Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Syrian Latakia

This tobacco is the real shabang as far as syrian Latakia goes. Those of you who love latakia and are aware of the differences between Cyprian and Syrian, will view this one as a special treat. No other latakia that I've tried has the level of complexity that this tobacco carries. There is an abundence of complex fruit and smoked essence in this one. I use this one in almost all of my latakia concoctions that I create. If you love latakia, this one is for you.

I was given a portion of pure Syrian Latakia by a good friend. I'm unsure of its exact provenance, but will add my review here mostly for my own records. I had enough for one bowl, which I smoked in a Meerschaum cutty in which I had previously smoked a couple of bowls of pure Cyprian Latakia, allowing a fair comparison.

The tobacco was a jet black, short ribbon cut with some crystals especially on the few pieces of cross cut stem. It had a gentler aroma than the Cyprian, mustier, resiny and slightly spicey. The smokiness was softer, somehow more woodsmoke than the charcoal smoke I'd experienced in the Cyprian.

It took a light very easily and burned almost completely without a relight, although I did relight to smoke the dottle mainly to avoid wasting any of this precious leaf!

The flavour at the start was mellow and gentle, with leather, a mustiness like old books, and a nutty character. The wood fire smoke started in the background, with tree resin evident. It tasted very much like a Latakia and Oriental blend at this point, perhaps the processing used in Syria preserved more of the Oriental character of the underlying leaf?

This initially mellow flavour built quite steadily and by the halfway point was very full indeed. Campfire smoke had come to the forefront, with spice and tar, the "old books" mustiness still very present.

In the final third of the bowl, a "meaty" character had devoped, an oily, tarry meatiness which was actually very similar to the flavour found in some of the black twists such as Black Irish XXX. This in turn faded into a pure, concentrated, wood and charcoal smokiness in the final part of the bowl. The flavour was by this point full to the point of slight harshness (not a judgement - this isn't really intended to be smoked pure), while nicotine content was evidently mild.

The room aroma was extremely smokey, I appreciated it by going downstairs to get a cup of tea. On my return the room had a delightful resiny incense smokiness, like a fire burning aromatic softwood.

I've no doubt had plenty of mixtures including the Syrian leaf over the years, doubtless reformulated to use Cyprian now. I can certainly appreciate the difference between this and the rather monochromatic charcoal smokiness of the latter when smoked pure, but I'm not sure that I could notice with confidence which was used in a particular blend: part of the difference could perhaps be made up by using more unsmoked Oriental leaf in a blend. That said, the charcoal smokey character is one I've noticed more often in recent years in the mixtures I smoke. I'm grateful for the experience, and whether or not production of thir fine tobacco returns, I hope peace returns to the good people of Syria.

Sadly this is no longer in production. Due to over harvesting of the hard woods used for Smoking the tobacco and of course the terrible civil strife there is no longer production of the fabulously delicious tobacco. I am going to try my best to learn to like Cyprus Latakia but that is going to be a real challenge. It just does not have the delicious sweet woody smoky flavor of Syrian Latakia. As Pop always told me "life is not always fair".

This is a high quality blending/condiment tobacco: full, rich, and smoky as a good Latakia should be. Jim - Durham (UK) philosopher and tobacconist - tells me that there are people who smoke it by itself; but it's hard to see why anybody would enjoy it on its own. Latakia is good in the way that a salad dressing is good: delicious, but only if you have the salad too.

I have to be in the right mood for Latakia, but when I am I like this one very much. I have found it interesting and rewarding to add it to G & H's Curly Cut and Broken Scotch Cake (tobaccos that are a bit feeble and colourless on their own) and Balkan Mixture (to fill out the taste a little). Mix it well in and leave the result in the jar for a few days, to give the tobaccos time to get to know each other properly. Have a go - use whatever proportions you wish, depending on how well you like Latakia. I find the flavour here very sharp and salty and clear, and you may discover that a little goes a long way.

This is good stuff for the amateur blender to have fun with. Keep it well quarantined, though. Smoke-cured Latakia is never slow to make its presence felt, and will impart its qualities to whatever other tobacco or pipe it comes into contact with. When you smoke it, the room note is not to everybody's liking.

This is just Syrian Latakia. It comes in a fine ribbon cut which is uncommon in my limited experience with blending tobacs. It does not taste as rich or complex as the batch of Syrian that Pease, C&D, and Mc Clelland have been using of late. I detect a slight influence of the "Lakeland" scents in it, but that influence may be due to it coming from the same blending factory. It does taste of high quality when smoked by itself, but unfortunately I will leave this to the pros to blend with. I won't buy it in bulk again, but I am sure I have tasted it in many blends from the EU that show "Syrian" as one of the compnents. Think "Brebbia", the new "Ashton", "Wellauer", etc...