When it is around 90F in the shade, and just walking outside drenches me in sweat, smoking a latakia or dark fired blend is suffocating to me. It actually repulses me. I prefer sweeter blends in the heat or a cigar. However, as the night air cools and the leaves begin to change colors, and I have to burn off dropped limbs and leaves, latakia and dark fire appeals to me. I actually like it even better as it gets cold enough to build a fire in the fireplace, but in Alabama, that season doesn't last very long.
On the radioshow quite a while back they mentioned that sweeter aromatics and Virginias were vastly more popular worldwide, in warmer regions; whereas, in colder regions latakia is the most preferred tobacco. It sort of explains why I have never seen anyone smoking latakia in the South growing up. When I first explored the latakia blends, it was like exploring something totally alien. I had no way to relate to the flavors, except wood burning. But, of course there is always going to be outliers, people who don't fit the norm for their area. Especially in this age of internet pipe smokers, people are learning "everything" they know from the webs, and regional smoking doesn't mean anything to them.
