Sillem's Black

Love at first bowl.
Sillem's Black is a beautiful craftsmanship and artistry in tobacco blending. Its intricate flavor profile, with good latakia and Virginias, cavendish and interesting solid presence of citrus and subtle taste of honey and fruits, elevates it to a class of its own. The quality shine brightly in every puff. For discerning tobacco enthusiasts, Sillem's Black is an absolute must-try, and it never disappoints.

The Description for this Tobacco is spot on! This was recommended by Alan from the Pipe Cottage as a good English style blend. I've been smoking it for about a month and have enjoyed it from day 1. It has a great presentation from the Brander. It has a good aroma in the tin, smokey, dark, Latakia, typical, from what I'm discovering, of a good English scent. It lights easily and the smoke has a sweet taste to it from the Virginia that stays throughout the bowl. This blend does not Bite your tongue, like others I've experienced, and is flavorful and enjoyable to the bottom of the bowl, without getting bitter. I really like this tobacco and find myself reaching for it daily as a 1st or 2nd smoke of the day.

This one got me from the first bowl! The tin note was great, but it was the tone of the first few puffs that sunk its teeth deep into my nostalgia bone and settled in for a good nibble. It has all the bark of a good English bulldog, but the soft caressing ‘bite’ of a Carnival kiss.

From the first puff to the last whiff it was smooth, dynamic, and alluring. My only complaint being that the sweet notes of the aromatic side of this Witchers’ coin faded out early…but, they leave you nestled in the sweet comfortable warmth of a quintessential English.

The Latakia notes were peppery and rich, complimented perfectly by the tangy virginias, and rounded off by a mellow burley vitamin-N brain-chill. The cavendish, while present, settled more into a supporting note than anything.

Not harsh, not bitey, not boring at all, just right.

Toss me a coin for this one, because I’m stocking up!

Update: …the beard-stank aftersmell on this one is rugged. Like, keep-you-up-at-night, rugged. I’d definitely wash the beard and brush the teeth after this one, lol. It will ghost a pipe like Casper…clean well!

Smoking now:

I’m a few bowls into this as it was a complicated blend to review.

Tin note is unlike anything I’ve smelled. Fruit, sugar, vanilla, incense, licorice, fermented yeasty bread.

Moisture is perfect out of the tin. A typical European style aromatic. Packs and lights fine.

I get a distinctive sweet fruit taste but I can’t place my finger on the fruit. I want to say it tastes tropical. Peña Colada? It tones down the tobacco by a lot. The herbal earthy smokey Latakia is in the foreground as the fruit topping and vanilla sugar flavor takes the lead with the Virginia and burley. The topping does die down after a while but hangs on well. The Virginia and burley will then become more pronounced. The Latakia is always in the foreground. The sugary sweetness stays. The retrohale will tingle the nose but you’ll get tropical fruit and a fermented yeast bead and creamy flavor that is nice. Didn’t bite, didn’t leave a goopy mess in the bowl. Average relights. Lingering aftertaste. Very flavorful.

A unique blend indeed. A must try if you’re a fan of crossover blends. One of the best I’ve smoked. Don’t let the Latakia scare you if you don’t smoke Latakia blends it’s light. One of the best aromatics I’ve ever smoked.

For me the tin note is is black cherry pálinka, anise, latakia. Anise is not my world, thankfully it does not translate to taste nor room note. The smell of the smoke is chocolate, berry orchard. Rather dark chocolate-tart fruit, not very sweet, but especially pleasant. The taste, I think, is specifically Sachertorte. Latakia builds up slowly, just fine, but whoever waits for Lat-bomb will be disappointed. More aromatic than english. In return, I don't think it would offend others around you! It burns more slowly than most aromatic tobacco, but it gives more smoke, does not heat up very much, and has little condensate. Overall, this is an outstanding blend! It reserved a place in my rotation right away. I highly recommend you to try it.

I truly enjoy a myriad of tobacco genres (i.e., Burley, Virginia Flakes, VaPers, VaBurPers, Orientals, English & Balkan blends). My personal 4-star rating system (opinion) is as follows: 4 stars = one of the best in class for this tobacco genre, 3 stars = a very good blend for this tobacco genre (but not a firm favorite), 2 stars = a good/decent blend in this genre (yet I prefer other blends), 1 star = the blends flavor or aromatic characteristics is not appealing to me (for the particular genre) and I most likely will not purchase it again.

Sillem's Black has been on my wish list for some time and was a little tough to find in stock. Having read many good reviews here about this blend I just had to try it as this one sounded like a unique blend worthy of a trial! And BOY-OH-BOY were the reviews right on the money. This is some excellent pipe weed with a savory, sweet & smoky flavor & aroma that keeps one interested & entertained throughout the whole smoking session. Even when I've had to interrupt smoking for an extended break and park the pipe ... when I come back to that same bowlful I can resume where I left off with little change (i.e., no bitterness, excessive dryness, or wet dottle). I really like this blend and highly recommend it to any Aro piper whom may be looking to venture in the realm of Latakia-containing blends. As for my brethren of the briar who are English blend stalwarts ... it probably won't tickle your fancy ... but for someone who likes the American-English hybrid blends ... give it a try. I think you'll enjoy it.

All I can say is WOW. This is such a sublime blend that gives you the best of an English and the subtle touch of an aromatic. You get that meaty charcoal taste from the Latakia and just a taste of sweetness (brown sugar or caramel perhaps) to help mellow out the smoke. Be warned though, as the taste will stay in your mouth long after smoking it.

I decided to buy this because of Pipestud's review. I figured if an expert who has tasted over a 1000 blends said it was the best aromatic hands down, there had to be something to Sillem's Black. While I am new to the hobby, I'm sure I will be coming back to this one.

My one and only gripe is the packaging. It's cool it comes in a tin, but unlike most I am familiar with having a vacuum seal and a rubber insert to keep things fresh, the tobacco comes in this plastic unsealable bag (like you would buy chocolates in). The tin itself doesn't close in a satisfying way, it just seems more gimmick than practical.

Give this one a try, I can't imagine anyone not liking it!

Perhaps the best latakia-aromatic blends available. There is a dark berry note that complements the latakia very very well. It can bite and get a little ashy if pushed too hard, and the excellent flavor will tempt you into puffing too fast.

On a side note, it reminds me of the now defunct thepiperoom.com's "Midnight Vigil", and is the only tobacco I've found with a similar flavor profile. If you have fond memories of that blend, give this a try.

Perfection! I love Latakia with Blk. Cav. and this is the best example. I wouldn't change a thing. The tin note is unique and this blend smokes as good as it smells.