balkan sobranie cigarettes 10 to a white tin (Old style)

[Dyslexic Tobacconist]

They stopped making them in the late 80s. The reason why I ask has any one tired to blend a mixture of tobaccos that come close. I have read that they were made with all pure Yenidje.. Looking ideas

Thanks

 

[istanbulin]

Here's the package of Balkan Sobranie cigarettes for the people never saw it. It's a "Turkish cigarette" (Oriental blend) which means there's nothing in it but Oriental tobacco. Filterless and oval shaped, old style.

I smoked few packages of that cigarette in late 70s in Cyprus. It was as good as other Oriental blends, mild and flavorful.

I don't think there's enough kind of Oriental leaf in whole leaf market to prepare your own Oriental blend cigarette.

Two years ago I found an old photo of an Oriental blend cigarette "Basma-Luxe".

Here's the forum link of it -> http://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/1436-Old-Turkish-Blend?highlight=basma

I hope I'll try that blend this year.

 

[deluxestogie]

I haven't smoked a cigarette in decades, but well recall smoking the Balkan Sobranie cigarettes in the 1970s and 1980s. I rolled a puro of all air-cured, kilned Xanthi Yaka leaf, which distinctly reminded me of Balkan Sobranie, though I believe an added portion of flue-cured Virginia would have come closer.

Bob

 

[istanbulin]

Bob,
I couldn't recall the taste of Balkan Sobranie cigarettes exactly. Do you think those cigarettes used to have FCV in the blend ?
I thought it was an Oriental blend.

 

[deluxestogie]

I seem to recall a number of Balkan Sobranie cigarette styles. There was a black cigarette with a gold filter, a white non-filtered oval, and maybe a white non-filtered round. It's been so many years, that I may be confusing them with some of the Dunhil varieties. The Balkan Sobranie smoking mixture (white can) definitely contained flue-cured Virginia.

I think my home-made yaprak (stuffed grape leaves) tastes exactly like what my grandmother from Rhodes used to make. If she were alive today, she might shriek in horror at my concoction. I believe that olfactory memories are more true and durable than memories of lists and events, but they too can be misleading.

With home blending of tobacco, one thing is certain. You may be able to exactly match the joy and memories of a favorite blend from the past, even if your blend is not the same. I know this is true of cigars and pipe tobacco blends.

Aiming for a cigarette of yesteryear may be more difficult. If you were somehow able to assemble the alarming collection of ingredients necessary to duplicate an old-time cigarette, say Old Gold, the Environmental Protection Agency might designate your house as a toxic waste superfund site. But that may just be an issue for American cigarettes.

It's fun to dream though.

Bob

 

[FmGrowit]

The crew and I have been trying to recreate this blend for a over a month now. I don't know what is in the original blend, but we have decided a touch of Latakia is needed. We test each updated blend very subjectively and we don't discuss the new blend while we smoke. The only thing you're allowed to do is take notes.

Personally, I think we're just about there with the blend, but in that it has to be 100% tobacco (is Latakia 100% tobacco?), I've decided to put some Dark Air in a smoker and burn some lavender under it.



Note it says "made with the finest Yenidie tobacco". To me this implies other than Turkish tobaccos are also used.

 

[istanbulin]

Bob, If you can prepare and cook "yaprak sarma" like your grandmother, I can trust your taste memory.

I don't want to go off topic but since you mentioned Rhodes, I visited the island this spring. If I remembered your connection with Rhodes I'd send you a postcard from there.

It was a nice place to visit, inexpensive, very close to Turkish Riviera (an hour from Marmaris) and very familiar as other similar destinations in the region. But due to economic conditions the island seemed a little idle to me.

 

[istanbulin]

Now I got the issue, this is "the white can". I've never smoked one of those cans but old carton packages. Blend may be different in each different package and by year.

I've decided to put some Dark Air in a smoker and burn some lavender under it.

Don, are you serious about that ?

 

[FmGrowit]

.

Don, are you serious about that ?

Yep. The blend is missing some kind of purfumy flavor. We're using both types of Turkish, Flue Cured, a little Dominican Seco, Maryland, Dark Air and a touch of Latakia and it's still missing something. I'm at a loss as to what it could be, so making a latakia like tobacco using aromatics is the last option. Perhaps I'll add a little licorice root in the fire also. The cigarettes has a slight cooling affect on the tongue and I believe this is licorice.

There is a distinct cigarish flavor to these cigarettes also.

 

[deluxestogie]

Latakia is 100% tobacco. At least, His Majesty's Government (in the UK) considered it to be a pure tobacco for generations. The flowery notes are likely their stock of Yenidje. Try some Prilep.

Bob

 

[smoker]

It's been 30 or more years so I do not recall exactly what they tasted like but they are the best I've ever smoked! Incredible.

 

[Chicken]

They look likeThey would be expensive.. Although what's been said about them possibly having a little Cigar bacca in them is something I've thought about(blending a small amount in my cigg blend)

 

[POGreen]

Yep. The blend is missing some kind of purfumy flavor. We're using both types of Turkish, Flue Cured, a little Dominican Seco, Maryland, Dark Air and a touch of Latakia and it's still missing something. I'm at a loss as to what it could be, so making a latakia like tobacco using aromatics is the last option. Perhaps I'll add a little licorice root in the fire also. The cigarettes has a slight cooling affect on the tongue and I believe this is licorice.

There is a distinct cigarish flavor to these cigarettes also.

Could that perfumy flavour be Tonka Beans ?
It has been used in cigarettes and pipetobacco to set flavour to in the good 'ole hey days......
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/The_delights_of_tonka_beans-125255564.html
Its been used to flavour snus too but is now banned in the EU as a flavoring in tobaccoproducts because of the kumarin I figure.
Back in the 1700- 1800's when used in snus they tried to disguise a very bad performed snusproduction ( microbes ) and no heatprocess with Tonkabeans.

 

[POGreen]

This is what it is : Coumarin , NOT kumarin thats swedish for the same thing.
Its readily available at for example eBay at a fair price.

 

[smoker]

The flowery notes are likely their stock of Yenidje. Try some Prilep.

May be their selection of Yenidje leaves by size. I was reading this article some time ago. Evidently it was once very popular.
http://books.google.com/books?id=v4...B8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=yenidje tobacco&f=false

 

[steve67]

I had built up in my mind that there was no other cigarette like The Balkan Sobranie Pure Yenidje. The last time I had one was probable 1986. I really wanted to try some again, so for the last several years, I have been on a quest to find at least one of these vintage cigarettes. Well....I just scored a full tin of these from an estate auction. They are in perfect condition. The gentleman collected vintage cigarettes.
We are talking 30-35 yr old tin. I received them by mail and when I opened the tin, the smell was better than I remember... like no other cigarette. They looked and smelled as fresh as if just made. Very perfume-y, flowery fragrant almost; very pleasant, almost like some type of pipe tobacco. I lit one up expecting a "wow" experience-- it was more of like " hmmm, o.k. this is quality, but not so crazy different from some other quality cigarette" They don't taste like the smell would suggest. To be fair, I do smoke cigars and pipes so cigarettes to me can seem a bit bland. It burned evenly; a long white ash will hang on for about an inch, like a mini cigar.
When I was done, I decided I will do a taste test in the near future, purchasing some current high quality cigs and see what they are close to.
If anyone has any suggestions on what to compare them to, or a request of what to compare them to , let me know, or if you have any other questions let me know. I know guys are trying hard to manufacture a homemade blend of these. I wish there was a way to stick the tobacco from one of these under an electron microscope to determine what is really in there.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.

My experience with Balkan Sobranie cigarettes dates back to the early and mid 1970s. Yenidje leaf then as now, was not grown in Yenidje (Genice) Greece, but rather, up the valley in area of Xanthi. (Yenidje leaf was famous in the mid 19th century, then the town was obliterated by flooding mid-century. But the fame has lived on.) Yenidje leaf is Xanthi leaf, which is a Basma-type Oriental. There are some seed vendors that sell a uniquely labeled tobacco that they call Yenidje, and some of our forum members are confident that it is different from typical Xanthi-Yaka tobacco.

The closest to commercial "Yenidje" leaf that I've sampled in recent decades is the "Stacked Basma" currently available from Whole Leaf Tobacco: https://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/product/stacked-basma-whole-leaf-turkish-tobacco/

With regard to vintage tobaccos, my experience has been that tobacco quality peaks at about 10 years, then slowly fades. (It's a race between the volatilization of "detractors" and "enhancers".) Twenty-year-old vintage cigars (properly stored) are still "nice", but nearly always a disappointment.

Bob

 

[burge]

Tobacco is like wine and gets better with age. The marketing term use on tobacco is Fresh. Now it has to be exceptional tobacco to get better with age. Pipe tobacco has Balkan Sobranie not sure if it is the same or not. That blend was brought back. https://www.pipesandcigars.com/shop/?q=balkan+sobranie and https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/mac-baren/HH-Balkan-Blend-16oz/product_id/290715en there are the copies https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/Balkan-Sasieni/Balkan-Sasieni-50g/product_id/174

 

[FmGrowit]

I really like Balkan Sobranie cigarettes also. We've been tweaking our blend for five years and with the introduction of the Stacked Basma to the blend, I we've gotten as close as we're going to get to recreating the original blend.

https://www.wholeleaftobacco.com/product/balkan-blend/

 

[burge]

Whole leaf would be the way to go I saw its was 25 bucks for a 2 oz can not worth it.