Enjoying Latakia? Anyone?

[UB 40]

I love Latakia. As I started pipe smoking last year the aro someone gave to me burnt my tongue badly. I bought some Mac Baren navy cut, which was way better and Capstan Blue, which was boring compared to the spicy experience of halfzware shags I used for rolling my own cigarettes for decades. As I tried the Peterson version of 965 I found the smoking experience to be the most satisfying because of the Latakia and orientals compared to my old spicy cigarettes. Still I like a Latakia blend once in the evening and some pure Latakia out of the tin to spice up some of the boring Virginias I tried later. Perique is also a nice way to have some satisfaction while smoking. I don’t know what some of you call a lat bomb. Maybe it would be the Kieler Förde from Tom Darasz in Kiel, 50 percentage Latakia with burley and some orient. It’s a mild almost sweet smoke with not to much nicotine. I like it a lot, maybe nothing for the whole day long.

A yes, and I like strong cheese and coriander chillies in hot Indian dishes.

 

[drastic_quench]

I enjoy mixing cigar leaf with English blends for extra flavor and added vitamin N. The end result is a cigar in a pipe that is much more interesting than a $12+ cigar.

 

[Peter Turbo]

My issue is that I love smoking pipe tobacco. Sometimes it happens to have latakia, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Andriko]

Every now and then I think of giving a latakia blend another go, but I don't particularly wish to donate a pipe to it's ghost, and every time I open a jar of even a mild blend the smell puts me off.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

I enjoy mixing cigar leaf with English blends for extra flavor and added vitamin N. The end result is a cigar in a pipe that is much more interesting than a $12+ cigar.

I do this thing where I crumble the wrapper of whatever cigar I had the night before usually about a small 1 inch by 2 inch piece into a vaper like Elizabethan Mix for a little more body and flavor and kick.

- - -

As for OP...:

Man! I used to not care for Latakia whatsoever. I still have about 12 or so tins of various Latakia blends from years ago. So I popped a tin of Gaslight just to revisit the dark leaf and I’m enjoying the hell out of it! I’m predominantly a Va, Vaper, and VaBur smoker. I’ve been smoking this Gaslight for the last week and may have to dive deeper into this genre. This happen to any of you guys? I’ve seen many Latakia smokers transition to Virginias but how about from Virginias to English?

I feel like tastes can often wax and wane, sometimes I reach for vapers more, sometimes I reach for English, Lat bombs more. That said, I did start my pipe journey on Latakia - something about the taste is very appealing to me.

If you haven't already, try some SG Balkan Flake; it's a super cool smoking Lat bomb and one of my favorites.

 

[boston]

I used to enjoy Latakia almost exclusively. Then, my preference flipped to VA blends. Over a decade cellering primary Latakia blends and I rarely enjoy them now. Oh well....

 

[avail]

I love the flavor and aroma of Lat, especially straight up...Vintage Syrian, Paul's Morning Smoke (fave), Paul's Late Night. But, when I detect Lat blended into an aromatic, that really get's me...somehow I need to find more examples of this.

 

[jpmcwjr]

My issue is that I love smoking pipe tobacco. Sometimes it happens to have latakia, sometimes it doesn't.

Ah, good! You have a problem that isn't a problem!

 

[jpmcwjr]

I used to enjoy Latakia almost exclusively. Then, my preference flipped to VA blends. Over a decade cellering primary Latakia blends and I rarely enjoy them now. Oh well....

We do have a "For Sale" sub forum for chaps like yourself!

 

[Briar Lee]

I’m sitting here smoking a huge Bari freehand full of Sutliff Heavy English and it’s so good I want to find a sauce that tastes the same to use for an ice cream sundae.

Maybe a blend can have too much Latakia.

I’ve not found it yet.

 

[warren]

Me neither!

 

[UB 40]

I love the flavor and aroma of Lat, especially straight up...Vintage Syrian, Paul's Morning Smoke (fave), Paul's Late Night. But, when I detect Lat blended into an aromatic, that really get's me...somehow I need to find more examples of this.

Maybe Mac Baren’s Plumcake is something for you: Latakia, Burley, Virginias, Cavendish and Jamaica Rum.

 

[avail]

Maybe Mac Baren’s Plumcake is something for you: Latakia, Burley, Virginias, Cavendish and Jamaica Rum.

Thank you, that sounds pretty good to me. I also like Cavendish blends pretty well.

 

[PA Piper Mike]

Absolutely love latakia. I had an odd progression though, going from aromatics, to English, to Virginias.
Top favs would have to be:
SPC PPSR
Quiet Nights
Gaslight
Pirate Kake
Spark Plug

 

[timt]

Up to this point I'm not a lat guy but cooler weather has arrived along with the thought of latakia dabbling. Been smoking a lot of Voodoo Queen here recently which has just a smidge of latakia but I've got some Nightcap on deck that I've been sitting on for quite some time. I'm open to the possibility of developing a true appreciation for the stuff but if the Nightcap proves to be intolerable, I figure I can cut it with a healthy dose of the metric ton of Sutliff Virginia Slices I have on hand.

 

[boston]

We do have a "For Sale" sub forum for chaps like yourself!

Indeed! Unfortunately I'm too busy (maybe lazy) to manage those transactions. I may find some local Massachusetts pipers to sell to directly. Too bad there are no pipe shows here!