grab it. I'll see about picking up some PS Oriental Supreme to try along side it since both you and Thomas mentioned it.

As for the 'Balkan' name, I'm really going off my experience with the SG Balkan Flake. The more I've looked into this and complied the list, I've come to realize exactly what you said. It seems to depends on who you ask as to what blends are Balkan or just English. This should be a fun experiment to see if I can determine a difference.

@Mark - I'm still trying to come up with a way to compare these guys, but I certainly don't want to jump to conclusions. I want to give each a smoke on their own (several bowls) as well as along side each other. Anything I'm not liking will head to the cupboard for awhile. If I'm still not sold after a good bit of cellaring, it'll probably end up as a gift or trade.

As to the notes, I'm absolutely planning on it. In fact, I'd love to write up my findings for everyone when time allows. As this is my first major experiment and experience with a variety of tobaccos, I'm hoping I can capture the nuance and feel of the blends for myself and everyone else. I'm not sure how it couldn't be fun!

@Yak - I'm definitely going to pick up some cobs for this. I think I was put off by the cheapness, but after reading a bit about them, I'm sold (literally). Thinking I might pick up a couple shapes and styles, and look into the Walker stems down the road after smoking them for a bit. I'm really excited about the GLP stuff. Everything I've read makes it sound right up my alley.

It's looking like it'll be after the first of the year before I place my order, so that could influence what I end up with as things come in and out of stock. Thanks again for the input!

 

[Hermit]

Odyssey