Buy Tobacco Leaf Online | Whole Leaf Tobacco

Latakia-Yayladağ Comparison

Status
Not open for further replies.

istanbulin

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
1,290
Points
66
Location
Stockton, CA
Many resources state that the variety used for Syrian Latakia is " Shekk-el-bint" which is said to be narrow and long leaf. Especially Turkish resources indicates that this variety is very similar to Yayladağ, even some resources says that they're same.

I found an almost whole leaf WLT's Latakia in good shape and flattaned it gently. It seems more narrow in the photo due to the press applied for flattening (midrib warp) but measurements were taken in correct stretched form.

The important point for being sure about the "wholeleafness" is noticing the needle hole which is located in the midrib, leaf stalk - petiole, where the leaf is strung. This part is generally missing in WLT's Latakia so it may mislead people about the leaf attachment form.

I also have a commercially grown Yayladağ leaf, now the only thing is comparing them.

karş.jpgyay büy.jpg

Yayladağ (sample)WLT LatakiaYayladağ (theorical)
Length262515-25
Width1098-10
L/W Ratio2.62.71.9-2.5
2.5 (in the photo)
Leaf ShapeElliptic *Elliptic *Elliptic *
Petiole ShapeSessile
(Broad Auricles)
Sessile
(Broad Auricles)
Sessile
(Broad Auricles)
TraditionalKabakulakKabakulakKabakulak
Tip Angle **ModerateAcuteAcute - Moderate
Acute (in the photo)
Vein Angle **~50[SUP]o[/SUP]~55[SUP]o[/SUP]Not defined
~50[SUP]o [/SUP](in the photo)

* The widest part of the leaf located on the upper half of the leaf.

** Leaf tip and secondary vein angle may change according to stalk position.

Values of WLT Latakia fit pretty well with both theorical and sample values of Yayladağ. There may be a leaf very similar to Yayladağ but there's a claim that Syrian Latakia used to be produced with Yayladağ (or a similar) variety and I think this measurements strengthen that claim.

As I recall, there was a doubt about the origin of WLT's Latakia, is it Syrian or Cyprian ? If it's Cyprian, the leaf does not seem like a present-day İzmir type leaf. I don't know when the variety used for Latakia production arrived to Cyprus but there's another claim on this. Seeds arrived from Latakia or from Yayladağ. ;)
 
Last edited:

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,929
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Instanbulin,
This is interesting. My single "intact" leaf of WLT Cyprian Latakia appeared to be a basma-type leaf, with no auricles. But you make a good point about the very base of the stem perhaps being missing. I still have quite a lot of the WLT Latakia, so I will attempt (eventually) to find a larger sample size of entire leaves. I believe I still have some of the Yayladağ that I grew in 2012, but I'm not sure.

You should use that nice Latakia leaf in the photo for a cigar wrapper.

Bob
 

webmost

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
1,908
Points
113
Location
Newark DE
Okay I put a post here. Where'd it go? I wondered what does that squiggle above the g do?
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,929
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
I wondered what does that squiggle above the g do?

"It is very similar to the blødt g 'soft g' in Danish..."

Seriously, it's a soft 'g' sound. Instead of the hard 'g' in the English word "dog," it would be closer to "doh." I'm sure Istanbulin could help more. I believe that "dağ" means "mountain," in Turkish.

Bob

EDIT: When Mustafa Kemal imposed a Roman alphabet on the Turkish language (I think in the 1920s), diacritical marks had to be added in order to represent Turkish sounds that don't exist in most Romance languages.
 

istanbulin

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
1,290
Points
66
Location
Stockton, CA
Instanbulin,
This is interesting. My single "intact" leaf of WLT Cyprian Latakia appeared to be a basma-type leaf, with no auricles. But you make a good point about the very base of the stem perhaps being missing. I still have quite a lot of the WLT Latakia, so I will attempt (eventually) to find a larger sample size of entire leaves. I believe I still have some of the Yayladağ that I grew in 2012, but I'm not sure.

You should use that nice Latakia leaf in the photo for a cigar wrapper.

Bob

Bob,
Actually you're partially right on the leaf type issue. The problem is having/using traditional and scientific descriptions together. As you remember from the "leaf morpholgy" thread, small to medium sessile leaves called "Basma" and medium to big sessile leaves called "Kabakulak".
Basma leaves generally tend to be more "perfect" or broad elliptical with a length/width ratio of 2-2.2 but Kabakulak leaves' L/W ratio may vary [generally higher, up to 3 in sığırdili (ox-tongue) leaves, as in Adıyaman] and they tend to be deformed (or narrow) elliptical in leaf form.
As you know there's always auricle on the leaf stalk (petiol) but it's generally ignored in Basma and Kabakulak types because it's less important for evaluation of the characteristics but they can help to notice tiny differences. On the other hand, auricle is really a very important criteria for evaluation of petiolate types and it really helps much.

Do you think that Latakia leaf may be a tasty wrapper ? I've never tried a fire-cured leaf as a wrapper before.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top