A True Halloween Horror Story: The End of Latakia

[Worknman]

I only like latakia blends just enough to keep the palette honest, it makes up about 10% of my cellar. Id rather lose latakia than perique, which almost happened too from what I've heard. But having said that, more options is better than less, and losing any varietal would be a shame.

 

[olkofri]

I haven't seen a lot of smyrna, katerini, or kasturi available lately.

I thought they were talking about something less obscure: perique.

 

[strave19]

Perique. It’s perique.

The good news there is that others can/will take up the mantle, it might just be a few lean years until it gets available again.

I would think that orientals (or any varietals) could certainly be available again if the genetics survive. They might change depending where they are grown, but if there is money to be made, they will show up again. It is certainly easier to reproduce a variety than a complete and complex process like Latakia production, that also requires very specific other species to produce the smoke as well…

*disclaimer: this is a complete guess. I’m probably wrong

 

[Peter Turbo]

I'm more interested in what other hinted at component might be going the way of the Dodo.

if i had to guess it would be Perique, there was an interview smokingpipes did years ago where they toured STG i think and the owner was saying (at that time) that perique almost stopped being produced. if it wasnt for American Spirit using it in some of their cigarettes which from my understanding, saved it.

 

[cigrmaster]

The loss of Latakia will have no affect on me as I stopped smoking the stuff over a decade ago. If you are an English smoker, you had best stock up on your favorites.

 

[sablebrush52]

if i had to guess it would be Perique, there was an interview smokingpipes did years ago where they toured STG i think and the owner was saying (at that time) that perique almost stopped being produced. if it wasnt for American Spirit using it in some of their cigarettes which from my understanding, saved it.

Perique did come close to getting snuffed out, but is doing well at the moment. Don'tknow how this year's storms have affected the crop. The biggest threat seems to be from blenders sneaking in cheap dark fired as a substitute, which it is not.