Latakia Difficulties

[Akoni808]

Aloha,

I had a question for you all concerning Latakia blends. I've tried a few blends with Latakia including: Nightcap, plum pudding, and presbyterian. While I'm not repulsed by Latakia, I have found myself not enjoying the experience at all. I get a tin note of peat from all these blends, and I actually love peated whisky. Are these sorts of English blends ones that are supposed to grow on one over time, or have many of you taken right away to them? As a background, I tend to love my burley blends, and dark fired blends.

 

[mingc]

I liked latakia bombs right away. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Akoni808]

I liked latakia bombs right away. Different strokes for different folks.

Fair enough. That's what I figured, unfortunately.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I used to love them now not so much. Each smoker walks their own path.

 

[kola]

I hated it, thought the B&M guy sold me bad rotten-ass tobacco. I threw it out, it was a Frog Morton blend. I love latakia blends now.

 

[Akoni808]

I hated it, thought the B&M guy sold me bad rotten-ass tobacco. I threw it out, it was a Frog Morton blend. I love latakia blends now.

Maybe there is still hope for me, haha!

 

[OzPiper]

Tastes change. What you find repulsive now, you may love down the track.
And vice versa. Don't throw it out. Jar it and try again sometime later. If you still don't like it, send it all to me.

As a kid I hated cilantro/coriander and would pick out every single speck. I love it now, and can't get enough of it. Just saying

 

[gamzultovah]

Most new pipe smokers enjoy Lat blends as they can actually taste what they smell in the tin. When I smoke Latakia, I smoke Davidoff Royalty. The Latakia in this blend is a condiment so the Virginias and Orientals shine through.

 

[Akoni808]

Tastes change. What you find repulsive now, you may love down the track.
And vice versa. Don't throw it out. Jar it and try again sometime later. If you still don't like it, send it all to me.

As a kid I hated cilantro/coriander and would pick out every single speck. I love it now, and can't get enough of it. Just saying

Good advice, thanks.

 

[pantsBoots]

Aloha,

I had a question for you all concerning Latakia blends. I've tried a few blends with Latakia including: Nightcap, plum pudding, and presbyterian. While I'm not repulsed by Latakia, I have found myself not enjoying the experience at all. I get a tin note of peat from all these blends, and I actually love peated whisky. Are these sorts of English blends ones that are supposed to grow on one over time, or have many of you taken right away to them? As a background, I tend to love my burley blends, and dark fired blends.

I loved it fr first go, though have grown to appreciate Virginia and VaPer blends much more.

I also tend to lean more towards "Balkan" blends in that they focus more on the oriental component, than pure Latakia.

 

[judcole]

Aloha,

I had a question for you all concerning Latakia blends. I've tried a few blends with Latakia including: Nightcap, plum pudding, and presbyterian. While I'm not repulsed by Latakia, I have found myself not enjoying the experience at all. I get a tin note of peat from all these blends, and I actually love peated whisky. Are these sorts of English blends ones that are supposed to grow on one over time, or have many of you taken right away to them? As a background, I tend to love my burley blends, and dark fired blends.

Do be aware that Presbyterian is very light on the latakia; what you are tasting there is the various Oriental tobaccos they use. Nightcap has a lot of lat; it also has a healthy dose of perique.
I'd jar them, put them aside for 6 months, and then try again. It may be that you will enjoy them; it may be that you are simply not a lat guy. It's all good.

 

[Skapie]

Try some lat-forward blends without perique, like English Luxury or Squadron Leader. That will give you a good idea of what latakia tastes like and if you like it or not.

 

[DanWil84]

I, like @judcole, don't get any Latakia at all from Presbyterian. Nice creamy sour notes instead, to my palette very tasty!

If you don't like Latakia blends, don't smoke them, the market for non Latakia blends is large enough to enjoy anything else.

 

[Laurent]

I let mine rest for a couple days after opening a tin. My problem with Latakia is I’ve noticed every night that I smoke it, I have haunting dreams. ??

 

[LotusEater]

I agree with @judcole and @DanWil84
To me Presbyterian has a nice Smokey tin note but very little Latakia taste when smoked. It’s all about the orientals. Nightcap is the opposite end of the spectrum much heavier on the lat but with perique (which I don’t always care for). Blends with latakia are not all created equal. Maybe give Early Morning Pipe a try if you still want to explore Latakia. For me EMP has the perfect amount of Latakia and no perique. You might also try another really lat heavy blend without perique. Something like Ten Russians will let you know if you like strong lat flavor.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[futureman]

If you don't like Latakia blends, don't smoke them, the market for non Latakia blends is large enough to enjoy anything else.

Simple, sensible advice. I tried (and tried and tried) various latakia blends hoping I would grow to like them. I never did, so I stopped buying them. There is no obligation to like what doesn't agree with you.

 

[burleybreath]

I hated latakia and orientals for two decades, when I first started with the pipe. Gave me a headache and stank. Now I prefer blends with one or the other or both. As condiments, not as 3/4 of the blend. Even in "aromatics" of the English hybrid type. Surprised you didn't like Presbyterian. If so, I'd simply stay away from latakia for a decade or forever. Why force something you don't really want? (Man, I get a headache just thinking about the way it used to affect me.)

 

[kola]

GLP has some really good latakia blends, you may want to try them. Thus his nickname, "The Dark Lord."

 

[Akoni808]

I hated latakia and orientals for two decades, when I first started with the pipe. Gave me a headache and stank. Now I prefer blends with one or the other or both. As condiments, not as 3/4 of the blend. Even in "aromatics" of the English hybrid type. Surprised you didn't like Presbyterian. If so, I'd simply stay away from latakia for a decade or forever. Why force something you don't really want? (Man, I get a headache just thinking about the way it used to affect me.)

As a Presbyterian, I was very sad when I found out I didn’t like the blend. You’re right though not to try and force it.

 

[anotherbob]

hated the stuff for years. Now I really like it sometimes. It's a weird mood thing for me.