I Gave Latakia a Fair Try.

[Jbrewer2002]

I feel like I have given Latakia a fair try. Over the past 6 month I have picked up several English and Balkan blends and I just can’t stand them. Not pictured is Key Largo that I don’t even like. The only blend with Latakia that I have tried and loved was Rimboche AB. I have a tin of Fusiliers Ration and White Knight that I haven’t opened and probably won’t. Now to decide to sell it all or stash it away in case my taste changes (I have my doubts). There is over 19oz total. Does anyone else dislike Latakia as much as I do?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I used to like English blends now all I can taste if and when I smoke them is Latakia. I have a few favorites where the Latakia is very far in the background though.

 

[Lees65GTO]

Do not like it at all. Actually I have a 14oz can of a blend that had Syrian Latakia I got from Nat Sherman more than 30 years ago that I smoked two bowls and never touched it again.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

When I first switched from fags to pipe, I really loved latakia blends. I found Nightcap and Prezbie to be divine. And so they were, at that point. Now when I smoke them, almost to a blend, Englishs all taste one-dimensional. Latakia is too powerful a tobacco to allow for complexity when it is included in a blend. People talk about 'lat bombs', but to me, the majority of English blends fit that description. There are exceptions, such as Bob's Flake, and Revor Plug, but even with them you have to hunt for other flavours. I wouldn't say I detest latakia as you do, but if it were a person walking toward me in the street, I'd cross the road and avoid eye contact.

 

[Chasing Embers]

People talk about 'lat bombs', but to me, the majority of English blends fit that description.

Same

 

[seanv]

I enjoyed lat the most when I was first learning how to enjoy a pipe. I became almost a latakia only smoker. I think I burnt out my pallet on latakia. Fast forward some years and I am just starting to enjoy it again. Star of the East, Red Rapparre and PS Proper English are what I'm smoking when I crave the Latakia

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Never liked it.

Only very recently have I been able to abide older, oriental heavy blends with a little Syrian.

 

[sardonicus87]

I'll buy the HH Vintage Syrian if you're getting rid of it.

I started with and still love English, they're not dimensional to me and are all quite different, but I could see how they could be to others.

 

[wolflarsen]

I guess I'm the outlier. I've been enjoying the shit out of a tin of 2017 Frog Cellar lately that I opened on Christmas. MM 965 is a perennial favorite and I always have an english/aro crossover around. Not a lat blend but old dark fired is another one of my favorites and has a similar smokey thing going on. I'll be very surprised if i ever get permanently burnt out on lat blends.
I also don't smoke a pipe every day and wonder if there's a correlation between lat burn out and smoking frequency. Seems like most of the lat burnout guys tend to smoke a lot more than I do.

 

[El Capitán]

I enjoy MATCH 20. Haven't tried any other English (Scottish) blends.

 

[BigEd]

I can’t stand it. Never have been able to. I’m not wild about the aroma but can tolerate that.

 

[sablebrush52]

I smoked English and Balkan blends for years and just hit a wall. Suddenly I found the smell and taste of Latakia utterly repulsive to the point of nausea.
After years of avoiding Latakia I’ve regained an occasional taste for it in condimental amounts.

 

[LeafErikson]

I picked up 2 oz of c&d stratfordshire a few years back. I tried a few puffs in my cob, dumped the bowl, and threw the 2oz in the trash. I haven’t tried any lat blends since and have no desire to. I totally understand where you’re coming from.

 

[Auxsender]

I used to love it. Wouldn’t even consider a blend unless it had it. Now I might smoke Bob’s or some Presby or one of the many Wilke blends I have from years ago but it’s maybe 3 times per year I want Latakia.

So weird how our tastes change and evolve. I’m not gonna ditch all my Lat because, as has been mentioned already, tastes change. Maybe I’ll have an aged Lat smorgasbord in 8 years if I ever want to dive back in again.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I’ve found myself to be not a fan. Bob’s Chocolate Flake is the only real exception, and a few other blends that barely reach condiment level.
That said, I’m new to all this (just over a year) and my tastes are developing, so I don’t really pawn off many blends due to time of year changes in my taste and my tastes just plain changing over time.
I was just thinking about filling a cardboard case or two that mason jars come in of blends I don’t reach for and sticking aside to revisit later.
As I’ve heard, blends most likely won’t be more available or cheaper later.

 

[tmcg81]

I definitely smoke less latakia than I used to, but there are some times where only a latakia blend will do.

 

[telescopes]

I like it in condiment amounts, but I also enjoy it in Mac Baren Latakia Rolls. I didn’t always like it. But now, it’s n my own blends, I use it the way one might use bitters when making a drink. It can open up and add depth to other tobaccos that might otherwise go unnoticed.

 

[Steddy]

I’m still a new smoker with only 2 years or so under my belt. Latakia was magical out of the gate. Presbyterian and GL Pease blends were an instant love. Then I briefly lost my taste for it but it came back. Who knows what the future holds but for now sometimes only Latakia will do.

 

[anotherbob]

I am weird with lat. I don't smoke it regularly but it's one of those things when I am in the mood it's my favorite and then it sits in a jar being ignored the rest of the time.

 

[hoipolloiglasgow]

Well...too bad, so sad. More for me! I can't get enough Englishes. I love it's smokey, woody, tar like flavor and the smell of it. I know it can be overdone in some blends to the point of being one dimensional, like over 50%, but that isn't what makes up the blends I love most. And I also find that a lot of blends people label as lat bombs aren't even in that realm. It's so smooth to me, has no bite whatsoever, and adds complexity and a velvet quality to Orientals and virginias/perique that I want it in nearly all my smokes. What I find to be one dimensional is many pure Virginia blends. I can't think of anything more finicky and one dimensional to smoke and I realize there are many that disagree. I do like some of the Gawith stuff though. Sorry, overall I'd just rather have that mixed with other tobaccos including latakia!