Could I Have Some Sort of Latakia Sensitivity?

[lawdawg]

That sucks. Now you just send me those crappy old tins of FMC and Eso Penzance and i will personally throw them away for you....

How generous... I'm sure he could still use your help SIX YEARS after his original post puf

 

[sandollars]

LOL! missed that...... . Lawyers...

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Strangely enough, Latakia blends tend to bite my tongue. Has to be some chemical reaction. I like the taste of a number of Latakia blends but can only smoke most of them sparingly. Not happy about it but it is what it is.

 

[oldtoby]

It's pretty easy to over do the English blends as they tend not to bite. That might also be the culprit. Though my friend who was a pipe blender at my first local brick and mortar had a documentable allergy to latakia and he didn't have to smoke it to get that problem. He hated that because he loved the way it smelled but he'd sneeze and his nose would close and it even made his skin itchy if he didn't wear gloves.

Where is the B&M you speak of if you don’t mind my asking? Reason being, I knew a guy who was affected by Latakia in the same way.

 

[trubka2]

Strangely enough, Latakia blends tend to bite my tongue.

I have a similar thing, but with the additional wrinkle that US-produced Latakia blends are no fun, but I can smoke the British and German ones no problem. Light GH Latakia blends I love, Rattray's and SG Lats are fine, but GLP Lats kind of put the hurt on me, and I can't hardly smoke the C&D Latakia blends. Still enjoy some of them once in a while, though. Another weird thing is I'm getting super-sensitive to Latakia and can detect it even in the tiniest amounts (the "whisper of Latakia" in some blend descriptions is more of a shout). My palate is a pretty blunt instrument yet, so Lat is definitely the exception. Hope this changes by the time it starts getting cold out.

 

[Merton]

Latakia is sometimes an acquired taste. When I was starting as a pipe smoker I found that I could not get enough of English blends and I was fortunate, living in Boston, that Peretti's was close by and produced some of the finest English and Oriental blends anywhere (still does). In those days you could contact them and they would send out a sample. Dunhill was still in the tobacco business and there were lots of other English blends out there (anyone remember a blend called Punchestown?). I loved FMC when it first came out and also SPC Plum Pudding (especially the reserve). Sometimes now, however, i find the smell and taste of Latakia to be off putting. Sort of like having eaten way too much licorice and then having to smell it or taste an anise liquer. As a result I have really minimized my use of Latakia blends.
I think that the Islay scotch analogy is apt. If you don't like it, you really won't need to be told not to drink it. You will not like it...a lot. One of the great things about pipe smoking is, i think, the great diversity of blends. There are lots of options out there and over the course of years and certainly a lifetime your taste will change and even revert. For example, I think that it is great that people love Virginia flakes (with or without perique). I really wanted to like them and have tried many, all without any enjoyment. I have read and heard people wax rhapsodic about Dunhill flake and Escudo. For me, i simply don't enjoy them and am happy not to smoke them while recognizing that others love them. Doesn't make me right and them wrong, or vice versa. Smoke what you like right now. It will likely change over time. There is, I think, a bit too much snobbery in our, for want of a better word, hobby. It is not rampant but it is there and it is not necessary.

 

[anotherbob]

Where is the B&M you speak of if you don’t mind my asking? Reason being, I knew a guy who was affected by Latakia in the same way.

It was Tobacco Tavern in State College Pa.

 

[krizzose]

That’s a bummer, as it shuts off a whole genre of blends to you. I have no physical adverse reaction to Latakia, I just thoroughly dislike it. Also a bummer for me, because I like how cool it smoked and the creamy texture of the smoke. But there are more than enough lat-free blends out there to enjoy.