My tuppence worth: When fairly experienced smokers ask me for a recommendation of an "introductory" Latakia blend, I generally steer them towards Piccadilly or Chelsea Morning, as they present a good overall profile, with just enough Latakia to make the newcomer to the smoky leaf take notice. If they're less experienced, overall, I would tend to go more towards a medium mixture, something like Meridian, so they don't "over puff" the stuff in an attempt to bring out more flavor. If they crave sweetness in their blends, I suggest either Sextant or Maltese Falcon. All of these feature the Latakia, but present it on different canvasses. The point being that there are many ways to introduce a pipe smoker to the stuff, but I personally feel that the Latakia should be framed by the other constituent tobaccos, not hidden by them, if that makes sense. In other words, adding Latakia to Captain Black will certainly not give the smoker much of an idea of what Latakia is like, but adding it to Half-and-Half might.
