CONSTANTINOPLE

There are some pipe tobaccos that you used to smoke occasionally, that after years have passed you all of a sudden remember, and wonder what happened. They've disappeared, things have changed, and perhaps some company should bring them back. Or, barring that, what is close enough? My associates sneered at 'Constantinople', but it was actually pretty darn good.

There was a tobacco shop underneath a parking structure (with groundfloor retail shops and a passage way) that sold a number of English non-filter cigarettes, plus some oddball pipe tobaccos, and a selection of cheap nasty mouthrotting cigars. After browsing at Shakespeare or Moe's, I would head over to Topdog for "dinner", then down the street for gelato, and into the passageway for ciggies. Three Castles or whatever. Browse a bit. Buy a tin at whim.

Then off to the Caffè Med to read and smoke.
Please understand that nonsmokers didn't exist.
And angry vegan types hadn't been born yet.
It was a golden age.

Yes, I understand now that delicious grilled wurst and gelato kill the planet and exterminate whales. They're evil and horrid, and I should have insisted on Tofurst and Tofutti instead.

My bad.

Syrian Latakia, Xanthi, aged Virginias, black Virginia ribbon. A rather nice drawing of one of Sinan's famous mosques at the skyline as the label art.

The black Virginia was, if I remember correctly, not a flavoured product. The smoke was slightly below medium in Latakia content, the Virginia component was somewhat dominated by the black, the Turkish element nicely perfumy so probably at over twenty percent.
Great with an espresso. Or two.

Xanthi tobacco combines well with Smyrna leaf.
As in State Express London Mixture.
Now also long gone.

Some people wouldn't know fine tobacco if it came up and bit them in the arse. Earth moms. Vegans. Tattooed people. Potheads, artists, rightwingers, butterfly and kitten loving girlie types, Greta Thunberg, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and fascists in the red states.

Gluten-free tofurkie snarfing cretins.

冚家鏟，佢哋。



==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================