Visceraman1 - Joshua Lopez

My wife is very supportive of my piping, and to help encourage that sort of response, I like to throw in a bit of aromatics to the mix every now and then. When ordering the Rose of Latakia, I found a listing for a bulk blend, #605, Pastry. Now, I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so I definitely had Jeri in mind when I bought this, and the description didn't immediately give me a toothache:

An extremley light-bodied mixture of seasoned, Ribbon-cut, Lemon tobaccos of the highest grade from Brazil`s Rio Grande Do Sul. Unique pastry aroma.

It's definitely not a sweet blend at all. Very subtle, very unique, and very...well...it's pastry. It tastes good, smells good, the wife really likes the smell of it, what more could you ask for. I'll definitely keep this on hand, for her and for me.

Posted by Joshua at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I think it's safe to safe I'm a Balkan fan, and that I dearly love the smooth spice of Syrian Latakia. In my efforts to keep me from ripping through my Vintage Syrain, I was looking for something that might fill the potential void. I stumbled across a listing of McClelland Products, specifically their Balkan/Syrians. Of course, it has to have the dumbest name, but there it was. Rose of Latakia. What the hell, I ordered a tin. Some sort of small description is found on the tin itself, and wherever the product is listed:

Only the most precious, most flavorful Syrian leaves are called Rose of Latakia. This fine blend is complex, fragrant, incredible.

I pulled open the tin and whoa! What the hell? Is that really ketchup I smell? I called Jeri into the room to smell. She said it was more barbeque sauce than ketchup. Regardless, it's very vinegary. This can't be good I thought. I loaded up a bowl of the fairly dry weed and lit away.

It's not quite the Vintage Syrian, but not only is it pretty damn close, it's got it's own mesmerizing qualities. I promptly orderd 3 more tins. I can smoke this every single day, and not tire of it. Each time I smoke it, I find something different taking place. Something captivating, relaxing and enchanting. Oh this is good stuff. Even with the odd ketchup smell. (That's only in the tin, not in the smoke itself.)

Posted by Joshua at 12:26 PM | Permalink