Sobranie, Sasieni,White Knight, and me
judandhispipe
Master
I smoked Balkan Sobranie
Original back in the early 1970s, when I was going to Michigan State,
and buying tobacco from Campbell's Smoke Shop in East Lansing. (It's
still there.) I couldn't tell you how much of it I smoked, but I
liked it a lot. When I moved to Detroit, I spent a few years smoking
less expensive blends - I was counting the pennies. When I had money
again, and started going to Hill and Hill in Grosse Pointe Woods, Jim
Simon, the proprietor, got me onto a house blend of his called
Golden Ash, which was a similar blend. That was pretty much the end
of my experience with Sobranie. I never smoked the pouch version that
was around, so I can't compare that to what I smoked, but it's pretty
well-known that the blend did not stay the same over the years.
Sometime in the early
2000's I discovered Balkan Sasieni,when it was in a pouch. I smoked a
pretty fair amount of that,too, until I discovered Hearth &
Home's Larry's Blend, and it moved into my slot for full Balkan
mixtures.
Early in 2014, I decided to
re-explore Sasieni. I ordered a tin to fill out an order. While
smoking it, I decided that there was room for both it and Larry's
Blend in my rotation, so I stocked up. Then I heard about White
Knight, Russ Oulette's attempt to recreate the Sobranie Original of
his early smoking days; I ordered a tin,smoked it, fell in love, and
have acquired several more tins. Finally, I was able to secure a
couple of tins of the current version of Balkan Sobranie. I have
smoked through almost one tin,and decided to share my thoughts on
these three blends.
White Knight – When I
opened my first tin of this, olfactory memories came rushing back on
me. I couldn't have told you what the old Sobranie was like, before,
but now I can – and this is very close to what I remember.. The
thing that stands out is the creaminess in the smoke. A wonderful
blend, and one that I will always have in my rotation. Four stars.
Balkan Sasieni – This is
another fine blend, not as close,to my revived memory, to the
Sobranie I smoked in the early 70's,but still a damned fine blend.
Not as creamy as WK, but still worth having around,if not always in
the rotation. Three stars.
Balkan Sobranie – Although
this blend bears the legendary name, it is nothing like the blend I
remember from the early 1970s. It may be close to the pouch version.
The leaf is of good quality, but I considered it rather boring, to be
honest. I have tried it in a variety of pipes, and haven't noticed
much difference. I have no idea what I will do with the second tin.
The only reason to buy this that I can fathom is that it bears a
famous name. One star.
Comments
I encourage anyone interested to try all of these. Black House,which @motie2 mentioned, is a tribute to the old BS 759 - as is McClelland's Balkan Blue, which I prefer.