First Taste of Latakia... & I liked it!

pruss · Mar 20, 2013

Thanks to the first meeting of our newly formed pipe club I had a chance to smoke my first bowl of Gawith's Balkan Flake. This blend is advertised as having a "generous helping of Latakia". Based on what I'd read about Latakia I expected to find the flavour overpowering. This was not the case.
I found the Balkan Flake to be smooth and easy smoking, with a notes of salt, peat and smoke. Overall I found the flavour/aroma complex and interesting. The back end of the bowl held up and remained smooth and enjoyable.
A couple questions for you Latakia lovers... How does Balkan Flake's flavour/aroma rank up against other Latakia blends? Given that I enjoyed this bowl so much, what other blends would you recommend I try?
Thanks, as always, for the advice.
-- Pat

neverknowsbest · Mar 20, 2013

Balkan Flake is rather refined and a bit more subdued than some of the Cyprian Latmonsters on the market and it is a world removed in terms of preparation and presentation. I love the blend, but if you want to go off the deep end into the world of Latakia, check out:
Pirate Kake or Star of the East - C&D

Maltese Falcon or Quiet Nights - G.L. Pease

Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend - Dan Tobacco

Ten Russians - Captain Earle's
EDIT: That all of those except for Bill Bailey's are made by C&D isn't a mistake - I think they make some of the most robust English blends available.

puffy · Mar 20, 2013

I haven't smoked that blend so I can't say about it.There's a lot of Latakia blends around.Some are pretty mild and some are pretty heavy.Frog Morton On The Town is one of the milder ones.Dunhill 965 is an old favorite.Penzance is fairly heavy.It's my personal favotite.If you're interested in an less expensive bulk blend Lane HGL is available again.I'm sure folks here can recommend many good Latakia blends for you to try.

sparroa · Mar 20, 2013

Balkan Flake is as bland as the day is long, in my books.
It's one dimensional (nothing but Virginia and Latakia) and it has all of the hassle of a Gawith VA but offers none of the reward.
That's just my harsh judgment - don't let it dissuade you! Smoke what you like and like what you smoke.

GLP Westminster impressed me greatly when I was new to the world of latakia. It is more balanced than the others mentioned and it is considered to be closer to the "classical English mixture" than a latakia bomb.
Also, do not neglect to try a Syrian latakia blend while they are still around. McClelland Three Oaks Syrian, McClelland Wilderness, and MacBaren HH Vintage Syrian are some of your best bets...

Perique · Mar 20, 2013

Roth, what do you think of Seattle Pipe Club's Plum Pudding?

eazye77 · Mar 20, 2013

Pruss,
Plum Pudding or Mississippi is awesome. Although if your not big into the Lat, then it will be a turn off. If you are looking to go to another level with lat, then get some Frog Morton or C&D Pirate Kake. Good lat blends that are smooth and creamy. : puffy

:

judcole · Mar 20, 2013

I like Balkan Flake. As was pointed out above, it's not a lat bomb,but I find it a most enjoyable smoke. I don't have a tin open right now, but there's three sitting in the pantry for when I am ready to open something new.

brdavidson · Mar 20, 2013

I wished I had tried some Pat, I just wasn't feeling 100% so didn't want to ruin my first taste. Maybe next time, think I'm going to pickup a tin of Frog Morton Cellar before the April mtg and we can try that at the meeting.

chopsie · Mar 20, 2013

While its the only blend with Latakia I have smoked, Dunhill Nightcap is a very nice smoke in my opinion. Well worth the try.

captainbob · Mar 20, 2013

Yea, I love a Lat bomb now and then. I have not blended any, but I do enjoy them. The wife does not appreciate Latakia and she has a great nose for it (unfortunately). However she loves my CBB blend and has no idea that it is 1/16th Ltatakia. I figure it is the fact that it is a light English aromatic and the Latakia is masked to her by the aromatic. Yet, I do taste it and love it. When it comes to a Latakia blend of stature, my absolute favorite is Bishop's Move by Uhles Tobacco. The problem for me is that I live in Wisconsin with a 71% additional State tax! $85.00 for 14 ounces! There are a lot of great Latakia blends, but my favorite is Bishop's Move. So, if you live outside of Wisconsin, you can order it from them and avoid that horrible additional tax! And, I do personally highly recommend it. (I do keep an old stash of it and smoke it only outside in the comfortable weather months).

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vabriar · Mar 21, 2013

Glad you liked it. I'm not a huge latakia fan but find that I'm coming around to it maybe I'll have to give that blend a shot.

pruss · Mar 21, 2013

Thanks everyone for the recommendations, reviews and suggestions. Given that my cellar consists of two tins of tobacco it looks like I have some shopping to do!
It looks like I'm going to need to look around for SPC's Plum Pudding. Brian, that will be my contribution to next month's club meet-up.
Cheers all,
-- Pat

kashmir · Mar 21, 2013

I like Balkan Flake. You might want to try Star of the East (%50 Latakia), Pirate Kake (%70) or Westminster and Charing Cross. Great Lat blends. I got this graphic from Arno over on SF.

He's got a great website too:
http://dutchpipesmoker.wordpress.com/

spartan · Mar 21, 2013

I like latakia blends more when there is less of it.
When it's fresh it can be really powerful if the blender hasn't found an elegant way to round it out.
Many of the Balkan styled blends smooth out the latakia in a very nice way and I love them all the more for it.
Sadly I have not tried Gawith's Balkan Flake so this is just Jibber Jabber.

pruss · Mar 21, 2013

Sadly I have not tried Gawith's Balkan Flake so this is just Jibber Jabber.

Well I'm clearly a novice smoker, but I highly recommend Gawith's Balkan Flake. It was a delightful smoke from beginning to end. I look forward to amping up my latakia experience with some of the more robust and latakia forward blends listed above.
-- Pat

First Taste of Latakia... & I liked it!

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