Balkan Sobranie. Back in the day I smoke it (and Cope's Escudo, a VaPer) exclusively. If the Balkan Sobranie was available today, I'd probably go back to it. (And SWMBO would kill me.)
I tried Hearth & Home Marquee BlackHouse and it just didn't cut it, at least for me.....
@motie: Black House is intended to replicate Balkan Sobranie 759, as is Balkan Blue. I have smoked both; I prefer Balkan Blue. Hearth & Home's White Knight is intended to replicate the old Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture - Sobranie White, not Sobranie Black - 759. I think it's pretty darned close. I smoked a fair amount of that lovely stuff, back in the early 1970s. I also enjoy Balkan Sasieni. I've got a post around here somewhere discussing all of that.
Thank you for the information, @judandhispipe. I knew about the relationship of Black House to BS759. I did not know about the relationship between BS(White) and White Knight. That did not come across in reviews I read. Your comments are very helpful. I adored BS(White) back in the day, before my decades of pipe hiatus. Yeah, that and Cope's Escudo (a VaPer). The two were almost all I smoked back then.
I haven't cracked a tin of Sasieni in a while - I will have to do so before long. I had smoked a lot of it before I discovered WK, and then my consumption fell off/ It's time for another tin.
I prefer Balkan Sasieni to White Knight. WK seems slightly stronger with less richness to BS. I Prefer McClelland 5110 to either. I don't think the White Knight matches what others say Balkan Sobranie was like.
I smoked Balkan Sobranie 50 years ago, back when it was readily available. I tried BlackHouse last summer when I took up the pipe again, because I didn't understand what Russ was trying to do vis-a-vis Balkan match blends. Someday, I'll try White Knight, but for now I'm sticking with my Sutliff blends; ones that are at the far other end of the pipe tobacco spectrum from Balkan/Englisg/Oriental blends.
Comments
Hearth & Home's White Knight is intended to replicate the old Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture - Sobranie White, not Sobranie Black - 759. I think it's pretty darned close. I smoked a fair amount of that lovely stuff, back in the early 1970s.
I also enjoy Balkan Sasieni.
I've got a post around here somewhere discussing all of that.
Balkan Sasieni has always been a favorite of mine, I used to order 5 tins at a time when on sale, I've only managed to Cellar less than 10% of them.
I prefer Balkan Sasieni to White Knight. WK seems slightly stronger with less richness to BS. I Prefer McClelland 5110 to either. I don't think the White Knight matches what others say Balkan Sobranie was like.