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Post by Wolfman on Jul 4, 2018 20:17:46 GMT -5
I have never had the opportunity to try Balkan Sobranie. This review is based solely on my impressions of WhiteKnight.
The tin note is smoky, and herbal. The ribbons have very little moisture and are ready to smoke.
Upon lighting, I sense smokiness, wood, a citrusy sweetness, and an intense herbal explosion that’s both spicy and mouthwatering. It overloads my senses, and is pure bliss.
It smokes cool, dry, and burns at a moderate pace. It’s never harsh, even with quick puffing. It requires few relights. It smokes well in various size briars.
WhiteKnight is medium in body, and has a rich creaminess to it. The nicotine level is almost midway between mild and medium.
This is one of the best ‘Balkan’ blends currently available. If you smoke Oriental forward English blends, I highly recommend it.
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Post by papipeguy on Jul 4, 2018 20:24:08 GMT -5
I smoked countless tins of BS in the early to late 1970's. White Knight is as close to that experience as I've found. Great job on your review as I think you've captured the essence of the blend quite well.
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Post by slowroll on Jul 4, 2018 20:41:20 GMT -5
Outstanding review, exactly what I think of it. I guess I don't have write a review for the BOM then  I smoked a lot of Balkan Sobranie way back, maybe a short ton, and White Knight is very close. way better than Blackhouse IMO. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 20:41:38 GMT -5
Thanks, Sam. Great review and timely, as I have a tin of it unopened. I still may wait a while, but I'll know I'm in good company when I pop it
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Post by Wolfman on Jul 4, 2018 20:55:30 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I’ve always wanted to try the original, but I’m finally content with WK.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 21:09:37 GMT -5
Sam, excellent review and you really nailed the description! On this Balkan type blend the Cyprian Latakia is subtle and just the perfect amount in this tasty blend. What makes this blend an enjoyable smoke is the Macedonian Orientals with Yenidje. I must have smoked at least 10 tins in the past 6 years! I purchased a good back up from a friend of mine that closed his B&M on Long Island. I highly recommend this fine tobacco if your an English or Balkan lover. Order a tin of BlackHouse once it’s available again, it’s the November blend I will be discussing. By the way......I enjoy the BlackHouse a bit more than WhiteKnight.
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Post by Wolfman on Jul 4, 2018 21:30:59 GMT -5
Sam, excellent review and you really nailed the description! On this Balkan type blend the Cyprian Latakia is subtle and just the perfect amount in this tasty blend. What makes this blend an enjoyable smoke is the Macedonian Orientals with Yenidje. I must have smoked at least 10 tins in the past 6 years! I purchased a good back up from a friend of mine that closed his B&M on Long Island. I highly recommend this fine tobacco if your an English or Balkan lover. Order a tin of BlackHouse once it’s available again, it’s the November blend I will be discussing. By the way......I enjoy the BlackHouse a bit more than WhiteKnight. Thank you. I grew up on Long Island. Where was your friend’s B&M ? I haven’t smoked BlackHouse in a while. Fortunately, I’ve got a couple of tins stashed away. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 21:47:38 GMT -5
He owned a cigar and pipe shop/lounge in Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County. He went through a rough divorce and did not want to share half the business with his soon to be ex! A much smaller B&M opened up the road 3 years ago but only sells cigars and a small longe. I was told not the same crowd I always hung out with, I miss those days.
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Post by Wolfman on Jul 4, 2018 22:05:34 GMT -5
I worked in Hauppauge for 15 years. It’s about 15 minutes away. So much has changed in the last 20 years. My dad and I used to go to a B&M in Huntington/Dix Hills. The place was owned by an old cogger. He was gruff and rough around the edges. He wasn’t ‘hip’, nor millennial friendly. But, he was the kind of guy you can talk pipes with endlessly. I would choose that guy over any of the modern day so-called tobacconists. Most don’t know anything other than vapes. What is a vape anyway? I wouldn’t know where to find a guy like that now. The Times Are A Changin.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 22:14:22 GMT -5
Believe it or not, one of the best ones I had was at a Tinder Box in a mall. I was smoking a lot of cigars at the time. He turned me onto two that I loved. Flor de la Isla, a Filipino Stogie, and Connecticut Club, from CT (duh) and all leaf. Neither of those two are around anymore, but he would hold them back for me. Good at explaining things, though I didn't retain as much back then. I would get off work and drive twenty miles in rush hour traffic to get there and back. When I would come home I would tell Xuan I had to stay a little late at work. Later when she slept the stogies magically appeared on my desk.
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Post by Cramptholomew on Jul 4, 2018 22:26:11 GMT -5
I worked in Hauppauge for 15 years. It’s about 15 minutes away. So much has changed in the last 20 years. My dad and I used to go to a B&M in Huntington/Dix Hills. The place was owned by an old cogger. He was gruff and rough around the edges. He wasn’t ‘hip’, nor millennial friendly. But, he was the kind of guy you can talk pipes with endlessly. I would choose that guy over any of the modern day so-called tobacconists. Most don’t know anything other than vapes. What is a vape anyway? I wouldn’t know where to find a guy like that now. The Times Are A Changin. I vape, a lot. But I'm also heavily investing in my newish pipe habit. I enjoy both, but I find I can't smoke a pipe nearly as often as I'd vape. Not that I wouldn't like to, but I peesonally feel the vaping is definitely not as bad for my health as tobacco. The jury is still out, but almost all the peer reviewed, unsponsored studies look that way. On another note, the guy that owns the shop in Annapolis (that I'm STILL not sure if what they sell me is Bayou Morning), is one of those gruff older guys. He doesn't touch anything but English blends though, so we don't have much in common. I'd think, though, that shop smokers/tobacconists should be able to enjoy ALL forms of tobacco, to a certain degree. So is he really the knowledgeable old codger, or just an old codger that runs a pipe and cigar shop? Edit: good review. White Night is now on my list. |
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Post by trailboss on Jul 4, 2018 23:03:00 GMT -5
Frankly, I am somewhat sceptical in peer reviews....I am not saying that there is no value in such, but there are instances of it being somewhat an incestuous relationship with people having the same end game as their goal.
Much of academia is populated by grants from organizations that are virulently anti-tobacco, and I have yet to see a recent study of the differences between pipes, cigars, and cigarettes...they are all lumped as "tobacco usage". In my family, I have yet to see a pipe smoker that has ever suffered from the same respiratory issues that I have seen from cigarette smokers. I personally feel that drawing smoke into one's lungs is far more damaging than a person that puffs on the pipe.
I am not saying that there are no risks associated with pipe smoking, I just think that the pipe smoker is assumed to be at the same level of risk from the American heart assoociation, tobaco control,WHO, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids" when it is already illegal for non-adults to purchase tobacco...they have an agenda to promote.
Bloomberg even had the audacity to report that kids are giving up cigarettes for pipes and cigars some years back.....And Mike Bloomberg is very big on funding universities and academia to promote what he thinks is best for us....and he has plenty of fellow travelers.
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Post by Wolfman on Jul 4, 2018 23:27:28 GMT -5
I worked in Hauppauge for 15 years. It’s about 15 minutes away. So much has changed in the last 20 years. My dad and I used to go to a B&M in Huntington/Dix Hills. The place was owned by an old cogger. He was gruff and rough around the edges. He wasn’t ‘hip’, nor millennial friendly. But, he was the kind of guy you can talk pipes with endlessly. I would choose that guy over any of the modern day so-called tobacconists. Most don’t know anything other than vapes. What is a vape anyway? I wouldn’t know where to find a guy like that now. The Times Are A Changin. I vape, a lot. But I'm also heavily investing in my newish pipe habit. I enjoy both, but I find I can't smoke a pipe nearly as often as I'd vape. Not that I wouldn't like to, but I peesonally feel the vaping is definitely not as bad for my health as tobacco. The jury is still out, but almost all the peer reviewed, unsponsored studies look that way. On another note, the guy that owns the shop in Annapolis (that I'm STILL not sure if what they sell me is Bayou Morning), is one of those gruff older guys. He doesn't touch anything but English blends though, so we don't have much in common. I'd think, though, that shop smokers/tobacconists should be able to enjoy ALL forms of tobacco, to a certain degree. So is he really the knowledgeable old codger, or just an old codger that runs a pipe and cigar shop? Edit: good review. White Night is now on my list. Good question. I guess I need to ponder that one. |
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Post by dave g on Jul 4, 2018 23:29:33 GMT -5
Has any smoked the original Sobranie and compared it to the new repop version? I have a few tins of the newer Sobraine. It’s good, but not good enough to jump hoops to acquire the newest unobtainium. I prefer many bountiful blends over this. Bengals and Quite Nights for example.
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Post by trailboss on Jul 5, 2018 0:13:06 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2018 1:42:23 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing your review on H&H WhiteKnight with us Sam...
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Post by peterd-Buffalo Spirit on Jul 5, 2018 2:37:17 GMT -5
...good review Sam...Thanks
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2018 2:40:27 GMT -5
Has any smoked the original Sobranie and compared it to the new repop version? I have a few tins of the newer Sobraine. It’s good, but not good enough to jump hoops to acquire the newest unobtainium. I prefer many bountiful blends over this. Bengals and Quite Nights for example. I’ve smoked the original, the London mixture. The re-re-release ( the blend has changed so many times ) for me is not even close to the original. The original was made up of better high grade tobacco’s, like the Latakia and Yenidje that’s used today has no comparison to the original. That’s what makes the difference for me, others may have more to add, like JimInks. I don’t enjoy the new releases at all. |
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Post by Legend Lover on Jul 5, 2018 12:41:38 GMT -5
Another review that makes me want to go out and get that blend. After August I may be waiting a while before another one comes up that I can appreciate along with everyone else.
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Post by slowroll on Jul 5, 2018 12:50:29 GMT -5
I smoked Balkan Sobranie thru it's iterations from the late 60s thru the 90s, and it went downhill with each change. But, everyone of those iterations was far superior to the current one. I bought one tin some time ago and never another. Many blends today are better than the current Sobranie. The old Sobranie with the Yenidje and very select Virginia's had a distinctive herbal/floral undertone that wasn't smothered by the latakia. BTW, a sleeper today is C&D Star of the East Flake. It's a bit heavier latakia than Sobranie or White Knight, but it has some nice undertones.
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Post by Wolfman on Jul 5, 2018 15:53:29 GMT -5
I smoked Balkan Sobranie thru it's iterations from the late 60s thru the 90s, and it went downhill with each change. But, everyone of those iterations was far superior to the current one. I bought one tin some time ago and never another. Many blends today are better than the current Sobranie. The old Sobranie with the Yenidje and very select Virginia's had a distinctive herbal/floral undertone that wasn't smothered by the latakia. BTW, a sleeper today is C&D Star of the East Flake. It's a bit heavier latakia than Sobranie or White Knight, but it has some nice undertones. I agree with you about SOTE Flake. I have a tin from late ‘16. I may open it this winter, or not. I’ve only smoked it fresh. Have you ever smoked it with some age? |
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Post by slowroll on Jul 5, 2018 16:05:52 GMT -5
I smoked Balkan Sobranie thru it's iterations from the late 60s thru the 90s, and it went downhill with each change. But, everyone of those iterations was far superior to the current one. I bought one tin some time ago and never another. Many blends today are better than the current Sobranie. The old Sobranie with the Yenidje and very select Virginia's had a distinctive herbal/floral undertone that wasn't smothered by the latakia. BTW, a sleeper today is C&D Star of the East Flake. It's a bit heavier latakia than Sobranie or White Knight, but it has some nice undertones. I agree with you about SOTE Flake. I have a tin from late ‘16. I may open it this winter, or not. I’ve only smoked it fresh. Have you ever smoked it with some age? No, i haven't. It's Damn good fresh, though. Not sure age would improve it, given the tendency of lat blends to mellow maybe too much. Of course, tastes may vary on that opinion. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2018 20:20:15 GMT -5
Anyone know if the original Sobranie had Syrian Latakia? That might help explain the inability to replicate it.
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Post by trailboss on Jul 5, 2018 20:27:38 GMT -5
Anyone know if the original Sobranie had Syrian Latakia? That might help explain the inability to replicate it. From Jiminks post on the old Sobrani: A couple other reviewers tend to agree. But what does Jim know about tobacco...he is a fried egg eggspert.  |
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I smoked a lot of Balkan Sobranie way back, maybe a short ton, and White Knight is very close. way better than Blackhouse IMO. 
