How can I be loosing my taste for Latakia? Has anyone else had this experience?

[ltstone]

Yeah Latakia wears out my tastebuds sometimes . I loves me some Lancer Slices but by the end of the bowl that sharp contrast of smoky lat and hay virginias turns into a hazy mess.

 

[seagullplayer]

I never cared much for it to start with. For me every blend that has it smells like moldy woods.
I do have a mild blend called fox and hound that I can kind of enjoy, but it has been "cellar-ed"

for a long time to tame it a bit. And it sometimes months between bowls. Maybe enjoy was too strong

a word...

 

[skraps]

I started out hating it, then falling in love with it. Few years ago, I lost the taste for it, and actually found that it irritated my tongue a bit. Now, I appreciate it in very small, condiment proportions in a blend, but that's where it ends.

 

[jerwynn]

I find my tastes are changing all the time, sometimes stealthily, sometimes all at once. What's one favorite bakkie for a time, is completely off the radar later. I find this mystifying as I can't really predict where would be the best tobaccos to cellar before the Tobaccopolypse. But this self-same thing always compels to me want to constantly try new things. It's a terrible thing, though, when one's Unicorn Farts keep changing color! :nana:

 

[willc]

It has been a while since I've smoked any Lat heavy blends.

Not sure if it is the hot weather or my tastes changing but I've really noticed it this summer.
Now I enjoy a blend like Midtown Chestnut where I can taste it but it isn't overpowering.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

No one has mentioned body odor at all. :wink:

 

[disinformatique]

It happens to almost every one of us. Get more nuances blends, try some other tobacco types. Stay off strong Latakia blends for 4-8 weeks.
Chris :puffpipe:

 

[foggymountain]

For me it was a young love. I now prefer the more subtle tastes of Bombay Court and Dunhill Standard Mild. I do have a lot of Lat mixes aging and will smoke some of them when they get more subtle. Some pipes, such as most Petersons smoke best with a Latakia.

 

[ravkesef]

I went off Latakia for better than a year. It wasn't entirely bad, as I developed a taste for Virginias, VaPers and aromatics. Eventually I came back, as in one day I felt the urge for a Latakia blend, and now that's what I smoke most of the time.

 

[puffndave]

Samon, the extra blackness in that Artisans mixture is probably more cavendish than latakia. That would explain the sweetness.

 

[puffndave]

Cosmic - I suppose Latakia can smell a little bit like an armpit, but the taste I notice when disappointed by it is more like urine. Don't ask how I would know that distinction :nana:

 

[puffndave]

Thanks, Everyone, for your input!
The consensus seems to be that if you liked Latakia before, you may like it again, and more so during the winter. So I won't throw my stockpiles out, I'll just get more Va Pers and Burley mixes for the time being.

 

[sablebrush52]

Not an uncommon experience at all. I used to smoke only full English and Balkan/Oriental blends. Got into Lat bombs and one day found myself gagging at the thought of lighting up another bowl. Literally just could not stomach the idea of it. Stopped smoking latakia mixes for years. When John Cotton's mild was released I gave it a go and found it delicious. Now I occasionally enjoy light to medium English and blends where Latakia is more of a condiment.

 

[shutterbugg]

Latakia has a very strong, pungent taste and odor. Even for those like myself who enjoy it, it suffers more than other leaf from the "too much of a good thing is not good" syndrome. That's why there are other kinds of blends. Give it a rest, go back in a while. No harm no foul.

 

[wayneteipen]

chasingembers' response echoes my experience exactly. I used to smoke lat heavy blends. Moved to Va's and VaPer's and Orientals etc. then didn't like heavy lat blends anymore but I do like lat blends where the latakia is in the background. Those blends can be hard to find. McClelland's Orient 996 is a good one that is light-handed on the latakia.