give me some sweetness with a hint of lat, I'm in heaven
I’m Latakia’d out!
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Latakia and to a lesser extent Perique have gotten to be default condimental tobaccos that are overused in too many blends. I've avoided burnout by smoking those blends only in rotation.
So many other condimental tobaccos are under used, including dark-fired Kentucky, cigar leaf, Turkish, unflavored black Cavendish, among others.
Also, it helps that I am a burley devotee, since burley based blends or blends with burley as a condiment provide some relief from Latakia or give Latakia a different presence if it is there.
Latakia is great, but not every bowl or every other bowl.
So many other condimental tobaccos are under used, including dark-fired Kentucky, cigar leaf, Turkish, unflavored black Cavendish, among others.
Also, it helps that I am a burley devotee, since burley based blends or blends with burley as a condiment provide some relief from Latakia or give Latakia a different presence if it is there.
Latakia is great, but not every bowl or every other bowl.
I was close to burnout on lat a couple years ago, so switched to VAs and VaPers (which suddenly I could taste like I'd never tasted before). But just in the last month, I've found that I can enjoy lat again.
I want to be careful not to burn out on it this time, but in the last few weeks I've been going back through a bunch of lat blends to see what I still like.
Most aren't what I want anymore, but two stood out to me, which I want to keep around: Boswell's Northwoods and Peretti's Royal Blend.
Northwoods is sweet campfire (not leather) and just a hint of vanilla. And it may be the only moderately heavy lat blend with a killer room note.
Royal Blend puts orientals forward, and backgrounds the lat exquisitely. Most oriental forward blends seem to highlight that green pith woody note (to me), whereas Royal Blends seems to me to have way more than that going on, oriental-wise.
Anyway, switch to VAs and VaPers awhile, and you may get a taste for latakia back after a couple years. But you'll probably never be able to smoke it exclusively without growing a distaste for it again.
I want to be careful not to burn out on it this time, but in the last few weeks I've been going back through a bunch of lat blends to see what I still like.
Most aren't what I want anymore, but two stood out to me, which I want to keep around: Boswell's Northwoods and Peretti's Royal Blend.
Northwoods is sweet campfire (not leather) and just a hint of vanilla. And it may be the only moderately heavy lat blend with a killer room note.
Royal Blend puts orientals forward, and backgrounds the lat exquisitely. Most oriental forward blends seem to highlight that green pith woody note (to me), whereas Royal Blends seems to me to have way more than that going on, oriental-wise.
Anyway, switch to VAs and VaPers awhile, and you may get a taste for latakia back after a couple years. But you'll probably never be able to smoke it exclusively without growing a distaste for it again.
If the moon were made of Stilton, I'd be on the first rocketship...
I've always struggled to enjoy latakia blends. I used to really enjoy Balkans but one day something switched and I just cant stand them, feel like I am smoking straight creosote. The only latakia/english blend I enjoy in MM965 (though I haven't tried too many English blends other than SPC PP, Sobrani Balkan Supreme, and Old Dublin). Something about it is incredibly light, almost aromatic which is suited to my tastebuds. Perhaps it is the cavendish or a secret sauce they add that isn't advertised. Hope you find the right latakia to your liking, I myself will keep looking for one on the sweeter side, I heard Maltese Falcon somewhat matches.
the stinky cheese of tobacco is the PERFECT way to describe latakia (at least to me). It is great in small portions but will turn your stomach sour in large portions (metaphorically speaking).
Amazing how an experience can change your opinion on a blend. I went camping this past weekend and, I have to shamefully admit, I might have had a little too much to drink while puffing hard on three straight bowl fulls of MM965 and while it is one of my favorite blends, I think I might be done with it for some while because of the association.
I'm yet another one whose Latakia journey ended fatally as well... I remember the first time i got the taste of it, I was so hooked up on it, that I ended smoking bowl after bowl of it. After a while, I got to a point where even the slightest taste of it is an instant turn off... And I've never smoked any blend with Latakia since. Not gonna mention the ghosting that it left behind 
Not easy parting with it, once you decide to. Stuff just refuses to go away 
Not easy parting with it, once you decide to. Stuff just refuses to go away 
and both of them I can't really put my finger on what's so great about them either but they are.
Stilton is great. But it's not hard for me to stretch it out. I think it would take a few months to ruin everything by me eating the moon if it was stilton. If it was a good cheddar it be weeks to give you an idea on my cheesy tolerances.
I hope I never tire of Latakia and so far so good. I tend to grow a bit tired of it near the end of winter but then I take a break and when I comeback it still provides the magic that I’ve come to know and love in a good Balkan. It can also work wonders as a condimental tobacco. Honestly, if it weren’t for Lat, I probably never would have stuck with the pipe.
Oh and if we’re talking cheese, who here likes Limburger? My grandpa loved that stuff, I always thought it was disgusting as a kid, like that is the cheese that the term “cutting the cheese” refers to, the smell fills up a room. Wouldn’t ya know it, now that I’m older, I love it!
Oh and if we’re talking cheese, who here likes Limburger? My grandpa loved that stuff, I always thought it was disgusting as a kid, like that is the cheese that the term “cutting the cheese” refers to, the smell fills up a room. Wouldn’t ya know it, now that I’m older, I love it!
On occasion, my father and I would eat branswager sandwiches with limburger, sweet onion, and yellow mustard on white or rye.
I still pick some up and do the same about every year or so. Since I'm the only one who eats it, I binge and have my fill until next time.
They now have a spreadable version of limburger. It may be time to pick some up.
Relatively still with only three years of pipe smoking, I still accept and like latakia and latakia blends. I don't know what will happen when I have been smoking a pipe for 10 years, maybe I will run out of latakia from my modest cellar, maybe, before I get bored of it, I will run out of stock. To this day, I still love C&D Pirate Kake, Mississippi Mud and Byzantium.
I felt the same way awhile back, and it led me to VaPer's. Prior to that all VA blends tasted similar, then all of a sudden I could taste the differences and began experimenting. Now I am back to enjoying a wide variety of tobacco with a new palate.
As others have pointed out, your tastes change and mature over time. I must say that I have been enjoying the variety within tobacco's more and more with time. My palate is still poor, but I am getting better over time.
Enjoy the jouney...
As others have pointed out, your tastes change and mature over time. I must say that I have been enjoying the variety within tobacco's more and more with time. My palate is still poor, but I am getting better over time.
Enjoy the jouney...
I discovered Latakia early in my journey, still feel like it is home. My first really good, breakthrough smokes were lat blends. Hope I never lose that, time will tell.
Latakia is better in some blends than others. I feel like blenders got pressured into adding it to too many blends because of its popularity.
It is helped in some blends by being paired with burley as a condiment, if a pipe smoker likes burley.
It was really well paired in the now discontinued Nat Sherman 536, and is nicely subordinated in C&D Tuggle Hall with burley as the base.
But it is true, if you smoke it daily, you can lose your taste for it. A good rotation with non-Lat blends helps.
It is helped in some blends by being paired with burley as a condiment, if a pipe smoker likes burley.
It was really well paired in the now discontinued Nat Sherman 536, and is nicely subordinated in C&D Tuggle Hall with burley as the base.
But it is true, if you smoke it daily, you can lose your taste for it. A good rotation with non-Lat blends helps.
I thought I lost my taste for latakia because I noticed that my jars of Star of the East Flake and Westminster were staying full and my burley jars were emptying quickly. I really thought that I was just another statistic. You know, guy starts smoking a pipe, falls in love with latakia, wakes up one morning and hates it and will only smoked aged vapers. I consciously avoided latakia for a while, because OBVIOUSLY I didn't like it anymore. Then the first chilly fall night that came up, I packed a bowl of Westminster and still loved it. I dont smoke nearly as much latakia as I did 4 or so years ago, but I still love it.