Latakia

 

There are, or were, two types of Latakia: Syrian and Cyprian. Syrian no longer exists. Tobacco is still grown in Syria, but because it can't be cured to make Latakia, leaf destined for that purpose is instead sent to Cyprus. In Syria, farmers used to grow a leaf known as Shekk-el-Bint specifically for Latakia production, and then cured it in their own barns. For Cyprian Latakia, however, Oriental leaf used for a number of blending applications not specific to Latakia is diverted for manufacture; Bee Trading Company buys that Oriental leaf and cures it in Cyprus to make Latakia.

Pipe tobacco manufacturers now have to deal with a broken supply chain and production system. "It's quite possible," says Jeremy, "that the Syrian Latakia qualities could have been replicated using Ismir and Basma leaf, but the Syrian farmers had a specific way of doing things and an innate understanding of how this leaf was going to be finished while it was still a living crop in the ground." That's gone now.

"There are just certain things about the farmers that are growing the tobacco also curing the tobacco that have been lost," says Jeremy. "I think that probably has more to do with why there is this distinct difference in the taste and flavor profile of Syrian Latakia versus Cyprian.

"The main importer of Latakia to the U.S. has to go many times a year to Cyprus and to Turkey, and navigate the regulations and arrange tobacco purchases in Turkey, and for that tobacco to be transported to Cyprus to process, then sent back to Turkey so it can be exported." It's a complicated process subject to the whims of regulators. To make it more complex, Bee Trading Company, headquartered in Istanbul but with processing facilities in Cyprus, is part of the very Turkish government that makes it so hard for Bee Trading Company to operate. Politics in action.

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