Latakia samples will be in tomorrow

[BarG]

Thats no fair gloating. Most of us wouldn't know real Latakia if it bit us on the ass.

 

[BarG]

It appears as if the Latakia is from the last millennium.

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Look at the difference in condition compared to the 2006 Aleman (pronounced All-e-man) and 2011-12 Criollo and Habano

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How easy is it to miss a thread showing bales of much sought after tobacco. No wonder you need a warehouse. You had the foresight Don to make a good thing happen when everyone else was scared to venture.

 

[Matty]

Got a package in the mail today, there be some latakia in it. The smell comes through the plastic bags like nothing. This is some very smoky tobacco smelling heavily of creosote, like an extinguished campfire. Smoked a small bowl pure and tried some blended with virginia. Despite how smoky it Is I was able to taste and smell the oriental (?) tobacco. I found the aftertaste more tobacco than smoke. Certainly some special tobacco.

 

[MarcL]

Thanks for the free sample of Latakia with my order Don. I'm looking forward to this. man this stuff is smokey sweet smelling. I'll need to read up a little on some pipe blends.

 

[deluxestogie]

Latakia Sneak Peek

I am deeply embroiled in the process of creating a blending matrix (big chart) for Latakia pipe blends. The Latakia percentage starts at a timid 25%, and tops out at a generous 75%. While a handful of the nearly 20 blends are burley-based, all the rest are Virginia (lemon and red) and Turkish-based (Izmir and Prilep), supplemented with Dark Air. The goal is a blending matrix for use with WLT-available whole leaf tobacco.

I start with "paper" blends--blend ratios that seem like they ought to be nice. Then I actually make a small quantity, and smoke it in a pipe. I tweak each trial blend in the next mini-batch.

How do I adjust its:

• smokiness?
• floral quality?
• sourness?
• sweetness?
• fullness?
• strength?
• tongue bite?
• general balance?

My thoughts on these questions will be a part of the final matrix.

Here is a sneak peek of one final blend. It's the heaviest Latakia blend, at 75% Latakia. Ingredients are listed as parts per 16. Think ounces per pound, or teaspoons per total batch of 16 teaspoons. (I believe that greater theoretical accuracy is not likely or practical with tobacco pipe shred.) Notice the fairly broad pipe shred, which affects the burn rate (wider the shred, slower the burn) and smoke density (wider the shred, the cooler the ember and the fuller the smoke density--less thorough combustion). John Cotton "No. 1 and 2", a now extinct tobacco brand and blend, used this wide shred, and became my favorite shred width a long time ago.

Davy Jones

• Latakia: 12
• Prilep: 0
• Izmir: 1
• Lemon VA: 1
• VA Red: 2
• Dark Air: 0
• Toasted Burley: 0

Since Perique and Cavendish require home processing, they will not be a part of the Latakia blending matrix.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I have found that if you want a forward Turkish Latakia blend you need at 30% Turkish, less than that and I do not taste any Turkish at all.

 

[deluxestogie]

In the Davy Jones blend (and many others), altering the proportions of any of the ingredients by 1/16 makes a noticeable change in the final blend. I find it difficult sometimes to identify specifically what has changed, but it's easy to tell the difference when comparing blends. My objective in pipe blending is not so much to allow individual components to stand out (other than the Latakia), but to create a rounded, balanced flavor package. Too much Turkish, while increasing the floral note, seems to increase the "dryness" (in the sense of a dry wine). It's not astringent or biting, but alters (decreases) the sense of sweetness.

This is all very hokus-pokus. I'm doing this blending empirically, while attempting to get a clearer notion of the specific nuances that are altered by adjusting the components in subtle increments.

Bob

 

[MarcL]

Nice. thanks y'all