Exploring Syrian Lat

I LOVE HH VINTAGE. However be aware it takes anywhere from 30 min to an hour to get the dryness right. Personally I wait atleast 45 min. Also if smoked and dried right you will still get a bite from Macbaren similar to cinnamon candy but not as strong. Also for some reason Macbaren also is better if packed lighter than other tobaccos. According to others who have helped me out Macbaren also recommends this. If you have some cash and can find it I recommend getting some G.L. Pease Bohemian Scandal it is fairly rare and will cost you but it is well worth it.

I have a post on my blog about Syrian latakia, it also has recommendations: http://dutchpipesmoker.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/syrian-latakia/

Great blog arno

I really like Arno's recommendations after each blog post. They are spot on

HH Vintage Syrian is top notch. I smoke it regularly.
You might enjoy smoking other MacB latakia blends. The Solent Mixture is tasty - less latakia then HH VS, and a rum top note, but it's a very pleasant blend.
Happy puffing.

I love Syrian latakia but was very disappointed by Rose of Latakia (as well as McC's Syrian Full and Super Balkans).
I'd suggest replacing it with Frog Morton across the Pond, which at least formerly had Syrian latakia (not sure if it still does, since I've not picked up any recent tins).
I don't usually say this, but if you really want to experience some glorious leaf, save up and pick up tins of Pease's Bohemian Scandal and Raven's Wing online. BS is unlike anything else out there.
Bob

Definitely try Ashton's Artesian Blend, it is very nice. However, Arno posted on another forum that the German tobacco manufacturers are out of Syrian latakia, presumably due to the chaos in Syria right now. Better stock up while you can.
I hope he does not mind, but here is Arno's post regarding the Syrian Latakia.
I heard from a very reliable source that German tobacco producers Kohlhase & Kopp and DTM (both also producers of HU Tobacco) sadly no longer have Syrian latakia. Because of this German Ashton, Solani and HU Tobacco blends no longer contain the Syrian dark leaf..

Thank you mr. English, I just wanted to post it here I also wrote it on my "Syrian latakia" post on my blog.

And I don't think stocking up will work. I think they were pretty much out of the Syrian leaf a long time ago. Maybe they added a few strands of it and said it contained Syrian. I smoked some 5 year old K&K made Ashton Artisan's Blend and it tasted to me like Cyprian.. If my resource had not asked around, K&K and DTM probably would have silently and gradually changed their tin labels.

In that regard I really respect the American tobacco manufacturers. When Cornell & Diehl had no more Syrian latakia they instantly pulled the plug on the production and let the people know they were out of it.

This may be the reason the Brebbia Latakias changed over their blend names? eg Classic English No. 70?
hp

les

I am smoking Macbaren HH Vintage Syrian right now and it is delicious. Definitely one to try.

Thanks, Arno.
Fnord

Latakia jihadists can just buy Robert McConnell PURE LATAKIA and mix it with any other blend.

Syrian has been, for the most part, unobtainable in much quantity for a couple of generations now. Every now and then, a large or small shipment would come through (or be found discovered sitting in some neglected warehouse in Greece or someplace) and the tobacco manufacturers would grab it up. Apparently, in the late '90s/early 2000s, there was a short window in which some high quality Syrian leaf was available. Several manufacturers leaped on the opportunity, both in the US and in Europe. In the US, the shipment belonging to C&D/GL Pease ended up being destroyed in a warehouse fire in '03 or '04 (my memory lags here). McClelland, however, stored their part of the shipment elsewhere and has therefore been able to continue producing Syrian blends. They will eventually run out, of course, but for the moment they are still producing some excellent Syrian blends, such as Three Oaks and also Wilderness (which is probably the closely thing to a Syrian "lat bomb" on the market right now, as it contains more than 30 percent of that venerable product). As for the European blenders, I simply don't know their status. It's entirely possible they still have some product in storage, it might be the case that they are out, or they might be gradually diluting the amount of Syrian and gradually replacing it with Cyprian.

Also, I personally think it's unlikely that Syrian latakia will ever be produced again. It's not been unavailable just because of politics. It's also been unavailable because the Syrian gov't banned its production because large swaths of the country were being completely deforested in order to produce the large quantities once needed to supply the large pipe tobacco market that existed at one time. I don't think it's been made on any significant, consistent scale since the 1960s or early 1970s.

I recommend the first two you mention, not the rose, though the rose might be good blended.