Balkan from www.naturally-extracted-tobacco.com
The juice: Balkan was bottled on 8/15, 15mg nic, 70% pg, heat extracted option. A London style pipe tobacco NET described on the site as "An aromatic Balkan-style pipe tobacco comprised of Macedonia and Virginia leaves expertly blended with Latakia for a bold, unique tasting vape."
The Hardware: sterile rolled cotton wicked 1ohm micro coil with 28ga Kanthal, small rebuildable dripper; vaped on a mechanical mod.
Ratings are from 1-5 depending on where a juice falls in an attributes spectrum. Only the last rating, "overall", is based on 5 being the best. (For sweetness 1 equals very dry and 5 equals very sweet. For tobacco impact 1 equals very mild tobacco and 5 equals very aggressive and/or complex.)
Sweetness: 2. Some NETs have this smooth sweetness that I love, such as several from MOV and HHV, and it's present here. Score! Overall it's fairly dry like most London pipe blend vapes, but the sweet is noticable like in MOV's London styled Apache.
Tobacco Impact: 4. London pipe mixtures like Apache, Devil Dog from Ahlusion, and London from W2V, have a similar tobacco taste that is some of the most, if not THE most, aggressive tobacco vapes on the market. This is one of the lighter London pipe vapes, but make no mistake, the tobacco is very present and strong. This has Oriental (the Macedonia) and Virginia tobaccos, which provide a lot of the flavor, but the Latakia provides the kick. Latakia is a condiment tobacco (not meant to be smoked on it's own) made from Oriental (Turkish) leaves that are first sun-cured and then fire-cured over a wood fire, which results in an intense tasting tobacco. This blend is smoky, leafy, earthy, and flavorful.
Vapability: 4.5 I don't grab for London pipe NETs very often, but always have one in my rotation. When in the mood, they really hit the spot and scratch that tobacco itch. I find them perfect for long vaping sessions; the flavor stays present and consistent. The smooth and light sweetness found in Balkan makes it even more vapable for me.
Flavor Accuracy: 5. This is the only NET available that I know of billed as a Balkan style pipe tobacco. From what I've read, it's basically the same as London style though Balkan blends tend to have more Oriental tobaccos involved. Call this London or Balkan style, either is correct, and the flavor is spot on.
Overall: 4.5. Balkan is a solid, well-made, and tasty pipe NET that should appeal to any fans of this style. The lovely sweetness is a big bonus, but I can't help but feel it's missing something that Devil Dog and Apache have, maybe an added layer of complexity. Whatever it is it's small, and this is still an overall excellent juice. Truth is, all London pipe NETs I find very enjoyable, and as a matter of personal preference I find Balkan better than W2V's London Blend but not quite as magical as MOV's Apache.
The juice: Balkan was bottled on 8/15, 15mg nic, 70% pg, heat extracted option. A London style pipe tobacco NET described on the site as "An aromatic Balkan-style pipe tobacco comprised of Macedonia and Virginia leaves expertly blended with Latakia for a bold, unique tasting vape."
The Hardware: sterile rolled cotton wicked 1ohm micro coil with 28ga Kanthal, small rebuildable dripper; vaped on a mechanical mod.
Ratings are from 1-5 depending on where a juice falls in an attributes spectrum. Only the last rating, "overall", is based on 5 being the best. (For sweetness 1 equals very dry and 5 equals very sweet. For tobacco impact 1 equals very mild tobacco and 5 equals very aggressive and/or complex.)
Sweetness: 2. Some NETs have this smooth sweetness that I love, such as several from MOV and HHV, and it's present here. Score! Overall it's fairly dry like most London pipe blend vapes, but the sweet is noticable like in MOV's London styled Apache.
Tobacco Impact: 4. London pipe mixtures like Apache, Devil Dog from Ahlusion, and London from W2V, have a similar tobacco taste that is some of the most, if not THE most, aggressive tobacco vapes on the market. This is one of the lighter London pipe vapes, but make no mistake, the tobacco is very present and strong. This has Oriental (the Macedonia) and Virginia tobaccos, which provide a lot of the flavor, but the Latakia provides the kick. Latakia is a condiment tobacco (not meant to be smoked on it's own) made from Oriental (Turkish) leaves that are first sun-cured and then fire-cured over a wood fire, which results in an intense tasting tobacco. This blend is smoky, leafy, earthy, and flavorful.
Vapability: 4.5 I don't grab for London pipe NETs very often, but always have one in my rotation. When in the mood, they really hit the spot and scratch that tobacco itch. I find them perfect for long vaping sessions; the flavor stays present and consistent. The smooth and light sweetness found in Balkan makes it even more vapable for me.
Flavor Accuracy: 5. This is the only NET available that I know of billed as a Balkan style pipe tobacco. From what I've read, it's basically the same as London style though Balkan blends tend to have more Oriental tobaccos involved. Call this London or Balkan style, either is correct, and the flavor is spot on.
Overall: 4.5. Balkan is a solid, well-made, and tasty pipe NET that should appeal to any fans of this style. The lovely sweetness is a big bonus, but I can't help but feel it's missing something that Devil Dog and Apache have, maybe an added layer of complexity. Whatever it is it's small, and this is still an overall excellent juice. Truth is, all London pipe NETs I find very enjoyable, and as a matter of personal preference I find Balkan better than W2V's London Blend but not quite as magical as MOV's Apache.
