Tobacco labeling and contents

[Don S]

As someone new to tobacco forums, I was drawn in by the subject of "Re-released Balkan Sasieni". It appears that the final answer could apply to the relationship of most foreign tobaccos purchased in the USA and the way they are labeled.

Unless I am misunderstanding what was said, my sense of ethics makes this somewhat hard to absorb - correctly or not, I've always looked on people in the pipe tobacco business as being very reputable.

Is it possible that the best and the brightest of the Brothers of Briar can add clarification?

 

[Al in Canada]

Don
Where are you drawing the subject from ("Re-released Balkan Sasieni")? Is it from a line of postings here or somewhere else?

As a guess to what you are alluding to the release of any old formulation of tobacco is always limited by a number of factors:
1) is it based on the original formula, or is it a recreation trying to match the taste? Most blenders guard their exact recipes closely, in that is the keystone to their success.

2) Are the exact ingredients available to follow the formula? A combination of events has led to blending problems for any blend that contained Syrian Latakia, since Syria moved to restrict the processing of the tobacco, it was using far too many of their trees and causing forestation problems, and there was a major fire some years ago that destroyed a large quantity of the Syrian Latakia in warehouse.

The effects of the the first question, using the original formula, show up with the Dunhill tobaccos, where the Alfred Dunhill tobacco products taste differently from those made by Murrays, although made to their formulas, and the Murrays taste differently again from those manufactured by Orliks, although again from the same recipes.

The availability factor shows up with many tobaccos, because the taste of a particular tobacco will vary from year to year with the differences in the growing conditions. You will find some tobaccos that are even sold with vintage marked, this seems to happen a fair bit with Virginias, and like wines certain years are noticibly more popular (better?) than others. Larger companies may buy and hold tobacco so that they can have a consistancy in their blends, which the smaller blenders may not have the opportunity to do.

The issue is further confused by trying to compare current production with vintage stocks of tobacco. As a newer member of the fraternity you may have not had the opportunity to taste "vintage" tobaccos, but those blends which depend upon the tobacco for their taste (not those which depend on heavy dosings of flavour additives) tend to improve with age. The tastes of the individual tobaccos "marry" into a smoother overall taste, where as a "fresh" blend may have one bowl that is heavier on one taste, like Perique or Latakia, than the next, or even the start of the bowl but not the end. So your new production Balkan Sasieni won't taste exactly like a vintage sample even if everything else is the same.

Hope this is what you were asking about.

Al (in Canada)
Cambridge Blend In A DH Cumberland

 

[Don S]

Al - Thank you for your thoughtful response. You are correct that my question originates from the BOB subject in the Tobacco Jar and has been limited to the last ten years of my close experience with Balkan Sasieni.

No glaring changes occurred in the tobacco until after the SCHIP law went into effect this past April, and so far as I know it was with only the bulk and only with one store. I considered this a great shame because up until that time I had considered this dealer as one of the best in the country.

The reason the BOB topic caught my eye was because it was suggested that the source in Denmark which also makes the tins for this tobacco under licence for a very well-known company, may also be implicated, and this can seem to some to just be in the nature of how it all works, although I believe the owner of the licence would not agree.

I do know the difference between Balkan Sasieni and Balkan Supreme. It never occurred to me that anyone was free to switch labels on a product as they wish, especially when intended for sale in the USA, as has been implied in the "Re-released" post. Usually a name is like a trademark.

The long and short of this is first experiencing another tobacco being sold as if it were Balkan Sasieni (twice), and then reading in the previously referred to post that Balkan Sasieni is "PS Balkan Supreme, just tinned".