Back in the early 70's a neighbor was a pipe smoker and he smoked a Dr. Grabow straight stem Viking pipe and Captain Black white, being a kid , I was intrigued and I went to a local gas station on my bicycle and purchased a Dr. Grabow bent stem Viking pipe and a pouch of Captain Black white and started smoking that and learning the in's and out's of pipe smoking from him. When in my early 20's, I went to my first ever real Tobacconist shop and I bought a Craftmaster bent Dublin ( which I still have and smoke ) and the tobacconist asked what I smoked and he gave me a house blend that was similar to Captain Black and I saw tins of tobacco for the first time and was intrigued by a tin of EMP and asked about it and ended up getting it as well. After trying the EMP, I quickly tossed the Captain Black house blend and started smoking EMP all of the time and the tobacconist asked me later on if I could say what flavor it was that I liked so much in it and I told him that it was something that tasted smoky and meaty in it. And he opened a jar of Latakia and told me to smell it and that was the golden ticket for me! I love Latakia heavy blends or straight Latakia to this day. I do smoke some BCA occasionally , but I'm not much on other Aromatics. I purchased a pouch of Captain Black white a few months ago on a whim to see if I liked it , and only smoked one bowl and never tried it again. I am a Latakia fan for life!
