Building upon the work of others on this forum I decided to try my hand at cracking the Latakia code. Previously, members have tried smoking their leaf but the limiting factor seemed to be a lack of the same wood that is used in Cyprus (and formerly in Syria). So, based on the work of Leffingwell who identified the main constituents in Latakia leaf I purchased a small quantity of Cade oil and Mastic oil.
Here is my test set up. I took 5 different samples and sprayed each one with Cade oil. I took an additional 5 samples and sprayed them with Mastic oil. Each of these were smoked in a clay pipe. The results were quite dismal. None of the samples came even remotely close to real Latakia. The 5 samples I chose were:
1. Cyprus Tobacco from seed supplied my markw
2. Virginia Brightleaf ( I figured this was bound to fail, but ya never know until you try)
3. Dark Fired (from WLT): I though this might be my best shot because of the smokiness of the leaf.
4. BlueRidge Latakia ( made by Deluxestogie)
5. Prilep (from WLT)
I post this here so that others that may want to pick up the torch will not waste their time with spraying oils onto tobacco leaf.
I did plan a "Phase 2" but decided not to pursue it. I have an "Amazing Smoker" ( not positive of the name). This smoker will produce a cold smoke for 11 hours. My plan was to infuse the wood fuel with Cade oil and then with Mastic oil. I have decided to not try this based on my dismal results of spraying the oils right on the leaf.
I am now officially out of the homemade Latakia business. On a side note though, my basement (where I did all the smoking) had a very nice turpentine smell to it.
Here is my test set up. I took 5 different samples and sprayed each one with Cade oil. I took an additional 5 samples and sprayed them with Mastic oil. Each of these were smoked in a clay pipe. The results were quite dismal. None of the samples came even remotely close to real Latakia. The 5 samples I chose were:
1. Cyprus Tobacco from seed supplied my markw
2. Virginia Brightleaf ( I figured this was bound to fail, but ya never know until you try)
3. Dark Fired (from WLT): I though this might be my best shot because of the smokiness of the leaf.
4. BlueRidge Latakia ( made by Deluxestogie)
5. Prilep (from WLT)
I post this here so that others that may want to pick up the torch will not waste their time with spraying oils onto tobacco leaf.
I did plan a "Phase 2" but decided not to pursue it. I have an "Amazing Smoker" ( not positive of the name). This smoker will produce a cold smoke for 11 hours. My plan was to infuse the wood fuel with Cade oil and then with Mastic oil. I have decided to not try this based on my dismal results of spraying the oils right on the leaf.
I am now officially out of the homemade Latakia business. On a side note though, my basement (where I did all the smoking) had a very nice turpentine smell to it.