Zaghloul is one of the most simple examples of black moassel that you are going to find. It’s just fermented tobacco leaves and dark molasses. It’s a relatively young representative of the style, having first appeared in the mid 1900’s, but it is what most western smokers associate with traditional hookah tobacco. This is simply because it was only recently that demand for more traditional and robust products encouraged vendors to seek out other traditional tobaccos like Kass, Bata ans Egyptian juraks.
The flavor profile is pretty simple. It’s dark, earthy and sour with some rich notes similar to dark, dried fruit. There are some relatively strong smokey and woody flavors that will bring up memories of BBQ parties and bonfires, but these flavors are not aggressively strong. There are some similarities between the flavor of this Nakhla flavor and that of a heavily fermented maduro cigar wrapper.
This is definitely not going to appeal to everyone. If you are a cigar smoker and are interested in dipping your toes into the world of “real” hookah tobacco, this is a good start. It’s not overly complex or too strongly flavored so it should be a good starting point. Even if you are not a pipe or cigar smoker, this might be a good thing to try to see what an older form of hookah smoking is all about.
