John Aylesbury Latakia Blend

I recently received an old tin of this to sell on my website and I had remembered smoking it a long time ago and was surprised I had not transcribed my notes on TRC. Just sensational, according to my journal. Waves of deeply rich and smoky Latakia that produced unusually large plums of gray smoke as I puffed away contentedly. The quality Virginia complimentary leaf added to the attraction and the blend was as cool a smoke as there is on the planet.

Pipestud

John Aylesbury - Latakia Blend.

I got this from my mate Gentleman Zombie in the 'States, another winner Franck!

This is, what it is: a straightforward, no messing, English. The ONLY negative is the one or two twigs the blend contains, other than that it's an English lovers ideal blend; I recon! The flavour of Latakia Blend is exactly what the name implies: lots of smokiness, strong notes of cedar, and a cool temperature smoke. To my palate there's only a tiny amount of Virginia, it's a smoke that's monopolized by the Latakia, but that suits me nicely! Something I can't hold against it is the speed of the burn: t's too fast, but it's been out of the sealed tin for a month or so and it's become quite dry.

Although the note's quite heavy, I like it, and I find the nicotine medium to strong.

Franck, I can't wait to see your review on this, me thinks you'll like, I do!

Highly recommended.

The only thing I can read on the can is the name of the tobacco, the description is in German. I picked this up a few years ago. It is a 100 gram tin with a lid on it that needs a quarter to open. Don't have to worry about this drying out too much. It is a nice mild latakia blend, good but for me nothing to want me to go out and buy another tin. I guess I am drawn more to the spicier latakia blends. I would not turn it down but for me has no zip, zest, pizazz.

A very monotonous tobacco. A good dose of latakia completed with tasteless young Virginias. I sense no flavoring, yet it bites like a heavy aromatic. A real tongue scorcher.

Low quality + tongue bite + flatness = highly NOT recommended.

I really like the Lat used here. It hasn't been smoked to death and still has a lot of Oriental qualities to the flavor. Lightly smoky with nice notes of sour, buttery wood. The Virginias on the other hand bring little more than a mild sweetness. I'd like a little flavor from those. Overall though, a nice simple Lat smoke. 3 stars on the strength of this tasty Lat. There are blending possibilities here too.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. No added flavoring. Burns well, but you may need to shovel out the ashes at about the 3/4 mark.

I was very surprised when I smoked this blend the first time, expecting to have the usual sensation of a Va-Latakia mixture. Wrong! It's totally different from any other (S.G.Commonwealth, Balkan Flake, Charles Fairmon Lancer's...etc.). First of all it's very dry upon opening the tin, almost too much: I'm used to leave every tobacco open for a while before packing, but this really wasn't the case. The ribbon cut makes loading the pipe and lighting it an easy task, while the burning isn't so even, due to the lack of tobaccos such as Orientals or Burley that help in regularity. At sight you may expect a latakia-dominated smoke, but the Virginias used prove to have a great character and a certain punch, with a sweetness probably pushed by some casing that makes it surprisingly biting too (you better not rush it!). The smoke never builds up, so someone may find it boring and monotone; the mixture is very light too, which doesn't help in making it unforgettable. A good first bowl of the day.

Rather coarsely chopped Latakia blend, a reasonable proprtion of dark leaf, with some bright Virginia.

Lights easily, smokes all the way through, leaning only a few dry pieces in the bottom of the bowl, no soggy dottle. Most Latakia seems to do this.

It tstes alright, a little unexciting perhaps, its not a dramatic adventure of a smoke as some of the Dunhill blends are. But it is pleasant enough, and would make an ideal all day smoke (not that I often smoke all day), it never bites or overheats, it stays lit, and leaves a pleasant aftertaste. One to enjoy while doing something else.

Must agree with Sasha. This one is a bit soft, in the "modern style" of all DK/DE tobaccos. In the tin this blend smells ONLY a bit like leather. It shows ribbons in 3 colours and comes a bit too dry. I think that this blend is not even intended to be an english type. Aylesbury issued a different tin for that purpose called English Mixture, which I never saw. This one is allright for experimenting some touch additions, like adding some syrian latakia (it already contains cyprian) or some burley. It would make no sense to add any Oriental or Black Cavendish because the sweetish red virginia already tends to that. It compares fine with Rattrays tobaccos, with which it shares manufacturing place and market.

Tasty nevertheless, but don't expect too much.

10-15-04 A basic blend...

Appearance and tin aroma: Comes in a 100g. tin with a pop-up lid. Mostly dark leaf, smells musty like a good Latakia blend should.

Packing and Lighting: Easy to pack, typical medium ribbon cut. Lit quite easily with moisture ok right out of the tin.

Initial Flavor: Smokey, kind of a BBQ charcoal undertone.

Mid-Bowl: Boring! All you get is a subdued smokey bottom note and a strong High-note from the VA leaf in the blend. The VA tastes like a young Red VA and tends to be overly spicy.

Bottom of Bowl: Not much increase in strength, same flavor all the way down to the ash which is mottled grey and dry when its all over.

Overall: I just found this blend bland for a Latakia mixture. It is cheap, but I wouldn't buy it again. There are other blends in this price range that are more interesting. Lane's Crown Achievement comes to mind. the Va High note becomes annoying to me and is another reason I don't care for this blend much. I suppose one could do worse, I cannot understand why anyone would compare this to Sobranie, it does not even come close.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Points

I was recommended this by Shervingtons (337 High Holborn, WC1. Tel: 020 7405 2929 - i think they will do mail order as well.

This is a very nice Latakia blend and smokes dry and cool. It is a very pleasant mix of virginia and latakia. It is only available in the 100g green tin, which is good for storage. (£15)

My Balkan Sobranie from 3yrs ago finally ran out and this is a good replacement. It is one of my favourites and smoke it regularly.

Shervingtons have their own Balkan Mix which is also very good.