Samuel Gawith Pure Latakia

I love latakia so when I saw my regular shop doing 25g packs of this I just had to get one.

I have no intention to blend it as it's already got a wonderfully sweet, smoky camp fire taste to it and the smoke itself is quite dry and woody.

It's a solid medium body for me and even though it's a utter bitch to keep lit it still gets a solid 4 stars.

I might try mixing some with some SG Black Bogie to give me a real char grilled steak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91b_MJyF0zo&feature=youtu.be

Fantastic, managed to get this one added. Time to get the first review in too. I wanted to try this as I really fancied trying some latakia on it's own, despite some huge reservations about it's potential potency. So let's dive straight in.

Well, no surprise what the packet aroma smells of, doesn't really smell any stronger than, say, Dunhill's London Mixture or MM965. And no surprise with the packing either, well easy. The light is a bit of a pain, can take a few relights to properly get it going. From there the fun starts, yes it's strong, yes it's pungent, but oh, it's so fantastic too. It's like drinking blended whisky all of your life and then getting a glass of single malt. Superb stuff. And the room note? Well, that fails to register by and large, probably the stuff itself is so strong that it pretty much overrides the option of smell, though occasionally get a waft of that classic tarriness a few hours afterwards. And the tonguebite? That is negligible, I got half way through the packet before realizing there wasn't any.

I was worried when I ordered this that it was going to be too strong and would end up having to splice with it any number of ways with other tobaccos just to get my money's worth. It turned out I was wrong, this is a fantastic smoke, especially first thing in the morning with that first coffee. If you like latakia blends, you'll like this, and if it's too strong, no doubt it will cut well with most other tobaccos out there. My only word of reservation is trying this if you're a complete newbie to the whole pipe smoking business, I would try something else first, maybe start with EMP, work up through MM965 and Squadron Leader and then hit the London Mixture. If you can get that far, then you're ready. And then you will have arrived as far as pipe smoking goes.

Samuel Gawith - Pure Latakia.

This seems, to me, pretty much like any other decent quality Latakia I've smoked; if I smoke it neat I kind of wish I hadn't bothered after a few puffs as it's that heady!

There isn't that much to add in comparison to the other Lat's I've reviewed for this site. But, I'll put a few down anyway!

The pouch contains jet black ribbons that give off a smoky aroma without even being lit. Surprisingly for Sam G' it's of a great hydration, a more than welcome change! If smoked neat, it tastes really smoky but also (as I've found with other Lat's) somewhat fishy and almost meaty. This gives me a good dose of nicotine, it's not overloaded with N but it's definitely more than medium.

This is a top quality Latakia, however, stick to adding a pinch to an existing blend to give it some character, I wouldn't suggest smoking it neat!

For a pure Latakia though it's easily worth four stars.

Highly recommended.

Super tasty Tobacco Lovely and beautiful Latakia with great smell

This Latakia is eminently smokable, I mean straight. Sure, it is pure smokiness and camp fire and oak and what have you, but despite it being - unsurprisingly - onedimensional, the quality is there, and this weed doesn’t hit you like a bullet. In fact it is much more mellow than I have expected. This tobacco will shine in blends. Every lat-bomb lover should try it neat.