Layalina Shisha

Thoughts on Layalina Hookah Tobacco...

Holy moley, thought we forgot this little hookah number, eh? Well, Layalina is a staple these days: From hookah bars, to hookah shops to just about every online retailer in the space. We here at HoboHookah may be showing up to this party late, but that's our style anyways.

Layalina is typically considered one of two things: A staple or a treat. It is one of the few tobaccos that can really pull off both well: This tobacco packs in the flavor while keeping it real on the price.

Upon first impressions, you get the feel that they wanted you to have all of the function of a tip top tobacco without all of the pizzazz. The box is just packaging, inside is a little, budget plastic jar that keeps the tobacco.

The tobacco itself has a unique color to it, distinguishing say Blackberry from Margarita: Dark red vs yellow-green. The texture is the same oily feel as Nakhla, but perhaps a bit more. Overall, it feels like taking a tobacco like Nakhla or Al Waha and giving them a paint job or upgrade to the next level of class and quality.

Let's check those powerful flavors: The standard fruit flavors are great. Blackberry, Peach, Watermelon...all taste like something... something good. Candy perhaps? If I were to smoke hookah for the first time, and someone passed me a pipe full of Layalina Peach I would get exactly what I expected, no disappointments.

On the same side of the coin, its not Al Fakher. It doesn't inspire the thought of actual Peaches, more like peach cocktail or peach Jolly Ranchers. Likewise, their esoteric flavors, like Margarita, take the classic beverage out to its candy limits. Enjoyable, no doubt, but not shock landing-on-the-moon reality.

While we commend the long lasting, poweful flavor, the dark side of Layalina may be its loaded use of tobacco stems. This is very unique to Layalina: Rarely have I received, consistently, jars of tobacco crammed with stems. You can't dip into the Layalina jar without pulling out at least one. This is annoying: Leave them in the bowl or throw them? We don't have an answer yet. Also, stay away from some of the real staple hookah tobacco flavors, like apple or mint, they are much better on other lines, such as Nakhla.

Overall, the small drawbacks of candy and stems is the price to pay for a great overall tobacco that you can drive at least a mile (1 hour) and taste great along the way.