Hello from Lebanon

[JayAl]

Only 6 times, still doing well. Don't worry about the relights.

Well, some months into it and I feel more confident/competent. Using the breath method and a having a good feel for the packing density, I am able to keep the blend lit for 3/4 of the bowl, all the while smoking relatively cool (for aromatics and Va blends) and being able to taste the tobacco.

But I still struggle in the last third or quarter when the ash and the moisture build up. I usually know the ash off and relight. But in this phase I need to relight some 2 or 3 times before I call it a smoke and stop.

 

[rakovsky]

Dear Rakovsky,

Well I honestly don't feel informed enough to be able to reply with exactitude. My understanding is that we in Lebanon have a good tobacco plant/leaf and we grow some of the best. The preparation is typically the same (from my understanding) but this is regarding the leaf preparation cigarette blends. I don't know if we positively prepare for pipe tobacco. At least up till now I haven't seen any locally produced pipe tobacco sold anywhere. The tobacco is usually sold to the government for cigarettes.

Shukran - Thanks for your answer. There's a pretty classic tradition of having Oriental tobacco varieties with names like "Latakia", which is also the name of a city on the Syrian coast within driving distance of Lebanon. But I am saying this as an American Pipe smoker who grew up in the 1980's-1990's. "Oriental" blends are something that I hear about with a far older tradition that even a few generations before my time. If you go far enough back in time to the Ottoman period before WW1, people typically weren't even smoking filter cigarettes yet. Plus at that time, some trends might have developed culturally and regionally - you could have a pipe culture focusing on one kind of blend in the US like burleys and another culture with its own no less prestigious heritage in the Ottoman Empire at that time. It's interesting for me to learn about these other cultures and their classic pipe customs. What do you think? Do you have an idea of what kinds of tobacco leaf Lebanese people were smoking generations ago in those past eras?
Peace.

 

[rakovsky]

But I still struggle in the last third or quarter when the ash and the moisture build up. I usually know the ash off and relight. But in this phase I need to relight some 2 or 3 times before I call it a smoke and stop.

I think that this is alittle common. Sometimes I stir the bottom of my bowl with my match when it gets down that far, and then I relight it. But after a while it's hard to get much even out of that.
All the best.

 

[rakovsky]

@JayAl
I found this article kind of interesting:
From medicine to tradition: Evolution of tobacco in MENA region

From medicine to tradition: Evolution of tobacco in MENA region

AMMAN — Tobacco was introduced in the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th century by the Spanish and it was used as a medicine before further researched established that smoking tobacco caused dizziness, fatigue and odour in the mouth.The spread of tobacco around the world was a direct consequence...

jordantimes.com

Lebanon has an organization in charge of tobacco planting and importing called "Regie Libanaise de Tabacs et Tombacs (RLTT)". I wonder what "Tombacs" means?

Régie Libanaise | Who we are

The Lebanese Tobacco and Tunbac Monopoly Department (Regie), is a public organization controlled by the Lebanese Ministry of Finance.

www.regie.com.lb

 

[STP]

Welcome