Why The Dislike For Latakia?

[Chasing Embers]

Latakia has a lot of testosterone in it. Not a lot of guys can handle the extra shot

I think they are the kind of guys who look at Pomeranian in a handbag

I always thought guys that liked extra shots of testosterone were into handbags.?


I smoked English blends nearly exclusively for a decade then one day they all tasted the same except for blends with minuscule amounts to frame the blend instead of taking center stage.

 

[shaneireland]

Same as an Islay malt versus a lowland. Not everyone wants a flavour blast, even if they like the flavour, and especially if they don’t.

People who don't like Islay malts are definitely wrong, though.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

Let the chimp fight begin!

Well, we both know it's only the knuckle dragging pipe smokers who slag Haddo's. Those few can duke it out amongst themselves. Barbarians.

For the sophisticated pipe smoker who knows a thing or two about what makes a classic, must try, must have, must cellar as deeply as the reserves at Fort Knox blend... well, there is only one answer; Get your Haddo's now while you still can.

I heard rumour that Greg Pease is going to retire soon (possibly for health reasons? Something about sailing off to Fiji?) and pull all of his blends from production because he wants to take that pleasure to the grave with him.

This may be the last few months you can even get Haddo's. I wouldn't wait... Bohemian Scandal anyone? Yeah.

 

[Chasing Embers]

People who don't like Islay malts are definitely wrong, though.

Islay Violets 33

 

[captainsousie]

I've come to dislike the expression because I've seen it used as either an introduction to a bashing of aromatics and those who smoke them, or as a smug, sardonic follow up comment to allege respect of something or someone one has just bashed.

True, not everyone who uses the phrase is a basher, sometimes they wanna be peace-makers, but the use of the expression by snubbers has made it vexing.

This is completely understandable. When it's used as a dismissal, or worse a backhanded attempt to cover up being an ass, it's really irritating.

 

[shaneireland]

I think many pipe smokers seem to follow a similar path; they begin with things that smell pleasant in the tin/bag/big jar on their local tobacconist's shelf and are usually turned off because those tobaccos never taste as good as they smell, and they also tend to require a good handle on technique to be enjoyable. Aromatics are not for beginners, in my opinion. Next would be something more "natural"; either Burley, Virginia, or English. Burley can be instantly enjoyable, especially if one is coming to pipes from cigarettes. Virginia blends might be the most difficult to "get" as they tend to be more subtle in flavor and the least forgiving of poor technique. English blends (assuming one is not instantly turned-off by the aroma/flavor of Latakia) are perhaps the most forgiving of pipe tobaccos. Latakia (and heavily-smoked leaf in general) burns at a very slow rate and tends to cool a blend because it won't easily burn "hot". It is also lower in nicotine, having been made by smoking (curing) small-leaf oriental varietals which are naturally lower in both sugar and nicotine. The curing/smoking process also kills some of the nicotine, much like darker roasted coffee beans tend to be weaker in strength, even if their flavor can be more intense.

I'm no exception. I smoked a few aromatics and disliked them, largely due to my poor technique at the time. I was a cigarette smoker for years and I wasn't getting the "tobacco" flavor or the nicotine I craved. I smoked a blend with a good portion of Latakia after sniffing a bulk jar in a local shop, and that single blend was the only thing I smoked for a few years. When I started branching out it was mostly other English blends that I experimented with for sometime. As my technique improved (years worth of improvement), I began to enjoy my occasional Virginia blends more and more, and then one day it just clicked and I started having the type of experiences as a pipe smoker that I had dreamed of, but never realized. Balance and nuance became my preference over intensity and overt complexity, but there's definitely a time and place for everything the pipe tobacco spectrum has to offer.

These days I mostly smoke straight Virginia and some lighter Virginia/Perique blends, but I'll smoke some Chelsea Morning or 965 every once in a while and I really enjoy those rare sessions. I feel like I enjoy English mixtures more (and get more out of them) as occasional treats.

TLDR; Latakia mixtures taught me how to be a pipe smoker, but Virginia blends taught me how to be a skilled pipe smoker.

 

[trouttimes]

Put me on the side of loving Latakia. I'm glad so many of you don't. That leaves more for me. Sable talks about a vomit reaction to Lat, that's me and most VaPer blends. If it wasn't for Lat, I don't know that I would still be smoking all these 44 years. Smoke what you like and like what you smoke. Just don't smoke Haunted Bookshop around me ?

 

[lochinvar]

Latakia steamrolls my palate if the amount is any higher than the level in McConnell Oriental or Presbyterian. Highland Targe was my first stab into proper tobacco and Latakia, and it was love at first puff. Black Mallory, Red Rapparee, Bengal Slices, these were my loves. I stopped smoking cigars because they didn't have Latakia in them. Then I bought a tin of McClelland No. 24, and I discovered the pleasures of Virginia and Oriental flavor. Then I fell down the rabbit holes of Oriental varietals and various Virginia flakes and now worship at the Holy Cathedral of Mahalla, Basma and Red Virginia. I knew Virginia and Orientals were in my Highland Targe, but I just could not taste them with the Latakia. So latakia moved to the back, maybe making up 10% of what I smoke, if that. I like it, I just like other tobacco more.

 

[Chasing Embers]

That leaves more for me.

For as long as it lasts. Pipestud posted an article a while back that suggests the demise of it all.

 

[canucklehead]

All those awesome farm smells like woodsmoke, leather, manure, sour BO, hay, saddlesoap, etc, are what initially attracted me to English/Latakia blends.

I started out smoking things like BCA and bulk jar aros from the cigar stores until one day I bought a tin of Dunhill EMP, when I opened it I had instant and almost painful blast of nostalgia and a flood of memories.

I lived on a farm as a little kid and kept my stamp collection and toys in tobacco tubs from my dad and my uncles, usually Players or Drum. The smell of tobacco lingered in them for years.

I like a good Lat heavy blend once in a while, but prefer blends where the other components aren't overpowered, like Dunhill EMP, Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader, Presbyterian, C&D Sea Dog, Sutliff BS 759 Match, to name a few of my favourites.

 

[olkofri]

For as long as it lasts. Pipestud posted an article a while back that suggests the demise of it all.

And isn't latakia the kind of tobacco that loses flavour with long-term storage/ageing? ?

 

[Chasing Embers]

And isn't latakia the kind of tobacco that loses flavour with long-term storage/ageing? ?

Surprised the antis haven't caught the idea that it's a flavored tobacco.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Because it tastes like mouldy mushrooms.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I prefer latakia in the winter, for those same reasons the OP posted that he likes them. I just don't want a strong campfire pork roast in my pipes in the summertime, when my mouth is already dry, I'm sweaty, and all of the half naked chicks that I surround myself will think I've been camping in the bogs. Heck, usually in the summer it is just too hots for pipes also. In the dog days of summer, I'll hit the cigars mostly, because sweat and Cubans just seem to go hand in hand.

Plus, I can't smoke latakia early in the day, because they tax my taste buds and ruin other smokes for me from that point on. So, wintertimes, maybe my second to last smoke of the day, I'll fire up some Balkan blend or a VaLat, and just enjoy the experience as a treat in our short mild winters here. But, for the last few nights I have had to turn on the AC, because it's just been too hot at night. Maybe it will get cold again, and I may actually get to finish a tin of a lat blend before I have to jar it up till next year.

 

[kg.legat0]

I don't dislike Latakia, I just can't stand the taste haha ...seriously though, something about Latakia creeps me out. It tastes like ghosts and memories that are not my own...

That said, I wish I did like it more, I feel like I miss out on a lot of blends...

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

I don't dislike Latakia, I just can't stand the taste haha ...seriously though, something about Latakia creeps me out. It tastes like ghosts and memories that are not my own...

That said, I wish I did like it more, I feel like I miss out on a lot of blends...

I feel exactly the same, I like every other type of tobacco I've tried just not latakia. The first thing I look for when trying a new blend is if its got latakia in it, if it does I give it a miss and that's a lot of different blends I can't smoke.

 

[JOHN72]

The truth in a short time I smoke tobacco pipe,I like strong tobacco,of any variety............except aromatic .But for the moment ,I am in love with the Latakia,Burley,Virginias,Dark fire kentucky..............Latakia smell in my moustache is unicorn.............

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Brian mentioned something in the first few years he had the Pipesmagazine Radioshow, and it has stuck with me. He said that sales of latakia blends were always greater in colder climates and mountainous areas. I can't remember who he was interviewing, but he also mentioned that aromatics seemed to sell more in warmer climates and coastal areas also. I think he was talking worldwide. But, that by no means means that everyone in cold climates prefers this or that, just that "more" people, not "all" people.

 

[JOHN72]

Brian mentioned something in the first few years he had the Pipesmagazine Radioshow, and it has stuck with me. He said that sales of latakia blends were always greater in colder climates and mountainous areas. I can't remember who he was interviewing, but he also mentioned that aromatics seemed to sell more in warmer climates and coastal areas also. I think he was talking worldwide. But, that by no means means that everyone in cold climates prefers this or that, just that "more" people, not "all" people.

I have to try byzantium in my kitchen freezer................

 

[macaroni]

". . . Aromatics are not for beginners, in my opinion.

Me too.

Next would be something more "natural"; either Burley, Virginia, or English. Burley can be instantly enjoyable, . . . ."

English next for me, not burly nor Va. Burley gives me spins (sort of like a nice "buzz" from the first strong drink of the day). Va still often gives me tongue bit since I'm still working on sipping and not puffing.

Virginia blends might be the most difficult to "get" as they tend to be more subtle in flavor and the least forgiving of poor technique.

I closed last night out with Va Gentleman and started the day with the same today--often having to either put the pipe down or just reminded myself to sip shalow or a small exhale into the stem to keep the pipe going. No tongue bite. Taste lingers on my tongue even though pipe is out of my mouth as I type this and the taste is light, subtle and good. Smoking Va slowly is making it taste for me rather than bit AND MUCH nicer!

English blends . . . are perhaps the most forgiving of pipe tobaccos. Latakia (and heavily-smoked leaf in general) burns at a very slow rate and tends to cool a blend because it won't easily burn "hot". It is also lower in nicotine

As my technique improved (years worth of improvement), I began to enjoy my occasional Virginia blends more and more,

I'm hoping this will be my experience because while I've loved Latakia years ago and now, after returning to pipes following years of abstinence, have loved it for the past year--does it make sense that I'm feeling a bit "bored" with it (not quite right, but I can't think of the best word to describe the feeling)?

and then one day it just clicked and I started having the type of experiences as a pipe smoker that I had dreamed of,

These days I mostly smoke straight Virginia and some lighter Virginia/Perique blends, but

I'll smoke some Chelsea Morning or 965 every once in a while and I really enjoy those rare sessions. I feel like I enjoy English mixtures more (and get more out of them) as occasional treats.

If I continue to "mature" in my pipe smoking technique to avoid bite, and get more accustomed to nic hits and living with the "spins" (I tell my better half when this happens early in the afternoon--"the room's spinning a bit but I haven't ahd a drink yet!"), AND IF I gravitate to the VaPer blends--I hope this will occur for me BECAUSE I've stored away a BUNCH of Lat and Lat blends ) really!

TLDR; Latakia mixtures taught me how to be a pipe smoker, but Virginia blends taught me how to be a skilled pipe smoker.

Well put!

An aside, "Mr. Shane," mentions stong cofee and dark roasts. I'm still a bit groggy and have been slow awakening today so I may have missed the point (tied up with writing checks and this leaves my brain tired and "worn out"--and getting set to head out for the annual visits to county, city and school ISD offices to pay up the yearly property tax [reminds me the truth that we don't own the land--only "rent" it, regardless whose name is on the deed--just quit paying the property taxes and I'll find out who REALLY owns it ) . . . ; back to the coffee and dark roast comment--here's my question--IS DARK ROAST COFFEE STRONGER THAN LIGHT ROASTS (I've thought so for years, but googled it recently and IF I read correctly AND IF the info was accurate--the bean determined the caffeine content NOT the roast--slight differences exist but not appreciable! Blew my limited mind!)--as for "stronger"--yes, dark roasts have a stonger flavor but one nearing the "burnt" flavor--for years I roasted my beans to a really dark shiny appearance (Viennese sp?)--but I finally gravitated over time to quite light roasts that for me have lots more nuanced flavors. Perhaps I should ask this question in another forum thread since I don't want to hijack--hmmm.

Thanks Mr. Shane for lots of good things to consider on this chilly morning Texas
And thanks for all the time and good will you give to your "sharings" (videos, writings, etc)--these gifts help me and I appreciate You, Sir!

Enought suckking up! Taa Taa for Now! / TTFN (not a phrase I encountered down at ITS nor Camp Margarita in Pendleton years back
kindly
mike