A smoky suggestion?

[Kyle Weiss]

Tried some Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud pipe tobacco, and liked it at first, but it's kind of finicky in the pipe. It seems to dry out really fast, and halfway down the bowl gets really peppery...could be the pipe, could be my technique with this one.

I'll give it another chance... but...

...it's opened my world to wanting to try more "smoky" tobacco. I love smoked salmon, elk, beers, meats, and so why not tobacco? I figured fire-cured Kentucky might be a good way to go. As per my taste right now, I like lighter-colored tobaccos (a little darker Cavendish-treated stuff mixed in conservatively is okay), and my taste is kind of not-quite-aromatic and not-quite-non-aromatic. Sweet is fine, natural sweetness a plus, but I really want something smoky mixed in. Latakia would be okay if mixed in gently rather than boldly. Lastly, I would like some simpler blends to ease me into deciphering exactly what I'm tasting... there's been blends that just have too much stuff in 'em, and I like simplicity.

Given my technique is all over the board and from pipe to pipe, a forgiving, cooler tobacco would be awesome.

Does any of this make sense? If so, suggestions on what to hunt down?

Thanks for reading my nonsense... :lol:

 

[Brewdude]

Recently tried some smoked burley which our own Blackhorse kindly sent me a sample of. Quite different from anything I'd ever had. No Latakia, and the smoky character is reasonably pronounced. Can't seem to remember who produces it though!

:!:

Revor plug is also nicely smoky, if you can lay your hands on some.



Cheers,

RR

 

[Puff Daddy]

GL Pease Maltese Falcon 8)

 

[deepbass9]

Of the stuff I've tried, I'd say Margate/Maltese/Balkan Saseini. They're lighter, with Margate I think having a slight edge in the sweetness department. They're all lat blends, though not "full" lat blends.

I've only had one bowl of the 3 Oak Syrian thus far, but it was extremely mild and flavorful. Not over the top in any respect and pretty straightforward. This would probably be my #1 suggestion from the tobaks I've tried.

Frog Morton on the Town is another choice, but has a bit more going on. Sweet, smoky, semi-full I'd say.



Or, if you're a burley fan, there's a touch of latakia in C&D #4. Same deal if you're a perique guy, with GLP's Filmore. They are both, however, kinda heavy hitters....

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Busily finding this stuff on smokingpipes.com and bookmarking it as you guys suggest it... geez, I figured I'd get one or two suggestions. Leave it to the Brothers. 8) You guys are awesome.

 

[deepbass9]

All the lat blends should smoke cool..I meant to say that, but forgot.

I'm sure the old hats know of many, many more...wish I had the experience to be more helpful.

I'd throw GLP Jack Knife Plug out there...dark fire KY...but it will knock your socks off. Pretty simple blend though, as just VA's to sweeten the mix.

 

[Vito]

Brothah Kyle:

I’m going to suggest something here that might sound off the wall, but if you’ve never tried it, you might be pleasantly surprised.

For pure smokiness, nothing beats Latakia. It’s a “fire-cured” tobacco, but what that really means is that it’s a smoke-cured tobacco. Explicit fire (as in flame-cured) would roast the tobacco leaves, so in order to get the kind of slow, steady curing needed, the fires are made to smolder, filling the curing barn with smoke.

Now, “fire cured Kentucky” is cured with the smoke of the available hardwoods, mostly ground up into chips and chunks. Hickory has been used traditionally. In any case, whatever wood is used imparts its own characteristics to the smoke-cured leaf.

Latakia is a different cultivar, so you’re starting with different weed in the first place. Additionally, the indigenous woods in Cyprus and Syria (for those respective kinds of Latakia) are very different from each other, and both are very different from the American hardwoods.

In Cyprus, the climate is semi-arid, and although the woods and shrubs used for smoke-curing vary depending on location, they mostly are resinous plants like pine, sage, yerba santa, and other strongly aromatic plants with volatile (or even flammable) sap. Consequently, the Latweed cured with such plants acquires the highly aromatic essence of the smoke they produce.

In Syria, the climate is similar in some respects (it’s semi-arid), but the local flora are different. Traditionally, the principal fuel for smoke-curing has been oak, which imparts a kind of leathery quality to the weed. It’s a drier (as in less sweet) kind of aroma and flavor, and it’s really quite different from the Cyprian variety. Some folks describe it as “winelike”, which probably is due in part to its similarity to wine cured in oak barrels. In any case, it’s a unique flavor and aroma—not at all like Cyprian Latweed, and if you have a taste for it (I do), there is no substitute.

Regardless of which variety of Latakia you use, it’s such a pronounced and markedly different aroma from the other tobaccos in the blends that contain Latakia that the general perception among many smokers is that “Latakia is a strong tobacco”.

Well, they’re right (sort of) in the sense that it doesn’t take much Latakia to spice up a blend with that smoky Latweed essence. But the presumption that “therefore, Latakia is a strong tobacco“ is just that—a presumption. The truth is somewhat different. In fact, the vast majority of Latakia is actually quite mild and sweet. Smoke some pure Latweed and you’ll see what I mean. It will be a revelation.

I do my own blending. I’m a self-confessed dilettante of a blender—not a true weedmeister by any stretch of the imagination—but I do have a few successes. My starting premise was this: “You can’t blend anything if you don’t know what the component weedages are like.“ So I’ve smoked everything straight: Virginia, Burley, Perique, all manner of Orientals...and many different Latakias. That’s what opened my eyes to the true nature of Latweed. It’s a full-flavored tobacco—no question about that; but pure Latakia is one of the mildest and most enjoyable smokes ever—much milder and sweeter than you would ever guess if you judge it only by its effect in combination with other tobaccos.

I keep bulk Latakia from McClelland, Gawith Hoggarth, Cornell & Diehl, and other sources in my cellar. If I’m craving a truly smoky pipeful that won’t set me down on all fours from Nico-Buzz<img class="emojione" alt="" title=":tm:" title=":tm:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/2122.png?v=2.2.7"/>, or crawling off to the bathroom to worship the white goddess, I reach for the Latweed.

Your mileage may vary. :mrgreen:

:joker:

 

[WingRider]

GL Pease Maltese Falcon 8)

I second this one, but expensive. Sure would liked to have tried Raven's Wing.

 

[MisterE]

Great post Vito.

I agree, straight Lat is nowhere as heavy or harsh as one would imagine it to be. A few years a go I got some straight bulk Latakia and started tweaking different blends with it to see what it would do. I soon discovered the same thing: that it tends to affect how other tobaccos react more than as a "power agent" itself. Kind of a flavor catalyst if you will. It's actually counter-intuitive because most Latakia blends tend to fall in the "heavier"or "robust" category. That would make you think it's a heavy tobacco itself. I had a similar reaction in that it was far milder than expected.

I have yet to compare Syrian and Cyprian back to back. That'd be a neat experiment. Rounding up straight samples of all the Orientals would be a task though!! Aren't there are something like 8 or 9 different tobaccos that fall in that category?

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Great posts to this thread! Thanks! I wish I liked Cyprian more; Syrian I very much like. Reading Vito's post I get quite itchy to smoke Syrian now.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

Check out G&H Brown Boggie. Its firewood laced with nicotine.

 

[Harlock999]

Astleys No.99 does "smokey" quite nicely for me, although I don't recall ever seeing another recommendation for it. It is described as a full English, and while flavorful, it's pretty mild really.
Vito's post above is pure gold!
For me, nothing hits the spot like a good smoky, earthy Lat blend.

 

[Josjor]

I've recently been turned on to Boswell's Northwoods blend. To me it is a nice smokey taste. Even if its not the smokiness you're looking for, it's a really nice blend to have around.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Where would I be without you guys? Just love this place.

Okay... Vito:

What a great post, I greatly appreciate the definitions and specifics. As a former chef/cook, current coffee roaster (in training), and in pursuit of "the best taste ever, ever," that helped a lot. It also is spurring me to want to try my hand at blending, then again, I want to run before I even sit up, and it could be very expensive and disappointing experimentation. At least for right now. You have encouraged me, though, and I'm a little more knowledgeable than before! I was aware Latakia is more a "spicing" tobacco, and from what I have tried, many Latakia blends aren't the juggernauts of power-flavors people lend themselves. Do I want to smoke them straight-up? Probably not, however, the nuances between them, as you pointed out, are a very intriguing push into the Latakia world...which is obviously more complex (thankfully) than I imagined.

Dave_In_Philly: Bit much for me, most likely--I'll try some if it crosses my path, but I don't think that suits me right now.

Harlock: A possibility, but may run a little less sweet than I'm hoping for.

Smoky taste is not necessarily the key, it's just something I'd love see applied to the more mild, naturally-sweet or even aromatic blends I'm looking for. It seems I can find aromatic VA/Burley/Cavendish blends all the live long day, and English/Balkans with VA/Turkish/Lat blends all night, but few are making smoky the sweeter, milder blends for us tendertongue. I suppose if I were to mix something, a light, cavendish-treated VA: 50%, Kentucky fire-cured, 30%, Perique 10% and Latakia 10%. Yeah, goes against my "not complicated" thing above, but I'm just chinscratchin' here.

Lastly, "Mississippi Mud," I've discovered is just very strange. I really enjoy the first half bowl, then it turns to total harsh, cigar-like flavor and smell. It's not dry, not moist, I've tried breaking it up more, leaving it "chunky" and two different pipes that I know smoke totally differently. I think I just don't like it. I may mix in some dark cavendish to sweeten it up to see if that helps. Luckily I didn't pay for the Mud--just a "trial ounce." It did, though, open my eyes to new flavors!

 

[Harlock999]

Harlock: A possibility, but may run a little less sweet than I'm hoping for.

True! Astley's No.99 is not very sweet.
Unless we're talking about Agent No.99, who was a sweetheart!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Harlock: A possibility, but may run a little less sweet than I'm hoping for.

True! Astley's No.99 is not very sweet.
Unless we're talking about Agent No.99, who was a sweetheart!

This is true, however, I don't think she'd particularly appreciate being tamped into a pipe and lit on fire. :clown:

 

[jj1015]

Tried some Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud pipe tobacco, and liked it at first, but it's kind of finicky in the pipe. It seems to dry out really fast, and halfway down the bowl gets really peppery...could be the pipe, could be my technique with this one.

I'll give it another chance... but...

...it's opened my world to wanting to try more "smoky" tobacco. I love smoked salmon, elk, beers, meats, and so why not tobacco? I figured fire-cured Kentucky might be a good way to go. As per my taste right now, I like lighter-colored tobaccos (a little darker Cavendish-treated stuff mixed in conservatively is okay), and my taste is kind of not-quite-aromatic and not-quite-non-aromatic. Sweet is fine, natural sweetness a plus, but I really want something smoky mixed in. Latakia would be okay if mixed in gently rather than boldly. Lastly, I would like some simpler blends to ease me into deciphering exactly what I'm tasting... there's been blends that just have too much stuff in 'em, and I like simplicity.

Given my technique is all over the board and from pipe to pipe, a forgiving, cooler tobacco would be awesome.

Does any of this make sense? If so, suggestions on what to hunt down?

Thanks for reading my nonsense... :lol:

Here are some suggestions for "smoky" tobaccos that have some sweetness and are "not quite not aromatic":
Boswell's "Northwoods" and "Countryside"
McClelland's "Frog Morton" and "Frog Morton on the Town"

These are great blends for those getting acquainted with latakia, and they are VERY forgiving of technique and pipe. You have to order the first two directly from Boswell's shop (which is online), but the "Frog" series you can get from almost any online vendor at reasonable prices.

 

[i.keenum]

I just started into trying a few smokey blends and i really liked Bob's chocolate flake, it is mostly a virginia flake with chocolate topping and a little oriental and lat in it. Damn good.