It had come to my attention as of late, that in my exploration of different blends over the past two decades, that I had not tried an oriental forward blend. I made a few inquiries, and Yenidge Highlander came highly recomended. The blend itself is composed of yenidje orientals, syrian and cyprian latakia, with red virginia and maryland to balance it out. It sounded similar to balkan blends that I enjoy, so I chose the appropriate pipe for the task. The tin note presented a spicy sweetness not unlike the very lightest of cinnamon with fruit undertones. The latakia smokiness is detectable, but very far in the background. Upon lighting, I am greeted with the familiar sweetness of virginias and the lat campfire on the back of my tongue, but on the retrohale is when the blend really revealed itself to me. There is a sweet exotic spicyness that I instantly fell in love with much like the first time I made the acquaintance of Lady Latakia. Would highly recommend this one to an english fan, but anyone seeking something different should give it a go. Smoked in a Weaver crossgrain blowfish with no perceivable tongue bite.
It was the first time I had experienced anything that new since the first time I started trying english blends back in the midnineties, and it was quite an eye opener! Need more exploration in the oriental forward category to be certain, but this may be my new go to genre! As far as knocking Balkan Sobanie out of my top spot, not sure...yet. :wink: As a side note, my wife even commented how nice this one smells. She only says that when I am smoking the occasional bowl of vanilla pie from my local B&M.
