FMC, Latakia, and Me

sjfine · Sep 17, 2015

I just tried my first bowl of FMC, my first bowl of anything with latakia in it really. Well, that's not entirely true. When I first picked up the hobby, I was told to try some mild English blends, and I did. But the way I was smoking back then, I might as well have been smoking toxic waste, so it doesn't really count.
So, now that the taste has come back to me, I realize that it may be a very long time before I become an English smoker. I could not get through even half a bowl. What many people describe as "woodsy" or "campfire," I seem to perceive as perfume.
So, now I have 2.99 tins of Frog Morton: one FMOTT, one FMOTB, and .999 FMC. And I don't know what to do with them.
I'm going to go scald my tongue and smoke some OGS in my new Peterson bulldog.

hakchuma · Sep 17, 2015

I'll take those tins off your hands

aggravatedfarmer · Sep 17, 2015

Did someone say free frog Morton samples!?! :D

andrew · Sep 17, 2015

Frog morton uses sweetened Latakia I believe, that perfume taste is the incense like taste people talk about that alot of balkan blends have. You may like something like Dunhill Early Morning Pipe or 965 if you want to try latakia again.

sjfine · Sep 17, 2015

Thanks, Andy. I'm not sure if my palate is able to distinguish that well on this point. The "English" thing came rushing back to me, that's for sure. I believe that I had tried a Dunhill back when I was first getting into pipes. This was very much like that.
I was a cigar smoker. I equate Va's VaPer's, Bur's and VaBurs, with Cuban cigars (a little) and, now, English with Acids. I could not stomach Acid cigars.
I suppose that Latakia is just not for me.

allan · Sep 17, 2015

Before you swear off Latakia forever, I'd like to mention that I have several tins of Frog Morton Cellar which I purchased when I first discovered Lat blends-and now I don't enjoy it.
Andy is correct, or at least I agree with him. Dunhill 965, EMP do not in any way taste like Frog Morton with that special 'zing' of whatever that I do not care for at all. Not to mention the entire list of Lat blends that are wonderful.
Once you go Lat, you never go back.
Hey, it rhymed, so I had to write that. LOL

jkrug · Sep 17, 2015

Jar the open tins and store them for a few months and give them another try. The blends may mellow and meld together and become more to your liking. My first go at Quiet Nights was similar to your experience and I found the tin note and taste to be just awful. I set it aside for about five months then tried it again and it had mellowed substantially...we are quite good friends now. : puffy

:

sjfine · Sep 17, 2015

allan writes:

Before you swear off Latakia forever,...

jkrug writes:

...store them for a few months and give them another try.

Although I don't hold out much hope, my tastes did change from aros to Va's, etc., so it is certainly within the realm of possibility that Latakia could grow on me. I will heed the advice, and hope for the campfire thing to take hold.
Thanks, guys.

maxx · Sep 17, 2015

Thread title brought this to mind -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ssbgThljU

frozenchurchwarden · Sep 17, 2015

I agree it would be best to jar them.

The great thing about Frog Morton is it's actually a decent Virginia base, so they should age reasonably well vs. a cavendish aromatic which is just going to get weaker.
Unless you wait more than ten years to finish it off you don't have to be in any rush to get back to them.

bonehed · Sep 17, 2015

You may be opposed to Cyprian Latakia. Try Syrian. I believe 'Across the Pond' employs Syrian.

sjfine · Sep 17, 2015

Is that a thing? My sense memory came rushing back and I remember the overall taste. I quickly gravitated towards aro's in the beginning. (Back then, I didn't know that Va's weren't "English" and I didn't understand that there were more than two categories.
Do the countries of origin matter that much?
It seems to me that, even if I took away some of the sharpness of the "perfume" that I sensed, I would still be left with the perfume. It seems to me that I would be trading one "Acid" cigar for another.

deathmetal · Sep 17, 2015

I seem to perceive as perfume.

Throw it in a jar, give it some time. If you have some spare Virginia, adulterate it. Many of the newer English blends, especially from the USA, tend to overstate the Latakia and its overdominance of flavor creates a sensation like perfume or soapiness. H&H "Admiralty" did this for me, so it's now aging away somewhere.

andrew · Sep 17, 2015

I'd put it up for trade which should be pretty easy considering all the FM fans. Personally I don't like FM because of the sweetened latakia

bonehed · Sep 18, 2015

Do the countries of origin matter that much?

Yes, they are quite different flavors...though you may be right with the idea of trading perfume for perfume. Just wanted you to be aware that not all Latakia is created equally.

redpanda · Sep 19, 2015

Latakia = Goody,goody,goody!!

jpmcwjr · Sep 19, 2015

Test of Lat pipe photo

jpmcwjr · Sep 19, 2015

The previous attempt was from iPad; this is from a laptop.

Let us be benign. This is a heavy lat. blend smoked to a fine white ash! But it's mostly trying to answer a question regarding posting photos from an iPad. I couldn't do it, but perhaps someone else can, here or in a more appropriate thread.

FMC, Latakia, and Me

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