Sillem's Black

Not my favorite baccy, but always good to have some on hand. A decent room note and clean burn.

Take your tobacco from this poor quality non air sealed tin and jar it. Then enjoy a unique and brilliant presentation of smell and taste complexity. So why not four stars ? Because it tends to dry out fast and at some point this taste complexity becomes arti-chemi-ficial.. but to a very low level. Anyway, it's nice to have some at home.

28th Jan 2011 - First smoke: Tin arrived this morning and I could not wait to get started on it. It was probably a mistake to start the day with it. I'll be perfectly frank - the overwhelming taste I got was of wax triggering unpleasant memories of 'dusty old churches'. I also took the pipe out with me and I fear I have abused this magnificent tobacco on its first outing by not giving it time and allowing it to burn too quickly outdoors. Even so, I was aware of a fascinating array of different rich and exotic tastes past the midway bowl point. Dull it most certainly isn't!! Extravagant really is the right word to describe the blend. I will try a second, more considered, smoke in the coming days and update this review.

Later the same day - Second Smoke - disaster. I either packed it too tightly or I packed it too directly from the tin not allowing it to dry out a little. Much wrestling with pipe tool, unpacking, repacking, went out constantly, very wet clump of steaming dottle that soured my pipe.

This may not be a beginners blend.

It is an black canvendish tobacco with honey and lemon aromes. The latakia in this blend is a good quality tobacco. It's my 1st aromatic tobacco, and I like it, but I taste John Aylesbury Jubilee, and it's better one, cause of arome of fruit and cognac, that I prefer.

Enjoy it !

Definitely an English/Aromatic. Not an aromatic. Which is fine. But I was a bit disappointed at how the Latakia simply seemed to overpower the smoking experience and bury the subtleties of the other ingredients. I really wanted to like it more, and it is truly excellent quality tobacco. I would rate it much more highly just as a strong Latakia dominated blend. I simply did not feel it was as well balanced as I would have hoped, based upon the tin description and my expectations of a more diverse, quasi-aromatic experience. What toasted marshmallow??? Huh? Latakia!! Fruit and nuts? Where? Latakia!!!! It is what it is. But just that. Excellent Latakia...I was also surprised by a little unexpected harshness and bite which none of the other Sillem's blends seem to exhibit. Seems to smoke a bit hot.

I vastly preferred the excellent Sillem's Blue which is rich, heady, mapley and flavorful, and on its heels, the lighter, slightly less interesting Green, then the very different but quite excellent, fruity Red. YMMV. Still great stuff no matter what your preferences, all of it, and Sillem's is top notch across the board. Try them all. But try black if what you want is....LATAKIA. Try the blue if you want a slightly more aromatic experience of the highest order.

Strong latakia smell in the tin. You can smell this one across the room when packing your pipe. Is a little moist right out of the tin so I dryed mine a bit. Lights and burns easily. This is a 50/50 blend of latakia and black cavendish. I found it to be a little too much latakia for my taste. Mostly burnt rubber and licorish. It has some high notes and some low notes but nothing in the middle, which make for an unrounded flavor. A good smoke but will not get it again.

Good tobacco. I smoke this when I'm with people who don't smoke in general so I can smoke without being whined at (much unlike smoking Billy Budd). I am generally a sucker for Latakia, although it didn't hit quite as hard as I would have liked it to. Solid tobacco all the way around though.

First let me say that this is simply the BEST SMELLING pipe tobacco that I have ever smelled. The aroma is fantastic! Reminiscent of smoky campfire marshmallows as others have noted.

This is no latakia lightweight; said weed is quite abundant in this blend and it is rather tasty. But the Virgina's are very young and bitey. Honestly, the Virginas seem a little "raw." It would have been like Heaven if Turkish Basma were used in place of the Virginas. With that said, I do think aging in a mason jar would mellow this blend significantly. As it is, Sillems's Black is a little rough around the edges.

This would be a very good dessert smoke, or those times when you have to have your Latakia kick but don't want to offend those around you. There is no question that even non-smokers will love the aroma, as it is very agreeable to the nose. I think beautiful women would find this blend comforting, soothing and sophisticated. Sillem's Black will remind them of Pappa.

The description & other reviews do this fine blend justice. I'll update after many more bowls.

* Bad ** Good *** Excellent **** Exceptional