Latakia

This one is a flake.

One half Cyprian Latakia, so 50%.

Ooh.

Yeah.

Yeah

... yeah, the different types of leaf in here.

Well, you said this is 50% Latakia.

Yeah.

Witness the handkerchief.

He uses bergamot, and he buys the most expensive brand of Latakia tobacco, a variety carried by only two tobacconists in all of London.

And last but not least, when it comes to robbery, he's an amateur.

But how can you know that? No professional jewel thief would run away with false pearls and silver plate.

And there's been plenty of pipe tobacco-ish-esque cigars made.

Stokeby came out with Stoke that, you know, has the Latakia in it.

Uh, the Stillwells.

But the Stillwell cigars didn't sell very well originally.

... just a little bit more flavorful in the smoke.

I always get a hankering for a slight Latakia-

Mm

... once it, like, starts to get a little cool.

Um, but that being said, like, as I've been going through, like, I don't have very many right now that are open, but I do get that, that hankerin' every now and then.

Yeah, like, even like last year I was talking to, um, [smacks lips] oh, I can't remember his name again.

But I was saying, like, for me, like, when I think of, like, the quintessential, like, pipe smoker or, like, the tobacco, I will always think it's Latakia.

Mm.

Was

Latakia the one that you smoked straight? I did smoke

straight Latakia.

Yeah.

Which is, yeah, well, that was an experience.

Not a bad one.

Just an experience.

I'm a big Latakia fan.

Um, and you're throwing everything in there.

Well, if everything just tastes like some weird, you know, chimera of Latakia and vanilla, I mean, it's 'cause you're smoking everything in the same pipe if everything tastes the same.

[laughs]

That being said, there are some ti- times where I've been like, "I really like this blend." And it's like, it turns out I really like this blend after something else has been smoked in that pipe.

Like, I realized that, like, I really liked GL- the, uh, the Penny Farthing in this pipe.

And I realized, like, [lips smack] I really like Penny Farthing with a, a little tiny Latakia ghost.

[laughs]

Nope.

Oh, okay.

A little bit of cumin, maybe, and Latakia tobacco, maybe, hiding in the background.

Yeah, there's whispers of that, and that's a consistent expression of Petaluma Gap.

We get it sometimes in Gary Swine's, Gary from Brooks Note.

It's the reason the Englishes, if that's your thing, are so popular with some people.

There can be, there are nuances to English blends if you want to look for that, but they're a flavor-packed, a Latakia blend is a flavor-packed blend.

Yeah.

An aromatic is a flavor-packed blend.

I really love Red Stag.

It is a... true Balkan blend where the focus of the blend is towards the oriental and the Latakia plays a little bit more of a supporting role.

It is a wonderful springtime blend.

It kind of reminds me of those early spring days where there's a crispness At the same time that there is sun and you can see the trees are waking up and you can see the flowers are starting, that's kind of the emotional sort of feeling that I have with that blend because there is a crispness there, but there's also really prominent floral notes and just a freshness with that slightly smoky background that sort of reminds me of sitting around a campfire.

Do you have a style of tobacco that you prefer or are you still smoking all different kinds?

No, I think I'm, I'm finding my equilibrium.

So I started off, you know, the typical journey with aromatics and moving on to Latakia is just for the contrast.

And I thought, okay, this is it.