Esoterica Margate "Vs." Drucquer & Sons Levant

This comparo continues to be consistent for me, now having smoked these against each-other for a little while now. I talked a little bit about comparo-smoking these two in my (lengthy) "Piping Plans & Goals" thread, and here is basically what I had said about this a month or so back:

balkisobrains:

I've now been smoking bowls of...the Levant, and will comparo-smoke it to Margate by next week. I think that the Margate Oris might be a bit stronger, but I kept thinking that overall the Levant reminds me a lot of my jarred Margate with about a year of age on it, so I will have to check that out!"
"I've been comparo-smoking these for a little bit now."
"Obviously the Margate has more Latakia in it, and it is noticeable on the tongue when you smoke it. However, the Latakia in the Levant holds it's own and provides consistent good Latakia flavor throughout the bowl. It's possible that the Lat in the Levant is slightly sweeter and not as soapy as the Margate. that may be due to the ratios, I'm not really sure. Plus the Margate has the leaves and the chunks of flake (of Latakia) whereas the Levant has only the leaves (of Latakia).
The Levant is milder in flavor overall, and I'll get better flavor out of it if I smoke it in my briar author vs. my meer-lined author. Also it does better if you don't dry it out too much. It is pretty dry in the tin, so if the air is dry, I'll leave it out for an hour at most, pack it, smoke it, and it is good to go. Due to distractions I left a pinch out for half a day, packed it in my briar, left that sitting for another day, and that bowl was OK but sometimes the flavor was lacking.
But, I would say that the Levant is probably a decent stand-in for Margate. Closest thing that I have in my drawer, anyway. Beyond the difference in Latakia and the overall milder flavor of the Levant, they both have similar flavor profiles without much sticking out that is not like the other. I seem to feel that the Levant makes me think of the Margate, but maybe not the other way around. That is probably to Levants benefit, as it is a pretty good smoke to explore in its own right."

Click to expand...

I still feel the same way after smoking these against each-other on and off from then through now. Keep in mind that my Margate has been in a jar for about a year, so that might affect things, and I have not tried this with fresh Margate. Without over-thinking it, if I wanted a closer match with what I have now, I could probably just sprinkle some Latakia into the Levant until it got closer. I have not yet felt the need to do that, as I really enjoy smoking the Levant based on its own merits, as well as having been able to draw the comparison to Margate nearly every time, without altering the blend. Out of curiosity I will probably try to do it at some point just to see how it goes, though.
I am wondering if anyone else has smoked these two and noticed these things. At risk of creating a "mad rush" on Levant before I can stock up on more of it for myself, I draw more attention to my findings because Margate is most likely always going to be a PITA to get in any case, Levant will probably always be easier to get, and I haven't really heard of too many other good stand-ins for Margate. I came up with a couple that I initially thought were good. I decided that one was actually pretty far off taste-wise (New Sobranie), and one is probably much closer (New Our Best Blend + a little Latakia) but OBB is generally much harder to find than Margate, so that's not worth very much to those looking for a good stand-in for Margate right away. I would be interested to hear back from those who have smoked both the Levant and the Margate. Feel free to agree or disagree with my tastebuds! :puffpipe: