Our products include:

• Three Balkan Virginias - each with unique flavor and exceptionally mild.
• Two Balkan Oreintals with distinct aroma for your high quality product.
• Three different grades of Turkish Izmir - all exceedingly mild and well . . . Turkish!
• Other unique Turkish leafs, including Yenidje, that are among the most revered tobaccos ever grown - anywhere.
• Water Pipe Tobacco - Exotic Turkish Tobacco specifically designed for the centuries old social tradition of sharing tobacco in water pipes.
• Detailed information and samples, ready to smoke, for manufacturers and distributors that are available upon request.

   A personal message from Robert Meszaros, Founder and Director of Operations for Balkan Propect LLC:

   My name is Robert Meszaros. I was born and raised in Bulgaria and am of Austro-Hungarian ancestry. This is my real name, not adopted after becoming an US citizen. Therefore, I do have some Balkan and Central European background, which is important when exposed to different cultures and worldviews. Besides knowledge of Slavonic languages and culture, I also speak fluent French and have had wide exposure to Western European culture through both books and travels. This is an important part of my background, because it gives me a broad outlook and a frame of reference based on both lineage and personal experience.

   During my teens, there were still some real Balkan cigarettes available and I developed a taste for good tobacco early in life. Besides, it runs in the family. My grandfather Robert was a real connoisseur smoker, my grand uncle was an accountant for the Tobacco Industry during the Bulgarian Kingdom era. Still in my youth, I was fortunate to be exposed to some home grown Oriental leaf, which local growers used to cut by hand for their own use, and was not sold, but given as presents to friends and family. I have never tasted anything like it until recently when my own company's samples became available.

   Another favorite tobacco of mine was Greek “Papastratos”, a JAVAS (translated to mean MILD) blend with Basma and Macedonian tobaccos. While living in the US, I smoked only a pipe for more than 10 years and had a hard time finding a real JAVAS tobacco. Finally, I settled for a hard to find blend made by TEKEL, a pure Turkish. As a moderate connoisseur smoker, I enjoy only the highest quality tobacco. I simply cannot smoke anything else.

   I am sharing my background and origin in order to explain that my taste and palette is highly specialized and limited to extremely mild and aromatic, Balkan and Turkish tobaccos. It is important for our customers to understand that what we off derives from extensive background, experience, linage, passion and love for tradition, as it relates to fine tobacco.

   American blend lovers do not take offence, but here is an example: Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Pall Mall, Camel (non-filters) were very good cigarettes,  but have changed or disappeared in order to meet low tar levels. They had a nice robust flavor, but were still a bit harsh on the intake. Too harsh if I may say. In the Balkan/Oriental tradition a cigarette must be mild (JAVAS), unnoticeable on intake, with balanced and delicate flavor (one can call it bouquet in the highest grades), with no bad aftertaste and an elegant aroma. It is very simple: I do not want to choke over my morning cup of coffee. Smoke three cigarettes with your morning coffee, especially after exercise (a 2 mile run) and see which type you will choose.

   A few years back, I tried to find a cigarette that I like and discovered that it is practically impossible to find anything remotely close to the Balkan blends from my youth. During a recent trip to Greece and the Balkans, as soon as I landed Athens airport I bought a pack of “Papastratos” (a limited production local blend, amazingly still available) and hade a smoke with an excellent cup of coffee and glass of mineral water right there at the airport. Wow, there are still places in the world were smoking is not completely criminalized and banned in all public places! I immediately realized exactly what we was missing in the USA and World markets. After some research, I came to the conclusion that besides few limited production local blends like Serbian “Drina”, Greek “Papastrators,” “George Karelias” (used to be available in limited quantities in the US) and few others, good cigarettes are practically impossible to find and have become unknown to the public (en masse). Few connoisseurs still know about them and know what to look for. This observation is based also on extensive travel in Western Europe.

   I looked into some articles in RYO Magazine, and was delighted to discover that some experts, who cherish the art and tradition of tobacco, still exist. Thus, I came upon Mark Ryan’s Ramback and found an excellent RYO tobacco, but most importantly, a manufacturer trying to make a difference. Both these were a factor in forming my own plan of action. Even in the RYO segment things look pretty bland in general. Too many similarly priced offerings of mediocre quality. All this gave me the hope that the connoisseur population of the market is there and there still might be room for introducing high quality products in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world. Digging deeply into this phenomenon I came to the following simple conclusion:

   Giant cigarette makers, like all global enterprises are strictly profit oriented (some tried to enliven things with some Turkish accents recently, but try them…). These huge companies' market share is so large (nearly beyond competition) and profit margins so unrealistic that smoking has really become a bad habit for both cigarette smoker's and regulators alike.

   Now let me drift a bit off-theme for a moment. Nothing wrong with profit, but let us back up a few decades. There were times when profit was not THE ONLY factor important in business. There were times when Integrity and Quality were just as important part of the equation. There were times when competition was a good thing, and the success of your competitor was as important as the success of your friends and neighbors. There were times when success was measured as value for your customer, profit for your suppliers and good life for their families (especially tobacco growers, where the magic begins). Yes, this is how it was, at least in the East. During the late 19th and 20th century up to the 40’s and beyond there was a thriving tobacco industry in the Balkans providing the highest quality cigarettes and RYO tobacco in the World. A little glimpse of that came to the West and the USA with “Balkan Sobranie. “Balkan Sobranie” introduced this Balkan tradition to the West. It did not invent a new cigarette or even a new blend but brought to the attention of millions of a finer alternative. It did so when The Cold War and other factors had limited ties between East and West. Now that the Cold War is no longer a factor and barriers are disappearing, isn’t it time to reverse the trend?

   Now let’s get back to main theme. Highest quality leaf is still grown in the Balkans and Turkey, in remote, small geographic areas with unique microclimate. Yet, big buyers buy scraps of leaf and still use small percentage to enhance flavor. On the other hand, high quality leaf sits in warehouses because of ill-conceived business practices and post communist business climate. The danger exists that growers will simply give up and thus this centuries old tradition will become a matter of history. The other problem is that quality oriented manufacturers In the USA and worldwide simply do not have exposure to this tradition and cannot afford hundreds of metric tons at a high price.

   This is no surprise: The highest quality leaf is expensive. Another non-surprise? Use of inferior ingredients results ONLY in inferior product. All of the above led me to the decision to form Balkan Prospect, LLC in the Spring of 2006. The company was formed with these main goals:

   Try to become a factor in reviving the great Balkan Tobacco Tradition by introducing and making available the highest quality Balkan and Turkish leaf to quality oriented small and medium sized manufacturers. Most importantly, make it available in small and flexible quantities, helping in the process of selection and product development. To obtain all necessary compliances, to produce and import our own “Balkan Premium™” blend. Bring our love and passion into our product, and hopefully project it to our customers.

   Achieving the first goal meant a lot of hard work and fighting with decades old red tape and stagnancy. We were fortunate to hire and bring to our team a PhD in tobacco science, one of the most repsected authorities in the industry, with the same hope and passion for tradition. We established onsite quality control and ultimate expertise for our customers. Samples are made available to manufacturers of each leaf, also cut and ready to smoke, helping to introduce Balkan and Turkish all natural leaf to the industry. Last but not least, Yenidje tobacco was made available along with a few grades of Izmir, with even more coming.

   The biggest surprise were the Balkan Virginias, some of them created and advocated by our expert as a lifelong endeavor. Just imagine the ultimate Virginia flavor without a trace of bite and harshness. The perfect ingredient to combine with Oriental blends. And with our introduction of true water pipe smoking tobaccos, we likewise look forward to seeing a resurgence in this most social of smoking experiences.

   We based Balkan Prospect LLC on these basic values:

   Integrity, bringing value to our customer and the grower, highest quality and expertise to serve as advertising and education tool with the ultimate goal of helping create a new trend in the industry or rather help in bringing back a centuries old tradition, “The Art of Smoking,” back to life and preserve it for the future. In relation to our previous thoughts, some positive trends, also tradition related, were seen in the food Industry in recent years. The return of organic and health foods, and their steadily growing market share. The public obviously got tired of over processed, artificial, genetically engineered foods with bland taste and extra long shelf life, serving one purpose only - profits with no other value. Sounds familiar? This new healthy trend encourages growers and local growers most importantly, loving the land and their products making food the way it used to be.

So let us hope and work for a future where truly unique and wonderful tobaccos are once again savored and not abused.  For those who chose to smoke, that is as it should be, a matter of choice not habit.

Robert Meszaros
Balkan Prospect, LLC
Phone: 919-319-7720
Mobil: 919-413-7066
Fax: 1-866-573-4027
Email: balkanprospect@intrex.net