Loss Of Latakia Taste

fitzy · May 16, 2013

Ok so I love my Latakia blends. However over the past month or 2 I've noticed a distinct decrease in the taste of Latakia. It seems I have to smoke stronger and stronger blends to get that same taste. I keep my open tins in tightly sealed mason jars filled to the brim so I don't think it's a degradation of the tobacco in anyway. Certainly not in a months worth of time.
Is that just me? Am I crazy?

kashmir · May 16, 2013

Sounds like Latakia saturation of the olfactory and gustatory receptors. Try smoking VAs, VA/Pers, Burley blends,for a couple weeks, then go back to your Latakia blends. I've heard strong black tea is a good palate cleanser. Might give that a try. Also some pipes sing with Latakia, while others to be honest don't. That's why I dedicate pipes to different blends, but it takes a good while to sort that out. But once you do, you can come back to a given pipe / blend pair and predict the smoke before the first light. Course it takes a dozen pipes to start with, but after a while with different blends the pipes'll begin to speak to you.

pitchfork · May 16, 2013

I think I've been there before and it sounds like palate fatigue. These days, I mostly smoke VA's and burley's (and combinations thereof), but when I occasionally go back to a latakia blend (about once a week or so), they taste amazing.

fitzy · May 16, 2013

I've got a bunch of other pipes set aside for Virginia's and Aromatics.
I've got 3 pipes dedicated to Latakia but it didn't seem to make a difference on pipe or blend. I had that loss of taste in all.
I'll have to try everyone's suggestion to take a break from the Latakia and smoke some nice Virginia's for a while.

eazye77 · May 16, 2013

Everyone is right. You need to take some time off from it. I love lat blends too, but try not to smoke them all the time. I smoke lats when I have a craving for them.

flyguy · May 16, 2013

Yes, Latakia can make your palate insensitive. Good advice here.

judcole · May 16, 2013

Yup,I'm with everyone else. I love my lat blends, but that's not all I smoke. At least 1/3 of my smoking is Va or burley blends. And when I smoke a lat blend, it's not a "lat bomb" most of the time.

mso489 · May 16, 2013

Latakia is such a distinct taste, it can wear out its welcome if smoked too steadily. But I think that's true of most

flavoring tobaccos and blends. I like aromatics in rotation, but sometimes, I just lay off for the same reason.

Or English blends. Or Balkan. The luxury of being able to come to strong blends after a rest is a good one.

I think that is one of the misunderstandings about some of the old over-the-counter brands. They are designed

to be smoked steadily, sometimes for years. They have moderate flavor so they don't get old.

foggymountain · May 20, 2013

I suspect that the blenders are gradually reducing the amount of Lat in their products. Especially Syrian. There is no more Latakia being grown in that country because of the war, so they can't replenish their supply. This is especially applicable to MacBaren, because they only use Syrian. There is also a crisis in Cyprus, a financial crisis. This also could affect tobacco supply. Have they started growing and preparing the stuff in China yet?

mirain · May 22, 2013

I had this experience not long ago. Being an avid English blend smoker I craved the latakia flavor but it stopped being satisfying and enjoyable. Although I've tried Virginia and VaPers I never got the hang of this variety of tobacco. For a time I switched to Orientals which are quite the opposite end of the spectrum in my opinion. I smoked many different Orientals (enjoying them immensely) for about three months, not touching anything with latikia in it.
When I went back to my beloved English blends I was pleasantly surprised how wonderful they tasted. Just taking a break made all the difference.

eaglerico · May 22, 2013

I've noticed a distinct decrease in the taste of Latakia

It may just be me, but I don't think this is such a bad thing. :nana:

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