Recommendations for Oriental Mixtures with no Latakia

[DrumsAndBeer]

At this point, I am wishing it was dung.   

 

[rothnh]

I agree about the Peter Stokkebye Turkish Blend, it's very good and easy on the wallet.

I may have posted this before, but the only issue with PS Turkish Blend is that it's sold in two versions -- an RYO cut and a ribbon cut and it's often not labeled as to what cut you're getting-- the ribbon cut smokes much better in my pipe, so I always ask about the cut before ordering it online. I know that CI sells the ribbon cut version.

Also, McClelland makes a bulk called Turkish Blend that's also very good.

Neither of these blends have a bunch of Turkish tobacco, though you can taste it.

 

[sisyphus]

McC Matured Virginias No. 24 (Drama) and McC Tudor Castle (Yenidje) are two of my favorite tobaccos.

 

[Puff Daddy]

I would be happy to send you some 3 Oaks Syrian, for scientific purposes of course.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I agree about the Peter Stokkebye Turkish Blend, it's very good and easy on the wallet.

I may have posted this before, but the only issue with PS Turkish Blend is that it's sold in two versions -- an RYO cut and a ribbon cut and it's often not labeled as to what cut you're getting-- the ribbon cut smokes much better in my pipe, so I always ask about the cut before ordering it online.  I know that CI sells the ribbon cut version.

Also, McClelland makes a bulk called Turkish Blend that's also very good.

Neither of these blends have a bunch of Turkish tobacco, though you can taste it.

Thanks!

McC Matured Virginias No. 24 (Drama) and McC Tudor Castle (Yenidje) are two of my favorite tobaccos.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll put those on my list. I forgot about the Matured VA with the Drama addition.

I would be happy to send you some 3 Oaks Syrian, for scientific purposes of course.

PD, thanks for the offer. I think I might have a tin though, either that or Celebrated Sovereign. I'll have to check. Either way, I have the Syrian need for the scientific experiment. I read that when in production Syrian leaf was cured with stone pine and oak. The stone pine would probably contain the dreaded cedrol. I'll find out soon enough.

 

[Thomas Tkach]

I'm sorry for your loss and suffering, but remember, everything happens for a reason.

YOU CAN SOLVE ALL THE DEBATES ABOUT WHICH BLENDS CONTAIN LATAKIA! You are God's gift to the piping community!

From C&D, try Boker Or (morning light) and Oriental Silk as well.

 

[scottbtdmb]

One of the FINEST NO LATAKIA Oriental blends is Tashkent made by L.J. Peretti up in Boston. They are some funky folks to deal with (no inter web orders, only over the phone) but this blend is WELL WORTH the effort !!  :twisted: 

Actually Tashkent is a Latakia/oriental mixture (it contains no Virginia). I have smoked it many times and there is definitely plenty of Latakia there. Tobaccoreviews as well as Peretti's website confirms this. Just sayin...

-Scott

 

[Puff Daddy]

D&B, if you crack those McClelland syrian tins and they don't workout for you I probably have something in my cellar to trade out with you for them.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Thomas, thanks for the recommendations. Price point is nice too.

Scott - Yeah, I was on Peretti's site yesterday and I saw that Latakia, was listed in the ingredients for Tashkent. The Oriental #40 still looks promising.

PD - I'll keep the trade option in mind. I might have a few more tins of McClelland flavors with Syrian as well.

 

[MisterE]

I justfound a sample one of the bros sent me a while back. C&D Guilford Courthouse....

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/2764/cornell-diehl-927-guilford-courthouse

Not bad (I'm smoking a bowl now)- more to the Oriental side than Virginia.

 

[rothnh]

Cornell & Diehl Guilford Courthouse appears to have a similar composition to the Low Country Waccamaw, and IIRC, both blends are made by C&D.

However, comparing the two, the reviews on TR are quite dissimilar, with the Guilford Courthouse having a 2.1 average (in 15 reviews) and the Waccamaw boasting a much higher 3.5 (in 22 reviews).

I also noticed that the OP posted his own review of the former blend and gave it 3 stars.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I do enjoy Guilford Courthouse. Thanks to mejoshee, I have a bit more GC to smoke and a tin of the Flake version to try. The Courthouse is quite Turk forward. I think the negative ratings might have something to do with this. Folks wanting a sweeter VA that's slightly tweaked by an Oriental component (ala Embarcadero) were probably disappointed.  

I have been digging through notes on a variety of tinned tobaccos looking for some mixtures that haven't already been mentioned -

Robert McConnell - Scottish Flake (contains Turk)
James J Fox - Campanile
Butera - Blended Flake

I have had Scottish Flake, it was quite nice.

Anyone tried the other two?

 

[rothnh]

The Robert McConnell Scottish Flake sounds interesting -- I'll put it on my bucket list -- thanks.

I have smoked a tin of the Robert McConnell Scottish Cake (Kentucky, Perique, Virginia) and posted my review of that blend on TR. I enjoyed it a lot (4 stars), but the Scottish Cake (a Va/Per) has no orientals in the blend.

I did mention the C&D Turkish Izmir sold in bulk -- it's nice to have on hand to mix a bit of it, to taste, with various virginias.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

One other I found is Brigham's - Maritime Mixture.

 

[rothnh]

One other I found is Brigham's - Maritime Mixture.

I finished a tin of Brigham Maritime Morning recently --and reviewed it here in December:

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/t26052-brigham-maritime-morning-a-review?highlight=Maritime+Morning

Please note: There is a bit of latakia in this blend.

I liked it.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Thanks, & nice review. Sounds like a great blend. I haven't had a bad R.L. Will blend. For now I'll pass on picking any up due to the Latakia, although I am sure I could get away with a touch and not suffer any ill effects from it.

 

[femur]

John Patton's Crossroads is quite good.

 

[Aristokles]

To make a long story short, after extensive allergy tests it was revealed to me that I am quite allergic to cedar.  :x  So much so, that after an intradermal injection a tiny welt about 3mm across eventually became a golf ball sized splotch, and ultimately my entirely forearm blew up and was itching and tingling terribly for 3 days after the test.

This explains some of the wheezing fits that I have had after smoking some of my favorite Latakia blends. Depressing for sure, but I am still quite of fond of complex fragrant Oriental tobacco mixtures. Since it seems that Latakia is off the table, I am looking for Oriental forward blends that don't contain it. One may say, "Dude search Tobacco Reviews," but I know there are quite a few mixtures out there where the blender just lumps Latakia in with the the term Oriental, mixtures like Red Rapparee, EMP, etc. So I turn to you guys & gals.

What's your recommendation for Oriental Mixtures that for sure have no Lat?

So far I have McClelland Drama Reserve, GLP Cairo, and JP Oriental Dusk.

Thanks.... 

D,
After re-reading your OP I have to ask the question, what does an allergy to cedar have to do with Latakia? It botanically has no connection to tobacco and the process of smoking the leaves of this variety is to smoke it over dung fires so I'm trying to connect the two.  :?: 

I believe the dung is a myth, rather the tobacco is smoked over burning resinous branches/leaves, which might be similar to cedar

I am under the impression that real Syrian was prepared over oak smoke while Cyprian over pine, which may be the source of the "cedar" effect here. Today however it is hard to tell as a lot of the Syrian used is made on Cyprus, presumably using the Syrian base stock and not the Izmir that Cyprian uses. The curing fire question, hence, remains - which wood is used to smoke the tobacco?.
Sorry if this doesn't help.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I am under the impression that real Syrian was prepared over oak smoke while Cyprian over pine, which may be the source of the "cedar" effect here. Today however it is hard to tell as a lot of the Syrian used is made on Cyprus, presumably using the Syrian base stock and not the Izmir that Cyprian uses. The curing fire question, hence, remains - which wood is used to smoke the tobacco?.
Sorry if this doesn't help.

The only web based "diddy" that I was able to find that gives any info whatsoever on the the types of wood used in the curing process of Latakia is here - http://www.leffingwell.com/download/latakia2013.pdf

I have no clue as to the validity of the info but for those that don't want to read through the bulk of it, the info on Cyprian Latakia reads  -  

"It has been reported that the Mastic shrub (Pistacia lentiscus) is primarily used in the
smoke generation for Cyprian Latakia tobacco (15). The following formula, based on
this report, may approximate the shrubs and woods used for the smoke-curing process.

Mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) 90%
Myrtle - Myrtus communis 4%
Cypress - Cupressus sempervirens 4%
Stone Pine (Pinus pinea or Pinus pinaster) 4%
Other 1% "

Prior to that, Syrian  "is reputed to have been smoke cured primarily by burning the
green leafy branches and twigs of the Allepo pine (Pinus halepensis) and Oak (Quercus
species), along with lesser amounts of other aromatic species [e.g. Lebanon cedar
(Cedrus libani), and Juniperus excelsa]. "

Once again, I have no idea how valid this info is, or if it's still applies to product that is currently available in mixtures produced today.

 

[SailorJack]

I would second C&D's Boker Or from their Hebraic Series.