Virginia Blends with a Pinch of Latakia

[cosmicfolklore]

Lombard, yes, I forgot about that one. I think of it as the VaPer version of Laurel Heights. I think I may pop a tin of this for today. Good stuff. I highly recommend anything from GLP's Fog City selections. They are all Virginia based with dashes of this and that thrown in. If you like Virginias, this is a good genre to explore.

 

[echie]

Ah, I must try some Laurel Heights, then

 

[mso489]

There's always blending Latakia as a condiment tobacco, available from several sources,

C&D among them. I like danielplainview's idea about using Nightcap as a condiment with

various other blends. You don't have to use much, so you have plenty left to smoke straight

up. Good idea.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

MSO, on my own crop of homegrown Virginias from this last season, I dried some of the McClelland latakia to crispy and ran it through the coffee grinder and sprinkled my meager harvest with it, probably about 1 or 2% to just enough to cut that natural fermented vinegar smell that it gets while curing.

 

[jrtaster]

Holy Smokes... what a wealth of ideas to pursue! Need to prioritize. EMP is a good place to start as I have smoked it, pre-Orlik, and remember liking it a lot! And obviously the GLP blends need exploring as well!

Thanks to all for giving me my 2015 tobacco project a great head start!
JR

 

[escioe]

This might be a good question for an Ask Greg Pease submission.
On a related note, there are two McClelland tobaccos that have the same principle, except they blend in an oriental leaf at something like 5% or less. The well-known one is Virginia #24. The other is Boston 1776, from the Club Blends selection. There is no mention of oriental leaf on the tin or on the tobaccoreviews profile, but the original that it's supposedly a reproduction of included 3% oriental, plus the reviews mention a little spice here and there.
I like the idea of adding little touches of something, especially something other than perique, to an otherwise pure Virginia blend.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

+1 escioe, I wish that McClelland and some of these other companies would give their blenders some limelight, or at least set them out there and here on the forums for us to play with and learn from. We are very lucky to have Greg and Russ here on the forums. Other companies could learn from this.
I love VA#24. I have yet to try the Boston 1776. Dang, I come here for just a couple of days and my list of stuff to try grows another 20+ or so on my shopping list. You bunch of enablers, ha ha.

 

[sw0snuff3r]

Gawith & Hoggarth Bob's Chocolate Flake has 8% latakia which is just about right for my tastes. The chocolate is very subtle.

 

[lestrout]

Another blend just came to mind: Peretti's Cambridge Flake. Its Latakia is lighter than Anniversary's.
hp

les

 

[drrock]

While it is a blend with Virginias, Burley, Cavendish, MacBaren Plumcake has just a smidge of Latakia that really adds a delicious dimension to an already outstanding blend.

 

[pipesinperu]

All the McClellands and the EMP added to the list!

Another blend just came to mind: Peretti's Cambridge Flake. Its Latakia is lighter than Anniversary's.

Thanks, @lestrout! As luck would have it, I'll be visiting "home" in NH in February and I'm sure I can swing a trip to Peretti's in Boston.
How about GLP's cigar blends? I see they have a bit of latakia. Which is lighter on the lat, Robusto or Key Largo?

SG Navy Flake has 15% Latakia. It is probably a little heavy on the leaf for what you are searching.

Probably, yes, but it still sounds great! Think I'll give that a try after some of the lighter blends.

I like the idea of adding little touches of something, especially something other than perique, to an otherwise pure Virginia blend.

+1 I think that's my takeaway from this thread, too. I cracked a tin of McC's Dominican Glory Maduro about three weeks ago and I'm itching for it to hit the one-month mark to try it out. Who am I kidding? I think I'll give it a go tonight, haha.

 

[jrtaster]

Another question...any take on PW&W's #10? From it's description and Tob Review's evaluations it appears to be a blend in which latakia is not dominant.

I smoke Carole's #524 and like it a lot, despite my general lack of affection for Cavendish in non-aromatic blends.

 

[judcole]

Classic light lat blends were Walnut and MacBaren Latakia; both are discontinued, alas. P&C just came up with a match series for some of old American blends; Chestnut is the Walnut match.

S&G Skiff and Presbyterian Mixture might also work.

 

[brass]

May I recommend "Samuel Gawith's Navy Flake. A traditional offering of Virginias, pressed with just the right amount of Latakia and flavoured with Rum. Medium strength."

 

[pitchfork]

Another question...any take on PW&W's #10? From it's description and Tob Review's evaluations it appears to be a blend in which latakia is not dominant.

#10 has a decent amount of Latakia -- probably more than a "pinch" -- and certainly more than say, Early Morning Pipe. But you're right, it isn't dominant. It's really well balanced and fairly complex. Also smooth. I've only had a few bowls, but I would recommend it.

 

[jrtaster]

@pitchfork, thanks for the recommendation. #10 made it to the top of my wish list!

 

[jrtaster]

@pitchfork, thanks for the recommendation. #10 made it to the top of my wish list!

 

[jrtaster]

@pitchfork, thanks for the recommendation. #10 made it to the top of my wish list!