Peter Stokkebye -- Balkan Supreme

Brand: Peter Stokkebye
Blend: Balkan Supreme
Style: Balkan
Pipe Used: Peterson Aran #150 Bulldog
Price: $13.50/8oz.

Appearance: 7
Taste: 9
Room Note: 7
Value: 9
Overall: 8

In a last minute dash to try some new blends before Washington state's draconian tobacco law goes into effect on the 26th I've been ordering pipe tobacco left and right. Yesterday I received an order from the fine folks at Mars Cigars & Pipes and made the mistake of opening the package while I was still trying to get some work done. The spicy, leathery, and sweet smell of Peter Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme soon had me rummaging for a pipe.

After a long time away from Latakia blends I've been slowly coming back around to that wonderful leaf but find that I prefer it with a bit of spice which is why I've been reaching more for the Orientals. Although Balkan Supreme is, not surprisingly, a Balkan blend I rarely use that categorization term myself and tend to refer to tobacco of this type as Oriental but that's just me.

The tobacco is a fairly non-descript dark brown shag-cut blend that smells great straight out of the package. The appearance and aroma reminded me a lot of Dunhill's My Mixture 965 which is high praise indeed.

I know that I should have dried this out a bit before smoking but I just couldn't help myself so I loaded up my Peterson Bulldog and got right to work. The tobacco easily lit up and provided a nice, steady burn from beginning to end. Where the lack of drying got me was in the tongue bite since the extra moisture made for a few jolts of uncomfortable steam in my mouth. Ouch!

The flavor of the Balkan Supreme was superb with just the right mix of leathery Latakia, spicy Orientals, and a hint of sweet Virginias and Cavendish. I really enjoyed the spiciness of this blend and it provided the same sort of tingle I get from a good Nicaraguan cigar.

I found it to be the perfect blend for a long, contemplative smoke in which each different type of tobacco leaf could be coaxed to shine by varying the speed of puffing and length of draw. Long, leisurely smoking highlighted the Latakia; short, rapid puffs brought out the spicy Orientals; and rapid but long draws allowed the sweet Virgina and Cavendish component to peek through.

Balkan Supreme combined some of my favorite aspects of the aforementioned My Mixture 965 as well as Samuel Gawith's classic Squadron Leader. This blend is a great English/Oriental go-between and provides just enough of each style while still retaining its own unique place in the tobacco pantheon.

The room note followed the trend of the taste in that the rate of smoking had a direct impact on the aroma of the smoke. From the classic Latakia funk to the almost tart hints of exotic spice the smells provided all sorts of variety -- some very nice and some not so nice to the nose.

Peter Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme is often mentioned as a replacement for the long-gone Balkan Sobranie but since I've never tasted that classic blend I have to judge this one on it's own merits and what I find is a great Balkan blend that has a very complex taste, behaves well in the pipe, and can be purchased in bulk at a ridiculously low price. This is truly a wonderful tobacco.

A Year Already

The one year anniversary of this blog came and went unnoticed last week. What started out as "Cigar Meanderings" quickly evolved into "Meandering Smoke" as my interests veered more in the direction of pipes than cigars. I still try to review the occasional stogie but for the time being pipes are much more my thing. At any rate I started this blog mostly for my own future reference but hopefully it's provided some information to others who've happened this way by hook or by crook. I would offer up a champagne toast but beer is more my speed so here's an Alaskan Summer Ale for you!

John Middleton -- Carter Hall

Brand: John Middleton
Blend: Carter Hall
Style: Burley
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $4.10/1.5oz.

Appearance: 7
Taste: 6
Room Note: 7
Value: 8
Overall: 7

While picking up some stuff at the local Rite-Aid I noticed a pouch of Carter Hall for sale on the shelf. If you're familiar with the sorry state of tobacco retail outlets here in the greater Seattle area then you'll understand my surprise at finding a tobacco I actually wanted to try at a fairly reasonable price. Needless to say I grabbed that pouch and as soon as I got home I filled my trusty corncob pipe and headed out to try yet another classic, codger, drugstore, heritage, or what-have-you blend.

Carter Hall is a basic ribbon cut Burley and upon opening the pouch I was met with a uniformly cut tan tobacco that smelled nicely of raisins and figs. I don't know what it is about these classic blends but they all sure do smell good.

With the first charring light there was a short burst of harshness but that passed just as soon as the tobacco started burning evenly. From that point on the blend smoked like a dream requiring no fuss and only one relight to get down to the last ashes. I wish all pipe tobacco behaved so well.

The tobacco had a nice, mellow Burley flavor that was very unobtrusive and occasionally subtle hints of citrus could be detected as well. In some ways you could even call it boring but sometimes the tried and true is just what you're looking for in a good smoke.

Similar to other Burley blends I found that smoking Carter Hall too fast brought out an unpleasant cigarette-like taste so be sure to smoke it slowly.

As with most mass-produced tobaccos I also found there to be a chemical aftertaste and that's the one sticking point that keeps me from abandoning all my fancy-pants tobaccos and just going with the drugstore blends on a full-time basis. I understand that they have to be able to hold together for however long they're left languishing on store shelves but I do wish that there was some way to achieve this that didn't so adversely affect the tobaccos' flavors.

The room aroma was that of a classic grandfather's pipe which isn't surprising since most grandfathers smoked this type of blend.

In the pantheon of codger classics that I've tried so far I found Carter Hall to be the best behaved but least flavorful blend. I now understand why so many folks use it to break in new pipes since it burns so well while leaving behind no strong aftertaste. And it's clearly a favorite for mixing as it lends so many positive burn characteristics and offers up a nice, plain palate for adding new flavors.

My appreciation for these old blends continues to grow and while Carter Hall wasn't my favorite I'm still planning to buy a tub since this utilitarian tobacco has so many uses.