Drucquer & Sons Levant Mixture

The very richly smoky, woody, earthy, musty, incense-like, sweet Cyprian Latakia is the star component. The buttery sweet, dry, herbal, vegetative, floral, woody, earthy, mildly sour and spicy Turkish is an omnipresent supporting player. The tangy ripe dark fruit sweet, earthy, woody, bready red Virginia is a secondary force, and also provides a touch of spice and mildly fermented “barbecue”. The gentle addition of the bright Virginia offers light sugar along with some citrus and grass for a little nuance. The nic-hit is just past the mild to medium threshold. The strength and taste levels are a step shy of being full, but they reach that level by the time you’re at the half way point. Won’t bite, and has no dull or harsh spots. Well blended with some obvious and not-so-obvious complexity, you’ll likely notice all the previously noted aspects in every puff. Burns at a slightly less than moderate pace, cool and clean with a smooth, very consistently deep campfire flavor from start to finish. Requires an average number of relights, and leaves little moisture in the bowl. The after taste and pungent room notes will linger. It’s not an all day smoke. While it is a fulsome smoking experience for Latakia aficionados, it won’t bring you to your knees, and if it fits your personal preference, is repeatable. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

I have been smoking on and off for over ten years and just started expanding my latakia horizons. I have a couple of the Frog Morton blends, which I love, and have determined that I am a big fan of latakia. This is a relatively smooth but full bodied and tasty English latakia blend. It's described as an oriental forward English, but I primarily get the latakia with pockets of oriental flavor. Burns well for me with about 15 minutes of drying time. Mac Barens Vintage Syrian seems more oriental forward, and I do enjoy that blends as well but reach for Levant more often. It's my favorite latakia blend as of this moment.

The re-issue of Drucquer & Sons Levant Mixture is a full English Mixture with a definite Balkan aspect. The tobacco is mostly Latakia black, the darker brown of the red Virginias and the Oriental leaf in second place, with a smattering of yellow bright Virginia. The cut is fairly thin--somewhere between a standard ribbon and a shag cut, and takes to the flame with little effort and continues burning with scant attention. The initial flavor is Latakia and more Latakia, with the fruity red Virginia and sour Orientals laying low. The sharp sweetness of the bright Virginia peeps out here and there. As the bowl progresses, the Latakia recedes a bit as the Orientals and red Virginia come into their own. The bright Virginia remains sequestered on the sidelines. A full Latakia mixture, but not quite a "bomb" or "dump." The flavor coats rather than fills the mouth. Levant is definitely an evening smoke, insofar as anything that follows will still taste like Levant.

Drucquer & Sons - Levant Mixture.

As it's the Christmas holiday and cold outside what more could be asked for than a day smoking a gorgeous English and drinking incessant cups of Sumatra coffee?!

The ribbon cut is mostly uniform but under closer inspection a few small pieces of broken flake can be identified; small, so there's no panic! The moisture's bang-on, so a bowl could be filled and lit the moment the seal was removed.

The flavour? Smoky and sweet! The Latakia and Turkish are responsible for the prominent character. Smoky, musky Lat with slightly scented Turkish. Of the Virginias it's the red I notice. This gives a redolent sweetness to the smoke, fruity, and really heightens the pleasure; for me. The 'little' amount of bright sure is little. It's a flavour that misses me!! I get a cool temperature and no bite.

Nicotine: above medium. Room-note: I like it.

Levant Mixture? I couldn't ask for a better winter smoke! Highly recommended:

Four stars.

A delightful full English Blend. A complex blend that hits all the notes. Well balanced with a hint of sweetness. This is a great blend to have after dinner or nightcap. Glad to see this back in production. Highly Recommended!

Druker's Levant Mixture, as resurrected by master blender GL Pease, is a throwback to the old gentleman's smoking lounges scattered throughout the Empire from the turn of the century to the late thirties of the last century. There is a heavy choice Oriental component and a powerful Latakia presence. Reminds me a bit of Magnum Opus, White Knight, Quiet Nights, Westminster, Abingdon. A rough shag cut, it packs and lights easily. First draws yield a sweet campfire BBQ feel of salted leather, buttermilk sour, with a distinct hint of loam soil, after a rain. This flavor profile proceeds to the end of the bowl and does not vary. Complexities abound for the discerning palate. Highly recommended.

The tin says “it’s the fullest of the range.” And it’s full. Tasty, but full. My current favorite full English is Westminster and that is not nearly as full as Levant IMO. Probably the same tobaccos in different proportions but Levant is more Latakia and bigger mouthfeel but also a bit sweeter and not as spicy. It’s a good outdoor smoke. I think the 100 gram tin may last me a lifetime because one bowl and I’m done for a week. I saw one reviewer on this forum say it has to be you last smoke of the day or else everything else tastes like Levant. Well, I can attest to that as next day bacon and eggs tastes like bacon and eggs and Levant and peanut butter and jelly tastes like peanut better and jelly and Levant and Mac and cheese tastes like Mac and cheese and Levant. Good smoke but big. Not big on nicotine thank goodness but it’s full. I would buy more if I ever run out which I can’t imagine I will but maybe. It’s good.

I don't find it as full as I expected, but still this packs a big Latakia hit. Very dry-tasting, very smoky, very spicy: it also has a hint of edginess, which can also turn occasionally on a woody/tannic/slightly bitter side. It's a great English Mixture, but in the series for me it comes behind Trafalgar (and on a par with Red Lion) because it's a little less balanced and too skewed on the woody/dry/spicy notes, while Trafalgar is rounder and chewier.

Tasty and intoxicating, but just be sure that you like this very sharp "full Latakia and Orientals" style. Very fine cut, so apply a lighter hand when packing.

My tin is dated 6/28/21.

The tin note is wonderfully smokey and barbecue-like. It's really fragrant. There is a mustiness that makes me think I'm in for what I like about this kind of blend. The cut is nice, and a more consistent ribbon than many other C&D manufactured blends.

The flavors are cohesive with breadth and depth-- musty, salty, sour, tangy, earthy. You get the smoke, the barbecue, the old books, attic woodiness. There is also a range of sensations on the tongue which completes the tastes category for me. I love this stuff, and for me it has this completeness of flavor in the English/Balkan blend flavor profile that I think of with blends like Meridian and Quiet Nights.

This burns very well. It's full in strength and flavor. The nicotine is not noticeable for me.

I would highly recommend this to people that like Balkan/English blends. Four stars.

This is a very good blend for a mature palate. The red virginias are very tasty. the Turkish/ oriental element is probably Basma,as the oriental component is more tangy than other blends. The latakia presence is muted. The smoking is easy with no relights for me. The nic hit is average. the flavor is mild the room note is mild. While I find this delicious, I would use this as a change of pace blend. The flavors marry better as the bowl gets evenly warm. Some additional spiciness appears as the smoke progresses.