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Post by peteguy on Jan 16, 2019 17:21:51 GMT -5
Sasieni not Sobranie........
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2019 17:31:21 GMT -5
I was under the impression that Balkan Sasieni was introduced by Stokkebye to fill the niche left by Balkan Sobranie. Some consider Stokkebye's/Arango's Balkan Supreme to be the bulk version of Balkan Sasieni, and while they are very similar, I find Supreme to be a bit sweeter and Sasieni to be slightly saltier. Either way, I prefer Supreme over Sasieni and Sesieni over Germaine's current version of Balkan Sobranie.
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Post by monbla256 on Jan 16, 2019 17:34:28 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2019 17:38:52 GMT -5
Hmmm, "page not found". In which Bond film did James visit a tobacconist for his specially blended cigarettes? |
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Post by monbla256 on Jan 16, 2019 17:49:27 GMT -5
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Post by sperrytops on Jan 16, 2019 17:51:16 GMT -5
Great memorabilia.
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Post by sperrytops on Jan 16, 2019 17:54:56 GMT -5
OK, fantastic history of James Bond cigarette smoking habits. Smoked hand made Morlands. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2019 17:58:00 GMT -5
Thanks, Michael! That one worked. |
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Post by Wolfman on Jan 17, 2019 13:46:29 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2019 14:06:06 GMT -5
Ok we need to move on to Balkan Sobranie 759 in its various forms and how it some how made its way to Balkan Sasieni. I don't know when the 759 first came into production but I believe late 50s or very early 60s. I have never seen a Key type tin but hey who knows. We can see from the ad from 1930 that it shows a tin of pipe tobacco along side the cigarettes but I do not believe that this is blend in question rather the 759 version. Jesse better help me this time.
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Post by monbla256 on Jan 17, 2019 16:20:17 GMT -5
Ok we need to move on to Balkan Sobranie 759 in its various forms and how it some how made its way to Balkan Sasieni. I don't know when the 759 first came into production but I believe late 50s or very early 60s. I have never seen a Key type tin but hey who knows. We can see from the ad from 1930 that it shows a tin of pipe tobacco along side the cigarettes but I do not believe that this is blend in question rather the 759 version. Jesse better help me this time.  |
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Post by Dramatwist on Jan 17, 2019 16:34:26 GMT -5
Ok we need to move on to Balkan Sobranie 759 in its various forms and how it some how made its way to Balkan Sasieni. I don't know when the 759 first came into production but I believe late 50s or very early 60s. I have never seen a Key type tin but hey who knows. We can see from the ad from 1930 that it shows a tin of pipe tobacco along side the cigarettes but I do not believe that this is blend in question rather the 759 version. Jesse better help me this time. Agreed, Michael. Closest thing I've found to 759. |
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Post by McWiggins on Jan 17, 2019 17:57:34 GMT -5
Some time ago I found Balkan Sasieni being sold for $6 a tin. I heard it was good and picked up a five pack. Still have not tried it yet but this thread makes me feel like I did the right thing.
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Post by Mac on Jan 17, 2019 19:52:35 GMT -5
Some time ago I found Balkan Sasieni being sold for $6 a tin. I heard it was good and picked up a five pack. Still have not tried it yet but this thread makes me feel like I did the right thing. You did. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2019 22:57:57 GMT -5
Balkan Sobranie
•Tins labeled as manufacturedby Sobranie Limited, SobrainieHouse appear to date from the 1970's or earlier;
•Tins labledas manufactured by Sobranie Limited, 17Worship Street appear to date to the '70s fora brief time just after 'Sobranie House';
•Tins labeled as manufacturedby Sobranie Limited, Chichester Road appear todate from the late 1970s;
•Tins labeled as manufacturedby Sobranie of London, 65 Kingswayappear to date to the early 1980's;
•Tins labeled as manufactured by Sobranie of London, 34 Burlington Arcade appear to date to the 1980's; and
•Tins labeled as manufacturedby Sobranie of London, 13Old Bond Street date to the 1990's.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 0:59:36 GMT -5
Sasieni not Sobranie........ ^^^ |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 5:42:58 GMT -5
We might get there a lot faster without Chico's input to the topic.
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Post by jpberg on Jan 18, 2019 5:43:43 GMT -5
Sasieni not Sobranie........ ^^^ That train left the station. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 6:26:06 GMT -5
So sometime in the early 80s the recipe was sold to Gallaher and it was changed. By most accounts the proper leaf for the Original could no longer be obtained. There are references to the cut of blend being changed as well to more of a ribbon cut vs the crumble cake like versions that were made by House of Sobraine . When Michael wakes up he can verify the cut changes if they did in fact so happen. Late in 2011 J. F. Germain & Son starts making the blend and the rights belong to the Arango group not really sure how this came about. About all I can add is Gallaher was purchased by Japan Tobacco in 2007.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 6:55:49 GMT -5
Now to answer the Sasieni question the Sobranie family supposedly sells or gives the original recipe to STG and Peter Stokkebye blends it. I think this happens around 2004 and they cannot use the Sobranie name because they sold the rights to it some time in 80s. I do remember that when released folks were snatching up and trying to resell it at real Sobranie prices. The reviews for the tobacco blend are pretty much in the middle and no one is saying it tastes like Sobranie.
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Post by peteguy on Jan 18, 2019 10:15:34 GMT -5
Now to answer the Sasieni question the Sobranie family supposedly sells or gives the original recipe to STG and Peter Stokkebye blends it. I think this happens around 2004 and they cannot use the Sobranie name because they sold the rights to it some time in 80s. I do remember that when released folks were snatching up and trying to resell it at real Sobranie prices. The reviews for the tobacco blend are pretty much in the middle and no one is saying it tastes like Sobranie. Thank you for this info! I have smoked a pouch from 2004 so it is great to read this. It was bold and stout compared to the freshly opened tin I smoked. Very smooth and tickled my tongue a bit. The new tins are much sweeter as well. |
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Post by daveinlax on Jan 18, 2019 10:50:42 GMT -5
Now to answer the Sasieni question the Sobranie family supposedly sells or gives the original recipe to STG and Peter Stokkebye blends it. I think this happens around 2004 and they cannot use the Sobranie name because they sold the rights to it some time in 80s. I do remember that when released folks were snatching up and trying to resell it at real Sobranie prices. The reviews for the tobacco blend are pretty much in the middle and no one is saying it tastes like Sobranie. I doubt there was any recipe sold. I don't think Balkan Sasieni was anything other than a match blend and from what I've heard based on the old Sobranie House version of 759.
It's been scrubbed from the internet but there was a great paper on Sobranie by Jon Guss that was on the history of Balkan Sobranie. I hope he gets around to publishing it.
Speaking of publishing the Time Line that Psycholime copied and pasted above was compiled and published years ago by my late friend John Loring. 
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Post by sperrytops on Jan 18, 2019 11:39:29 GMT -5
Now to answer the Sasieni question the Sobranie family supposedly sells or gives the original recipe to STG and Peter Stokkebye blends it. I think this happens around 2004 and they cannot use the Sobranie name because they sold the rights to it some time in 80s. I do remember that when released folks were snatching up and trying to resell it at real Sobranie prices. The reviews for the tobacco blend are pretty much in the middle and no one is saying it tastes like Sobranie. Is Stokkebye still producing the blend, and if so what is it called? |
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Post by daveinlax on Jan 18, 2019 11:44:47 GMT -5
Now to answer the Sasieni question the Sobranie family supposedly sells or gives the original recipe to STG and Peter Stokkebye blends it. I think this happens around 2004 and they cannot use the Sobranie name because they sold the rights to it some time in 80s. I do remember that when released folks were snatching up and trying to resell it at real Sobranie prices. The reviews for the tobacco blend are pretty much in the middle and no one is saying it tastes like Sobranie. Is Stokkebye still producing the blend, and if so what is it called? Yes, I bought a tin of Balkan Sasieni at the AZPC meeting last week. The bulk version is now called Arango Balkan Supreme.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 13:13:55 GMT -5
Is Stokkebye still producing the blend, and if so what is it called? Yes, I bought a tin of Balkan Sasieni at the AZPC meeting last week. The bulk version is now called Arango Balkan Supreme.
I've read that before, but to me they're very different blends. Could be due to differences in age, and/or the bulk getting more air. But I find Supreme much sweeter, smoother, and maybe more Lat. More enjoyable, in any case. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 13:16:51 GMT -5
We might get there a lot faster without Chico's input to the topic. It's been a long journey, with many detours.... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 15:40:53 GMT -5
I was poking fun at you Chico but you really cant tell the story unless you include the story of Sobranie. The main problem is the information is scattered all over the place. Dave is right I copied the Lorring thread but it is about dating cutter top tins. The information I posted was what I thought happened after reading about thirty web sites and throwing out a synopsis. Yep it would have been easier to just say Sasieni is a Peter Stokkebye blend and left it at that for the dullards. There is not a lot of fun in that kind of response the pipe world is full of experts who just make stuff up as they go along and cite resources they cannot produce.
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Post by lestrout on Jan 18, 2019 18:00:02 GMT -5
daveinlax posted "The bulk version is now called Arango Balkan Supreme" and that is also what the great RussO told me. Despite the unimpeachable provenance of this notion, I have to agree with Chico (igg - forgive me) that the two are noticeably different, though in the same ballpark. Bulks that are tinned, even vacuum sealed, do age differently than unjarred bulk in a way that changes the taste profile to me.
Many decades ago, 759 was the 4th in my 4 blend rotation. I never cared for the Original in the white tins. When the otherwise great Germain resurrected the Original, I found it a shadow of the original (pun intended) and still didn't care for it. White Knight to me is superior to both and is in my Top300 Cellar.
The 759 Throwdown in Chicago was concocted by the co-conspirator Guss brothers, including the above mentioned Jon, and I thought the whole thing was brilliant. RussO won the judges' decision with his magnificent Blackhouse, which I prefer to even the 759 I remember and the several bowls of ancient tins I've tried since. Interestingly, the people's choice was the McClelland Blue Mountain, renamed to Blue Balkan after the coffee people registered an objection. Both reside in the Top300 Cellar. It was fascinating to me how RussO and Mike McClelland used different methodologies and also different compositions to create blends that ended up remarkably similar. Interestingly, as my first batches of both have aged, going on several years now, their flavor profiles have diverged.
A sidenote: Russ liked 759 when you could get it in grocery stores, but he preferred it amped up with more Latakia. The result was Magnum Opus.
hp
les
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2019 19:26:51 GMT -5
No problem Les I prefer the G.L. Pease Meridian but to each his own.
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Post by qmechanics on Jan 18, 2019 19:44:21 GMT -5
It was fascinating to me how RussO and Mike McClelland used different methodologies and also different compositions to create blends that ended up remarkably similar. Interestingly, as my first batches of both have aged, going on several years now, their flavor profiles have diverged. A sidenote: Russ liked 759 when you could get it in grocery stores, but he preferred it amped up with more Latakia. The result was Magnum Opus. hp les How have the two blends diverged? Sad to say I was unable to acquire the McClelland blend in time and do not wish to spend $50 up on a tin in the aftermarket. PS I came back to pipe smoking a few years ago and simply did not have the money to buy all the tins I wanted to try. When McClelland closed its doors, I snagged a few tins of what I was already familiar with. |
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