Good morning, thought to write about these four tobaccos from HU I've been smoking. I've finished Zulu, Fayyum, and now smoking Khoisaan and Port Latakia (used to be called Sweet Latakia).
Rauchen ist tödlich... We know, Leben ist auch tödlich, it's how you live it, so let's go!
Zulu
This is a strong Latakia blend, that much is obvious, I'd say the defining aspect of this blend for me was the spiciness. Sweetish, spicy, and incense-like with Latakia feeling like the supporting character despite clocking in at a whopping 58%. I guess this was the intension, and very successful too as this feels very well blended, and refined.
The incense character is the defining thing, and memory I have of this blend, it reminds me a bit of C&D's Byzantium - another blend I really enjoyed. Sometimes in the middle of a bowl I really felt privileged in tasting such a great blend. I have to compare with Nightcap as it's the tobacco I've smoked most of by far, it lacks the bready character I get out of Nightcap, but it makes up for it by a complex sweet, savoury and spicy taste despite the oriental leaf (Djebel - I really don't know orientals so can't comment on how strong it is) being listed low in the ingredients on the tin.
It seems that with Latakia blends I fail to notice any huge differences, I know whether I like it or not. This one I like, not enough to warrant thinking how I am going to go about obtaining a mountain of it, but enough to enjoy every bowl I had. 4 stars for sure
Fayyum
It took me a while to like this blend, my first 10-15 bowls were in the 2-star category as I felt it has too much Latakia.
The thing with Latakia for me is that past some point (I don't want to say % because I recall a G. L. Pease article where he says it's not the actual % of Latakia in a blend, but everything else as well which determines how strong it tastes- for the record Fayyum is described as having 65%) it tastes a bit too creosote and tarry (on a good day) and tar fire (on a bad day) which I don't like, and unfortunately this was the case with Fayyum.
That is, until I let the tin air out for a few days, mixing it a couple of times per day to distribute the tobacco, and let it air and dry a bit. This seems to have fixed things and now it is a full-tasting, strong English, with powerful Latakia taste, and actually quite a bit of sweetness which was not apparent at the start. The thing about the sweetness is that it is heavy-tasting, oily, what you get from a middle Eastern (or Greek) desert, and there's always a bitter tar aftertaste which WORKS, but is just not 100% my thing.
Having smoked and really enjoyed HU Zulu, this is definitely heavier, smokier and with a different kind of spiciness from Zulu. Certainly a very well made blend but for my tastes Zulu hits the spot better, maybe it is the lack of oriental leaf and Perique. Very good, but 3 stars for me.
Khoisaan
I've smoked 5 or 6 bowls from this one so far so my review may be a bit green, however I'm confident about it because they were all very consistent.
This is a somewhat unusual mix of condimental tobaccos: fire-cured Virginia, Perique, Latakia, according to the description on tobacco reviews, but you see the tin also lists Dark Fired Kentucky. This is much stronger in the nose than the other blends in terms of nicotine. The Latakia is the defining leaf of course but it is being muscled around by the other powerful players, they don't let it dominate, I like it!
Really not a lot more to say, the key points is that it is strong compared with most other Latakia blends, the Latakia is there but it doesn't dominate, or reach "tire fire" levels, and has quite a bit of spice and woodyness (is this the DFK talking to us or the fire-cured Virginia?). Strangely enough, Perique is something I do not taste so much of, but that's likely on me as I'm never able to pick it out in Lat blends. The other point of this blend is that it has a lot of body, bready, yet not sweet. 4 Stars.
Port Latakia
Finally, a blend from Mr Wiedemann's original lineup, which by the way used Syrian Latakia before switching to Cypriot (or Turkish in fact as I read recently).
I've been wanting to smoke a bona fide sweet Latakia for ages, not that there's no sweetness to be found here and there in more or less any tobacco, but an actually sweet blend. When I decided to crack Khoisaan I wasn't looking in my drawer so absent mindedly picked a tin up thinking it is Khoisaan while it was in fact Port Latakia. I only checked the label a split second after the sweet, vanilla-like smell hit me. This is clearly not the type of sweetness you get when opening say a VaPer, it is artificial for sure, but it is soft and delightful. Sniffing the tin quite a bit before loading a lighting gave me that sweetness at the start, and the Latakia underneath, and this is exactly how it smokes.
The first half of the bowl is vanilla-like sweetness backed by Latakia smokiness, and a good body. It is definitely nowhere near as stout as the previous three blends, this is easygoing and relaxed. No harsh taste to be found anywhere, the Latakia content is at 50% so no tire fires or creosote. Midway through the bowl the sweetness of the toping dissipates and the Latakia comes to the foreground, supported by Virginia giving it body, and the Orientals giving it a cumin-like spice. Black Cavendish is also listed on the tin (yet not on tobaccoreviews), which is likely the carrier of the sweet topping. 4 stars
And there you have it, four excellent blends, with only Fayyum being a notch below for my tastes due to the heaviness and the occasional tarry taste. All four are complex, satisfying, and very well made, all smoke very well but really benefit from a touch of drying (and Zulu and Fayyum by leaving the tin open for a day or two to air out).
Thanks for reading!
Rauchen ist tödlich... We know, Leben ist auch tödlich, it's how you live it, so let's go!
Zulu
This is a strong Latakia blend, that much is obvious, I'd say the defining aspect of this blend for me was the spiciness. Sweetish, spicy, and incense-like with Latakia feeling like the supporting character despite clocking in at a whopping 58%. I guess this was the intension, and very successful too as this feels very well blended, and refined.
The incense character is the defining thing, and memory I have of this blend, it reminds me a bit of C&D's Byzantium - another blend I really enjoyed. Sometimes in the middle of a bowl I really felt privileged in tasting such a great blend. I have to compare with Nightcap as it's the tobacco I've smoked most of by far, it lacks the bready character I get out of Nightcap, but it makes up for it by a complex sweet, savoury and spicy taste despite the oriental leaf (Djebel - I really don't know orientals so can't comment on how strong it is) being listed low in the ingredients on the tin.
It seems that with Latakia blends I fail to notice any huge differences, I know whether I like it or not. This one I like, not enough to warrant thinking how I am going to go about obtaining a mountain of it, but enough to enjoy every bowl I had. 4 stars for sure
Fayyum
It took me a while to like this blend, my first 10-15 bowls were in the 2-star category as I felt it has too much Latakia.
The thing with Latakia for me is that past some point (I don't want to say % because I recall a G. L. Pease article where he says it's not the actual % of Latakia in a blend, but everything else as well which determines how strong it tastes- for the record Fayyum is described as having 65%) it tastes a bit too creosote and tarry (on a good day) and tar fire (on a bad day) which I don't like, and unfortunately this was the case with Fayyum.
That is, until I let the tin air out for a few days, mixing it a couple of times per day to distribute the tobacco, and let it air and dry a bit. This seems to have fixed things and now it is a full-tasting, strong English, with powerful Latakia taste, and actually quite a bit of sweetness which was not apparent at the start. The thing about the sweetness is that it is heavy-tasting, oily, what you get from a middle Eastern (or Greek) desert, and there's always a bitter tar aftertaste which WORKS, but is just not 100% my thing.
Having smoked and really enjoyed HU Zulu, this is definitely heavier, smokier and with a different kind of spiciness from Zulu. Certainly a very well made blend but for my tastes Zulu hits the spot better, maybe it is the lack of oriental leaf and Perique. Very good, but 3 stars for me.
Khoisaan
I've smoked 5 or 6 bowls from this one so far so my review may be a bit green, however I'm confident about it because they were all very consistent.
This is a somewhat unusual mix of condimental tobaccos: fire-cured Virginia, Perique, Latakia, according to the description on tobacco reviews, but you see the tin also lists Dark Fired Kentucky. This is much stronger in the nose than the other blends in terms of nicotine. The Latakia is the defining leaf of course but it is being muscled around by the other powerful players, they don't let it dominate, I like it!
Really not a lot more to say, the key points is that it is strong compared with most other Latakia blends, the Latakia is there but it doesn't dominate, or reach "tire fire" levels, and has quite a bit of spice and woodyness (is this the DFK talking to us or the fire-cured Virginia?). Strangely enough, Perique is something I do not taste so much of, but that's likely on me as I'm never able to pick it out in Lat blends. The other point of this blend is that it has a lot of body, bready, yet not sweet. 4 Stars.
Port Latakia
Finally, a blend from Mr Wiedemann's original lineup, which by the way used Syrian Latakia before switching to Cypriot (or Turkish in fact as I read recently).
I've been wanting to smoke a bona fide sweet Latakia for ages, not that there's no sweetness to be found here and there in more or less any tobacco, but an actually sweet blend. When I decided to crack Khoisaan I wasn't looking in my drawer so absent mindedly picked a tin up thinking it is Khoisaan while it was in fact Port Latakia. I only checked the label a split second after the sweet, vanilla-like smell hit me. This is clearly not the type of sweetness you get when opening say a VaPer, it is artificial for sure, but it is soft and delightful. Sniffing the tin quite a bit before loading a lighting gave me that sweetness at the start, and the Latakia underneath, and this is exactly how it smokes.
The first half of the bowl is vanilla-like sweetness backed by Latakia smokiness, and a good body. It is definitely nowhere near as stout as the previous three blends, this is easygoing and relaxed. No harsh taste to be found anywhere, the Latakia content is at 50% so no tire fires or creosote. Midway through the bowl the sweetness of the toping dissipates and the Latakia comes to the foreground, supported by Virginia giving it body, and the Orientals giving it a cumin-like spice. Black Cavendish is also listed on the tin (yet not on tobaccoreviews), which is likely the carrier of the sweet topping. 4 stars
And there you have it, four excellent blends, with only Fayyum being a notch below for my tastes due to the heaviness and the occasional tarry taste. All four are complex, satisfying, and very well made, all smoke very well but really benefit from a touch of drying (and Zulu and Fayyum by leaving the tin open for a day or two to air out).
Thanks for reading!
