Latakia?

[TheMacDonald]

Although this forum is relatively young, it seems there is an already a concentration on Virginian blends here. I know there is a lot of quality in those blends. Over the years I have sampled a few, including a Navy Cavendish that was aged 6 years, of them but found that the sweetness and subtlety of the group is lost on my palette. Perhaps it is a result of growing up around cigar and cigarette smokers, mixed with an obsolete orientalism that causes me to shun the sweeter side of piping, or an incessant instinct infused in my Scottish genes to turn my nose up at the more civilized routes. The opulent, and sometimes bombastic delivery of a Latakia blend, with its complex mix of sweetness, spice, and smokiness that in some blends converges the entire spectrum of sensation into one exotic singularity…that conversation arresting (see Watson’s description of the original Arcadia blend) “ ji’n e se qua,” that envelops a smoker in silken, or dare I say…velvet fog in which they might find a tobacco induced satori to this humble narrator is irresistible, although I see no reason to try to resist it.

The question then brethren, is there any other Latakiadites here?

[XYZZZ]

I found burley to be my muse. When I begun, I was riffled with all the blends that my forbearers smoked, be it Granger, Prince Albert, Kentucky Club, etc. Be it for me, when I began smoking the pipe, which came some sixteen or so years after I first began smoking cigars and two years after I started smoking cigarettes, I immediately thumbed my nose at all the blends of my forefathers, reassuring myself that Arcadia existed somewhere in another store and on the top shelf. After countless trips to the tobacconist, buying tin after tin for cellaring, and after just smoking like a chimney, for eons upon eons, I thought something was missing, so I immediately returned to cigars and cigarettes, with me being a fiend of the dreaded lung blend so much, all I ever cared for were the cigarettes. Then one day, sitting alone one night, I decided to get up and go to a local drug store, where I bought a tin of Prince Albert. I took this tin back home, struck open the lid, paused, and said to myself, "this is home". Since that time, while I do venture off into the pastures of other flowers, I primarily enjoy my straight burley smokes, but my friends, the cigarettes are gone now and only the occasional cigars deviates me from enjoy my pipes.

And, as for my 100+ tins of high end orientals and virginias, well, let's just say they're reserved for posterity.

[R.Morris]

I enjoy latakia blends. I usually smoke the McClelland blends, GFO "Stonewall" and when in need in of a real latakia fix= C&D DaVinci (75%). Lately I have taken to adding a bit of McConnell's syrian latakia to most of the blends I smoke. It really 'bumps' a blend up.

[TheMacDonald]

When you add in more Latikia, how much to you usually add? Do you mix it in and smoke or let it marry into the blend?

[R.Morris]

I usually add a small amount. Only a pinch or 2 to a small amount of tobacco. For a full pound, 1 to 2 ounces will change the taste of a blend. Learned the hard way the first time. Added 4 ounces to 1 pound of World Balkan Sasieni. Per my wife, could only smoke it outside. Usually I do 1 pound at a time, mix it in a large bowl. I then set aside 2 ounces for myself to smoke. I then jar what is left in a small mason jar regular or wide mouth. I stuff as much in as I can get and not leave any air space. I am trying my hand at vacuum packing using a FoodSaver regular mouth jar sealer and wide mouth one . BTW you do not need a foodsaver to use the jar sealers, a brake bleeder will work and pull 20 mmhg. I usually let them set for 1-6 months. The longer the better IMO. I do not bump drugstore blends (PA,carter hall, granger etc) as I do not smoke them and would be a waste of my time, tobacco IMO.

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