Is it my imagination?

[mikesan]

I have been smoking English and Balkan blends with significant amounts of Latakia for many years. Is it my imagination, nostalgia or simply memory failure that, after Iranian Latakia became unavailable and everyone switched to Cyprian, there was a distinct change in the flavor of all these tobaccos?

 

[Brewdude]

I have been smoking English and Balkan blends with significant amounts of Latakia for many years.  Is it my imagination, nostalgia or simply memory failure that, after Iranian Latakia became unavailable and everyone  switched to Cyprian, there was a distinct change in the flavor of all these tobaccos?

Do you mean Syrian Latakia? if so then the answer is yes without a doubt!


Cheers,

RR

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Definitely not you imagination. There are very few blending houses with a stock of Syrian Latakia. Mac Baren and McClelland are the only two I can think of. Although I read that Planta still has a bit as well.

 

[mikesan]

Yes, of course.  I am geographically confused.

I recall reading somwhere that Latakia is not a designation for a species of tobacco, but a name associated with the curing process. Thus almost any tobacco subject to that process could be designated Latakia. Is it then the species of the leaf that distinguishes Cyprian and Syrian?

 

[Ozark Wizard]

As hearsay has it, both versions are made from strains of Basma, an "Oriental" tobacco plant with it's roots around the Med. Cyprian leaf starts as a type named Smyrna. I believe the Syrian strain is called Shek-el-Bint, or something like that. The other difference is in the materials they use to smoke the leaves in their barns. In Cyprus, they use evergreen bushes and trees, with perhaps some local sages. The Syrians used different stuff, like an oak that as I understand it was going extinct and is now protected as a species. I am also told that some other sages and scrub were added as well, though the details are sketchy at best. Short of getting a hold of an old tobacco grower, this is all we have, guess work, rumour, and history.

I've tried blends with each type of Latakia in them, and they are quite different from each other, in that (I think) the Cyprian, using evergreens, has a sharper bite to the smoky flavor, whereas the Syrian tends to be softer on the palette.

I have also taken it upon myself to have a bowl of the Cyprian solo, to taste the full effect to help me imagine it's place in my blends.

Probably won't do that again.

Though I do wish I could get a bowl of the Syrian, just so I could say I tried it...

 

[mikesan]

Ozark,

Thanks for taking the time to respond with interesting details.

I too have tried a bowl of straight Cyprian Latakia, and I won't try that again. Given the current state of things in Syria I doubt if we will ever get the chance to sample their variety, much less talk with an old grower.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

As far as meeting an old grower, I'll wager a couple may have made it out before things got crazy.....