Domestic Latakia?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,568
15,212
SE PA USA
I'm curious (or at least that's what folks say about me):
Latakia seems to be in everything these days. You can't blink an eye without a new Latakia blend showing up. So where is all this smoked tobacco coming from? Not Latakia, Syria, we know that, they are too busy killing each other. Greece? Cyprus? Turkey? Perhaps Virginia?
Judging from prices, I'm finding it entirely plausible that at least some Latakia is made here in the US. It costs about the same as other domestics, and seems to be in more than ready supply. Recent purchases also smell a lot like pine...very newly smoked pine.
I'm not saying domestic Latakia would be wrong, but it wouldn't be Latakia. That can only come from Latakia, Syria. But I'm more than certain that we could produce some very good and unique smoked tobaccos here. Seems like a market niche waiting to be explored.
Any informed opinions out there?

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
AFAIK, the only Latakia being produced now comes from Cyprus. They use Smyrna leaf, and that variety won't grow outside of Greece or Turkey (where it is called Izmir). I don't know what wood is used to smoke it.
American dark fired tobaccos, primarily Kentucky (a cultivar of Burley), and Virginia, do create a smoky taste that approaches that of Latakia, but the differences are obvious.
McClelland produces Cajun Black made from a Virginia leaf that is grown in Kentucky soil and is fire cured and further processed using a method similar to that used for Perique (fermentation). It has a smoky flavor too. McClelland apparently also has a supply of Syrian Latakia in their inventory (which is made from an Oriental variety called Shek-el-Bint).

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,568
15,212
SE PA USA
Thank you, Cortez, much appreciated.
If I ever get around to trying to grow my own leaf, I am most certainly going to try doing a Perique and Latakia kind of process.

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,916
Detroit
Yup, latakia originated in Syria, and then at some point they started doing it in Cyprus, too. Don't know when. Hasn't been Syrian lat available for 8 or 10 years. MacBaren has a lot of it - that's all they use. Even before production stopped in Syria, most lat blends used the Cyprian variety.

 

tarak

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
1,528
15
South Dakota
Yeah not sure there could be such a thing as "Domestic Lat"....as it a smoked cured oriental leaf- and not sure that could grow here correctly.
We do have dark fired Kentucky.....which certainly isn't Latakia.....just its distant cousin perhaps.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
As relates to Latakia, pipe smokers right now seem to agree with the old Mae West line:

"Too much of a good things is ... wonderful!"

 

undecagon

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2011
592
3
Chicago, IL
Whenever this comes up, it's pointed out that the oriental leaf doesn't grow correctly here....
BUT - What I want to know is; Can we take a non-oriental leaf (Virgina or Burley...something grown here in the states) and treat it like Latakia is treated (cured over burning oak)? I know it won't taste like Cyprian Latakia. But Cyprian and Syrian don't take totally alike either! So - where is the USA Latakia?
Also, if someone can force Greg or Russ to comment, that'd be excellent!

 

tarak

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
1,528
15
South Dakota
Undcsgon - unless I'm wrong, we have what you're referring to. It's called Dark Fired Kentucky.
Delicious? Yes. Latakia? No.

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
Can someone here tell me what tobacco variety "Mahogany" leaf is, (e.g. like a Burley type)?
I have wondered about that as well. If I’m not mistaken, the original University Flake used to list Mahogany on the tin...but the more recent incarnation does not.

 

undecagon

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2011
592
3
Chicago, IL
Undcsgon - unless I'm wrong, we have what you're referring to. It's called Dark Fired Kentucky.
Delicious? Yes. Latakia? No.
Is that how dark fired is prepared? If so....then cool! Mystery solved

 

tarak

Lifer
Jun 23, 2013
1,528
15
South Dakota
Undecagon-
I believe its a burley leaf that is cured over smoke.
Someone smarter than me please step and confirm or vehemently deny this information :)

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Russ Ouellette said
Latakia’s signature campfire-like flavor and aroma comes from the fact that the tobacco is hung in barns with an open fire

made of aromatic woods and herbs which produces smoke that saturates the leaf until it’s black. [emphasis mine]
Maybe access to the Orientals, and the recipe for the "aromatic woods & herbs" used in fumigating them, is a barrier to American production.

I IRC, Syria placed a moratorium on harvesting the wood used in producing Latakia, not the tobacco itself.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,568
15,212
SE PA USA
We need to get some BBQers into pipes!
There are commercial smokers available that control for, and are programmable for, smoke volume, humidity and temperature. Granted, it would poduce a small volume of tobacco, but it would be perfect for pilot plant work.
Latakia is made with Smyrna, correct? That's also known as Izmir. Izmir grows here in the US just fine, although the end product would certainly be different than the same seed grown in Turkey, given the change in climate and soil. The goal here, I think, would not be to duplicate Latakia, but to make something new and different.
BTW, here is some good reading on "oriental" tobaccos
http://dutchpipesmoker.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/oriental-opulence-part-1/
"Tobaccoland"
Tobaccoland is available in paperback for $1.65

 
Status
Not open for further replies.