From the moment you light this tobacco you are greeted with a sweet, spicy, nutty and very smoky flavour. One of the Virginias has a rich, citrus side that comes through very well in the tobacco. The Turkish adds a spicy side to the blend and of course the latakia dominates, well it is 40%.
Made like a sandwich, the middle layer is smoky, woody sweet Cyprian latakia, which comprises 40% of the easy to break apart springy cake, so it dominates the taste of the product. The “bread” sides of the cake is dark and bright, citrus and fruit sweet, rather floral Virginias, and very woody sweet and spicy Turkish varietals. The Virginias are really more the supporting players than the Turkish, but provide an important function in the balance of the blend. The Cyprian latakia doesn’t totally overwhelm the other components, unless you design it that way when you rub out the tobacco. In that case, you may have bowls where the Virginias and Turkish will take the lead, unless you add latakia on your own or mix it all up when you fully rub it out, though that would take away a little of the fun of smoking a cake. I suggest cutting the cake vertically as you would a sandwich and packing the bowl in layers because I prefer the proportions as conceived by blender Glynn Quelch. Burns at a moderate rate with few relights. It has a smooth, rich and mildly creamy flavor with no topping. Has no weak or harsh spots, and leaves no moisture in the bowl. The nic-hit is mild to medium. No bite. The blend strength is medium while the taste level is just shy of being full. Has a nice after taste.
Well, this is different! It's like nothing I've ever seen before! The way it's presented is like a sandwich. The outer of the kake is a lighter Virginia and Turkish with the inner part being 100% Latakia. I find this good as you can decide for yourself how much of a Lat-Bomb you want it to be by simply separating the constituents from one another. I opt to just crumble as is without messing around. Crumbling is easy and it has a great amount of moisture in it.
As I didn't bother separating the different tobaccos prior to rubbing it the smoke is very rich in Latakia. The Latakia is without doubt the main flavour. The Orientals and Virginia's are by no means totally lost in the mix but they seem very tame in comparison. The Virginia gives a subtle fruit like freshness with a laid back spiciness from the Orientals/Turkish. It burns well once lit and to be fair initiating the burn is as easy as can be. I personally find the N mild in this, but I guess because nicotine is subjective that's more of a moot point!
I score this four stars as although I'm not a Lat hound I think to be impartial everyone should try this unique creation!
Got a pouch of this in a trade with StevieB. Thanks, buddy.
My pouch had a rough ride over the Atlantic and the cake was broken pretty badly. My only resort was to rub the whole pouch out, blend it, and jar it. I probably would have done that anyway.
As you can imagine, at 40%, the Latakia dominates the flavor profile. This is a Lat that is much to my liking as the acrid note that accompanies most Lat is very mild here. Smoky, woody and mildly sweet, it's very pleasing. The Orientals and Virginias are pretty well melded and provide a great base for the Lat to ride on. A sweet and sour note that I recognized, but couldn't place until later when it came to me. It's the same note I get from my homemade Hawaiian sweet bread. Lovely stuff. A bit of spice accompanies that note. All in all, a great tasting smoke.
Medium in body. Medium to full in taste. No added flavorings. Will need a relight here and there. Smokes pretty much the same in briar or cob.
Being a big Lat fan and quite a novice smoker I liked the idea of the cake concept and ordered this from GQs website (UK). An Interesting block of Lat sandwiched between two layers of Virginia which I rubbed out to try and give a representative amount of the cross section ( if that makes sense?). This I found to be my Waterloo in respect to Latakia, whilst many reviews on other tobaccos I have heard the phrase 'Not the lat bomb I was expecting' this for me was the Lat bomb... I will continue to experiment with the percentages on future smokes and I'm sure I'll find the sweet spot as all the ingredients in the cake are certainly top class, and with minimal prep it lit well, smoked well stayed pretty consistent down to the last but not sure if a re-order is on the cards as yet.
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