I smoked two bowls of Black Frigate (pretty much back-to-back) and could literally not taste any latakia. I'm pretty confident there is only a miniscule amount of latakia in the blend. Whatever you aren't liking about Black Frigate is probably something other than the latakia. Of course it's also possible I could've just been having one of those days where tastes are a little off, and it's also possible you just really really dislike latakia and are sensitive to it.
Well, at the beginning (2 weeks ago or so) I found a somewhat similar and pungent taste in both John Cotton's and Black Frigate and, reading the descriptions, I deduced it was the latakia.
Maybe it was "placebo", but I still think there's something in common between those two.
What do you think it may be if not the latakia?
Today, 2 weeks later, John Cotton's tastes very smoky to me, but mild. Black Frigate's taste is harder to pinpoint (more diverse/complex IMO), but there is definitely some link between the two.