More about Latakia...

[badbriar]

Syrian is extinct. Cyprian is pretty much what has been used for quite some years. Within the last year or so, Turkish Latakia has come upon the scene in a few blends.
That said, I have read some statements here that C&D is now using Turkish Latakia in it's blends, including GLP and other labels they produce. Is this actually fact, or supposition?
I find this a stretch, as Horizons by GPL specifically states that it contains Turkish Latakia. Before that, last year, From Beyond was released to great fanfare about using Turkish Latakia. Jeremy Reeves made a great Youtube video that describes the nuances of Turkish Lat.
I also read from someone that Black Frigate now is blended with Turkish, rather than Cyprian. Again, fact or opinion?
Like to see a reply from fans of Black Frigate, of which there are many!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I really like the sharpness of the latakia in Horizons. As to whether it is true that they are using Turkish Latakia... well, they went to all of the trouble of putting it on the label, why not?

 

[fireground_piper]

I do believe the switch to Turkish at C&D happened around 2 years ago or so. There was a thread about it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I do believe the switch to Turkish at C&D happened around 2 years ago or so. There was a thread about it.

Were they going to replace all latakia with Turkish? That seems a little heavy handed.

 

[fireground_piper]

Were they going to replace all latakia with Turkish? That seems a little heavy handed.

I’ll try to find it but if I recall it all was slowly changed over without much advertisement, gradually.

 

[fireground_piper]

Were they going to replace all latakia with Turkish? That seems a little heavy handed.

Here you go:

Turkish Latakia v. Cyprian Latakia :: Pipe Tobacco Reviews

The latest batch of GLP’s Horizons has really made me appreciate the taste and quality of Turkish Latakia. It’s also found in another one of my favorites, Cornell & Diel’s “From Beyond.“ To my palate, it’s far superior to the Cyprian Latakia found in blends like GLPs Spark Plug or Quiet Nights...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[badbriar]

GL Pease wrote a great article about Syrian and Cyprian latakia and their differences entitled 'A Tale Of Two Latakia' in his 'The Briar & Leaf Chronicles'. Very good reading that offers his personal findings as a premier blender.
My take is that Cyprian latakia is not inferior, sharper or stronger than Syrian. It is the blending that results in that. What I ascertain from Greg's article is that Cyprian seems to have a bit more sweetness and is not as potent, allowing a higher percentage of that leaf before becoming overbearing.
Interestingly, as was said in another thread, the two strains are indeed of entirely different tobacco plants and contain markedly different nicotine strength levels.
Good to see a detailed description from one who has used both types in his blends for quite some time.
Love to see Greg update this article to include the 'new' Turkish latakia we are beginning to see listed in blends now.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Here you go:

Turkish Latakia v. Cyprian Latakia :: Pipe Tobacco Reviews

The latest batch of GLP’s Horizons has really made me appreciate the taste and quality of Turkish Latakia. It’s also found in another one of my favorites, Cornell & Diel’s “From Beyond.“ To my palate, it’s far superior to the Cyprian Latakia found in blends like GLPs Spark Plug or Quiet Nights...

pipesmagazine.com

Thank you, now I need to get a few new tins to try them back to back.

 

[rotate]

I seriously doubt anyone has smoked real Cypriot/Cyprian Latakia in a very long time. The rich tobacco growing areas of the island of Cyprus have not been under government control since 1974 and the last few things I’ve heard on the subject were that Cypriot farmers who are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus living and farming in the non government controlled areas had appealed to the government for agricultural subsidies to restart the growing of tobacco, that was some years ago and at that time the farmers stated that no tobacco had been grown on the Karpas Peninsula the panhandle of the island for more than twelve years.

The farmers claimed that subsidies would regenerate farming in the area providing employment, however no government, the EU permitting is likely to subsidise an area they have no control over with taxes collected going to an occupying hostile state. Anecdotally some pipe smokers and tobacconists in Cyprus believe that attempts are being made to restart tobacco growing in government controlled areas and one plantation privately owned by a consortium of local and international investors is said to be close to where I live in rural Cyprus, so far neither I or my neighbours who are hunters who trek in the wild countryside in search of game have seen anything of the plantation. Successful small scale attempts have been made in the western Pafos region of the island to grow tobacco which may encourage investment to enable expansion.

What most believe here in Cyprus is that tobacco leaf grown elsewhere, Turkey perhaps has been coming to Cyprus for smoke curing treatment which is entirely possible as that was done with Syrian grown tobacco before 1974 when Syria was producing more tobacco than could be handled. When the curing had been completed the leaf tobacco was shipped back to Syria.

Now that Latakia is being sold as Turkish Latakia it might be safe to assume that curing has now been perfected in Turkey with no further need to have the curing process carried out in Cyprus. I await the outcome with interest not just as a pipe smoker but because up until the disastrous events of 1974 for Cyprus my late Cypriot wife and I lived not so very far from the tobacco plantations and I now live within sixty kilometres of that region although for political reasons it is not easily accessible to me.

 

[Always-learning70]

This is my first post, so I hope I’m doing it correctly. Have always smoked aromatics. Recently been reading about traditional English non-aromatics and tried two: Mixture 965 and Presbyterian. Both had an unappealing camphor/menthol taste. Tried two bowls of each, but it’s not to my liking. Is this the latakia in these blends? I’d like to try some other non-aromatics, but want to try ones without latakia if that is producing this unappealing taste.

 

[eyjaygaming]

I seriously doubt anyone has smoked real Cypriot/Cyprian Latakia in a very long time. The rich tobacco growing areas of the island of Cyprus have not been under government control since 1974 and the last few things I’ve heard on the subject were that Cypriot farmers who are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus living and farming in the non government controlled areas had appealed to the government for agricultural subsidies to restart the growing of tobacco, that was some years ago and at that time the farmers stated that no tobacco had been grown on the Karpas Peninsula the panhandle of the island for more than twelve years.

The farmers claimed that subsidies would regenerate farming in the area providing employment, however no government, the EU permitting is likely to subsidise an area they have no control over with taxes collected going to an occupying hostile state. Anecdotally some pipe smokers and tobacconists in Cyprus believe that attempts are being made to restart tobacco growing in government controlled areas and one plantation privately owned by a consortium of local and international investors is said to be close to where I live in rural Cyprus, so far neither I or my neighbours who are hunters who trek in the wild countryside in search of game have seen anything of the plantation. Successful small scale attempts have been made in the western Pafos region of the island to grow tobacco which may encourage investment to enable expansion.

What most believe here in Cyprus is that tobacco leaf grown elsewhere, Turkey perhaps has been coming to Cyprus for smoke curing treatment which is entirely possible as that was done with Syrian grown tobacco before 1974 when Syria was producing more tobacco than could be handled. When the curing had been completed the leaf tobacco was shipped back to Syria.

Now that Latakia is being sold as Turkish Latakia it might be safe to assume that curing has now been perfected in Turkey with no further need to have the curing process carried out in Cyprus. I await the outcome with interest not just as a pipe smoker but because up until the disastrous events of 1974 for Cyprus my late Cypriot wife and I lived not so very far from the tobacco plantations and I now live within sixty kilometres of that region although for political reasons it is not easily accessible to me.

This comment should be highlighted greatly. Virtually all Latakia smoked in pipes today comes from Turkey, most all articles and tin descriptions nowadays are out of date. And this has been the case for (my best guess) the last 15 years or so.

The knowledge gap of hobbyists and the day to day pipe tobacco industry is huge, “Cyprian Latakia” still being one of the greatest myths.

 

[JoburgB2]

Mixture 965 and Presbyterian. Both had an unappealing camphor/menthol taste. Tried two bowls of each, but it’s not to my liking. Is this the latakia in these blends?

If that could mean similar to leather or creosote, then yes that could be the latakia. Which is subjected to smoke from aromatic woods and herbs. Many of us love it. Many of us hate it.

 

[Sig]

This is my first post, so I hope I’m doing it correctly. Have always smoked aromatics. Recently been reading about traditional English non-aromatics and tried two: Mixture 965 and Presbyterian. Both had an unappealing camphor/menthol taste. Tried two bowls of each, but it’s not to my liking. Is this the latakia in these blends? I’d like to try some other non-aromatics, but want to try ones without latakia if that is producing this unappealing taste.

Yes, that is Latakia.
You may "learn" to like it so don't throw it away. I loved it from the start, but Latakia is an acquired taste for many pipers.

 

[woodsroad]

I seriously doubt anyone has smoked real Cypriot/Cyprian Latakia in a very long time. The rich tobacco growing areas of the island of Cyprus have not been under government control since 1974 and the last few things I’ve heard on the subject were that Cypriot farmers who are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus living and farming in the non government controlled areas had appealed to the government for agricultural subsidies to restart the growing of tobacco, that was some years ago and at that time the farmers stated that no tobacco had been grown on the Karpas Peninsula the panhandle of the island for more than twelve years.

The farmers claimed that subsidies would regenerate farming in the area providing employment, however no government, the EU permitting is likely to subsidise an area they have no control over with taxes collected going to an occupying hostile state. Anecdotally some pipe smokers and tobacconists in Cyprus believe that attempts are being made to restart tobacco growing in government controlled areas and one plantation privately owned by a consortium of local and international investors is said to be close to where I live in rural Cyprus, so far neither I or my neighbours who are hunters who trek in the wild countryside in search of game have seen anything of the plantation. Successful small scale attempts have been made in the western Pafos region of the island to grow tobacco which may encourage investment to enable expansion.

What most believe here in Cyprus is that tobacco leaf grown elsewhere, Turkey perhaps has been coming to Cyprus for smoke curing treatment which is entirely possible as that was done with Syrian grown tobacco before 1974 when Syria was producing more tobacco than could be handled. When the curing had been completed the leaf tobacco was shipped back to Syria.

Now that Latakia is being sold as Turkish Latakia it might be safe to assume that curing has now been perfected in Turkey with no further need to have the curing process carried out in Cyprus. I await the outcome with interest not just as a pipe smoker but because up until the disastrous events of 1974 for Cyprus my late Cypriot wife and I lived not so very far from the tobacco plantations and I now live within sixty kilometres of that region although for political reasons it is not easily accessible to me.

This post is pure gold. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to give this first-person, authoritative insight.

So much of what is on the interwebs is regurgitated BS that gets passed off as fact by “experts” who don’t know their anal pore from a deep depression in the earth. So, what has been taken as pipe tobacco gospel turns out to be woefully disconnected from reality. Your post is a very welcome breath of fresh air! It almost completely changes core beliefs and assumptions about Latakia and its sources.

I was 11 when the war on Cyprus happened. Unlike today, there were skilled journalists covering it 24/7 on network TV. It was in all the news magazines every week. I read and watched everything. For those here who need to know more about the war, start here.

Please continue to post, sir!

 

[Always-learning70]

Yes, that is Latakia.
You may "learn" to like it so don't throw it away. I loved it from the start, but Latakia is an acquired taste for many pipers.

Thanks for the reply. I hate the thought of throwing it away. I'd rather give it to someone who enjoys it. But I will hang onto it for now and perhaps try it again.

 

[BenMN]

I swear there was a full piece on Smokingpipes but now I can't find it. Pictures of the operation and everything, as well as the claim of 100% switch

This tale contains facts from C&D/Laudisi, a good bit downpage

 

[Pypkė]

Hey if anyone wishes to get rid of their Cyprian Latakia now that they learned it's not Cyprian Latakia at all, send me a PM.

 

[Always-learning70]

Yes, that is Latakia.
You may "learn" to like it so don't throw it away. I loved it from the start, but Latakia is an acquired taste for many pipers.

I tried two more bowls yesterday. It is definitely an acquired taste. I want to try it again later this morning before I smoke anything else to see how that fairs.

 

[folkleaf]

I tried two more bowls yesterday. It is definitely an acquired taste. I want to try it again later this morning before I smoke anything else to see how that fairs.

I couldn't stand it the first couple of years I smoked... now almost every blend I smoke has it.

 

[Searock Fan]

I don't know who grows what, where or how, but I do know that none of the English blends I've smoked in a long time now... and there have been many.... have the wonderful, mellow, rich Latakia flavor they did 50 or 60 years ago.