Latakia – am I the only one?

[andrew]

I have all the Frog Morton blends in my cart, ready to order from P&C. After your description, Maybe I need to rethink that order.

Seriously do, try one of them, I don't understand everyone's obsession with it. I've only had the regular FM but from that I wouldn't want to try the rest. I'd say go with the cellar as everyone is bat shit crazy about it, but I just can't see how I'd like it. Try some real english blends, if you love nightcap that's about as english as it gets.

 

[phred]

You're certainly not the only one. One of the cigar-smoking regulars at my local B&M can't stand the stuff, which amuses the proprietor no end. I sit on the opposite side of the smoking area from him as a courtesy when I'm smoking Frog Morton... :D

 

[jonesee75]

Have good friend who loves Latakia, not number 1 on my list but I do enjoy an Early Morning Pipe every once in a while. I have heard some people using EMP to cut Plum pudding and Mississippi River.

 

[phil67]

Well, I might possibly give other blends that have some Latakia in it as I'm still experimenting with various blends. I'm so far smoking aero's. That's not to say that I like all aero's as some, albeit they smell great, have no taste whatsoever. But, so far my limited experience with the taste of Latakia is a total turn off. At this point, from what I've tasted of it thus far, I think I'd much rather shave my head with a cheese grater while sliding down an asphalt roof on a hot summer day butt naked than to smoke that shit again. :wink:

 

[judd]

Send them all to me and I'll incinerate that nasty Latakia in my Nording Freehand, it has a giant bowl. My alias is the Latakia Lover, PM me if interested!

 

[andrew]

Smoking frog morton right now just to see if anything happened that would make me enjoy it. I just find it's not the holy grail of blends like people describe it. Really it's mainly dark stoved Va's I find and you don't really taste much latakia at all.

 

[hawke]

Dan Tobacco Independence is one of my favs right now. It doesnt get high reviews however. Described as: A blend of the finest grades of Virginia tobaccos combined with Black Cavendish and a small portion of Latakia. Rich tasting, even burning, and light to medium bodied.
Being still new to pipe smoking, Im not sure what the "Latakia" flavor is exactly. :?: For those who know, and have smoked Independence, how much "Latakia" flavor is in this blend?

 

[mike73]

My advice would to be jar up what you have and revisit these blends in the future. My first time with Latakia was like your experience. I swore them off and stuck to a few Aro's and mostly Va and VaPer blends. That was almost a year ago. Now I find myself mostly going for Latakia based blends. Tastes change, so just come back to them and see if you like in the future.

 

[dryseason91]

Hate is a strong word, but for some reason recently I've been really up and down with it. I had my first lat blend (Nightcap, diving in at the deep end) back in October and loved it because I'd never tasted anything quite like it. I set about accumulating a smorgasbord of different blends - 965, Westminster, Banker's etc. - most of which are now idling half-smoked in jars. At some point the flavour just grew monotonous to me; neither do I find enough variation between different lat-forward blends to keep me interested. I definitely prefer lat blends with more of an Oriental character, like McConnell's Oriental and British Woods. And while I'm not an aro fan I do love FMC.

 

[natibo]

Latakia is over rated. It's OK. Good for a bowl or two a week.

 

[rmbittner]

I love latakia.
But the Frog Morton series is not the ideal place to start to really experience latakia. The latakia in all of the Frogs is sweetened, treated as if it were a cavendish-style tobacco. As far as I'm aware, no other blend contains sweetened latakia.
That said, if you don't like the latakia in the Frogs chances are you just don't enjoy latakia. Despite the light sweetening, the actual latakia flavor still comes through.
I've always got at least three latakia blends going: an English, a Balkan, and Penzance.
If you're willing to experiment a little bit, I would highly recommend trying McClelland's Anniversary. It is a Virginia/latakia blend where the latakia is only used condimentally. It is absolutely outstanding.
Bob

 

[saint007]

Love me some 3 Oaks Syrian with real Syrian Latakia!

 

[shutterbugg]

The first blend I ever smoked was a lat blend. Kids in my college class objected to me smoking a cigar, and I refused to smoke cigarettes, but everyone was like "oh I love the smell of a pipe!" There was a B&M on my way to/from campus and I stopped in, bought a Savinelli Punto Oro, and started smelling the jars of house blends on display. One of them almost made me gag, and I asked the owner if it smelled that bad lit, and he nodded. Kids in the class promised I could smoke a pipe, and so for the rest of the semester that lat blend made them regret objecting to my cigar The upshot was, I grew to like the stuff. Nightcap is a mainstay for me. But a lat blend isn't my only one. I smoke Royal Yacht and 1931 flake to change it up.

 

[foggymountain]

When it come to Latakia, Syrian is better than Cyprian, aged is better than fresh. These things make a big difference in the taste. Leave your unopened cans of Frog closed for about five years, then try one. Also, the Lat from Cyprus is improved by what I call air ageing. Leave a can open for a while, then close it and repeat over a period of about a month or more. Rehydrate if needed. There is a big improvement. Right now my favorite Lat is Macbaren's Syrian, well aged then treated as just described. Hard to beat it.

 

[rmbittner]

"Syrian is better than Cyprian"
I think this is pretty subjective. They're different. There are delicate floral, incense-like qualities that Syrian has that just aren't present in Cypriot leaf. But I think high-quality Syrian is very hard to find in blends nowadays. Sure, you'll get a definite "Syrian" experience from the Syrian blends currently on the market, but if you've ever had one of the discontinued Pease Syrians, you'll know immediately what you're missing in the current products. I think I'd almost rather have a high-quality Cypriot latakia than a mediocre Syrian.
But if we're talking high-quality leaf in both categories. . . yeah, I'd probably agree: I very much prefer Syrian latakia. I've just been disappointed in many of the non-Pease blends that include Syrian leaf.
Bob

 

[apatim]

I look forward to the day when I can distinguish all the different tobaccos.

 

[youngsterpuffer]

Personally I like FM, and recently, squadron leader. But sparingly. Definitely not an every day smoke. At least not for me.

 

[necron99]

Nothing like a big bowl of 50/50 latakia, Cavendish with a touch or perique.

 

[johnnyiii]

Smokingpipes said McClelland's Coyote Classic Full was like frog morton.. Thought it was nasty my self.
The only other I had was latakia role cake from mac baren. Thats not so bad, and a nice change of pace from time to time.

 

[cobguy]

I love Latakia and it's one of the few that my wife likes the room note of.

She says it reminds her of desert campfires with Mesquite.
My first experience was one of uncertainty, but it grew on me quickly.