Turkish Latakia v. Cyprian Latakia

[Mike N]

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. It’s also far superior to the “Latakia and Turkish leaf” tobacco’s found in C&D’s Black Frigate or Samuel Galwith’s Squadron Leader. Read the description closely before ordering.

I realize Syrian Latakia is the gold standard, but these recent blends with Turkish Latakia are pretty darn close. Thoughts?

 

[greysmoke]

My immediate thought is to try some. I'm well acquainted with Cyprian, and my cellar still contains a fair amount of irreplaceable Syrian. Will pick up a tin or two for comparison. Thx.

 

[kcghost]

Cyprian is quite enjoyable to me. I one of the few people that prefer Cyprian over Syrian. Now "Horizon" has Turkish in it, and I find that it is quite enjoyable. I would think that Turkish would be very popular with people who prefer a milder smoke.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

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. It’s also far superior to the “Latakia and Turkish leaf” tobacco’s found in C&D’s Black Frigate or Samuel Galwith’s Squadron Leader. Read the description closely before ordering.

I realize Syrian Latakia is the gold standard, but these recent blends with Turkish Latakia are pretty darn close. Thoughts?

I wouldn't go that far... Funny how "great" things become once the availability starts to drop.

I will say, I am a big Syrian fan - it's subtle, like the bass player in a band. You can taste the quality when it's good, but he's not trying to play over anyone or anything. Cyprian on the other hand is more lead guitarist Slash, perfect for Lat bombs - SG Balkan Flake a prime example - just coming in to melt your face.

Have not smoked enough Turkish to form an opinion...

 

[khiddy]

Well shoot, now I'm sad I didn't order a tin of Horizons with my last order to give it a try!

Next time.

 

[mingc]

I exchanged PMs with C&D head honcho Jeremy Reeves last September 2023 and he told me that, "We have been using Latakia produced in Turkey for about 1 year, and any product that we make that contains Latakia is made using that version," including GLP. I surmise that labels that say Cyprian are either on older tins or are out of date.

I've not smoked much Turkish latakia but what I have smoked seems much like the Cyprian. There's certainly no drop in quality and perhaps an improvement.

I'm not a fan of the Syrian latakia that was available in the 2000s. Based on my experience of 5 different blends, some in multiple-tin amounts, I thought the leaf from the 2000s was quite muted compared to pre-2000s leaf. As I understand it, the Syrian latakia that was available in the 2000s was already decades old at that time.

 

[BriarBrook]

Could just be me, but I prefer Turkish over Cyprian. Cyprian always hits me as too fragrant or that it has a perfume aftertaste in some blends that use it. Turkish, however, seems to be more savory/bbq, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Black Frigate

That one's had Turkish Latakia since mid 2022.

 

[damacene]

I was wondering why a recently produced tin of Captain Earl's Stimulus Package tasted better to me than it did in the past. The Orientals came out more and my taste buds weren't destroyed for the rest of the day.

 

[hoipolloiglasgow]

I like all the Latakias. They all have similarities and have that Latakia flavor, but with slight differences. The Turkish stuff is of good quality and is more mellow than the Cyprian. Cyprian has a nice sweetness to it where as Syrian has red wine notes to it. If I had to choose a favorite it would definitely be Syrian because it’s a bit more complex.