Sillem's Commodore Flake

IMO, Sillem"s Commodore Flake has what it takes to become a Cult Classic. While it's not for everyone, there is definitely enough There here to make it an object of lust for a certain few. Preparation, presentation, smoking qualities, aroma and taste are all 4 Star, and it only gets better on that level as it is smoked down. At the the same time, the nicotine level keeps building, from a rush to a blow to the side of the head. Is this the stuff of legends? We'll see.

As for aroma and taste, this tobacco is all about undertones, reminding me in this way of a true mole' sauce, at least when it's fresh from the tin. I would say of the tin note, it's "subdued, yet potent; almost brooding". The Latakia, Cavendish, and Kentucky are blended, pressed, and well fermented to provide a rich, intoxicating blend of dark, smoky, unsweetened chocolate, sour prunes, piping hot, dark, bitter coffee, and roasted Brazil nuts. I find it hard to describe the unique combination of prime Latakia "smoke", sour, sweet and nuts on the tongue, but it is more than a blast; it is the tobacconist's art at its zenith. It gives off a great profusion of thick smoke that smells wonderful, but the smoker inhales it at his own risk. And just to be triple sure one never forgets it, it has the best aftertaste of any tobacco I have smoked. It is certainly the best of the Lat blends in this regard.

07-29-13: Yes, it's too soon for new impressions, but because this is/can be such special stuff I just wanted to share that my original review was based on "native moisture", as from the tin. Today my jarred stash was pretty dry, but I smoked some anyway. Excellent, but mostly cedar incense as a trick, and there seems to be some sort of rum or "rum sugars", or something like this. FYI, the celebrated intensity, complexity and aftertaste I first described seem to depend on correct (wet-ish) moisture. Drying did seem to reign in the nicotine somewhat, however...

08-11-13: OK, re-hydrating CF at this point has brought back the heavy nic effect, along with most of the exceptional, myriad aromas and tastes. However, FWIW, those who wish to smoke CF at its best might want to consider smoking it soon after the tin is breached. Again, if you are at all sensitive to nicotine, believe me, this stuff will get you. Try a small pipe or a partial load, and puff cautiously, before you go hog wild.

Sillem's Commodore Flake has a tin that is very smokey, woodsy, and sweet. The smoke is pure harmony, I get a very smokey, woodsy,nutty and earthy flavor profile which is slightly forward from the floral and spicy notes that trail behind. The black cav has a vanilla note that I assume has been add to it before it was added and pressed. The smoke has a sweetness that counters the spicy notes that is rather creamy, yeasty with something that reminds me a little of nougat for lack of anything better to compare it to. The nic hit is med to strong but not overpowering. It is not an all day smoke but has been enjoyable several times throughout the day. All I can say about the room note is that even the dog left the patio while I was smoking it and the wife was unhappy when I came back inside too! The finish does linger but not for too long. Whatever that sweet nougat flavor is did ghost my pipes as well. Still a very good and unique smoke for an English blend that I liked quite a lot.

I'm an avid home blender with one-third of my rotation being blends I've created myself, so commercial offerings are held to a high standard: they've got to be better than what I can do at home, or they've got to have some kind of distinctive character that I can't duplicate at home. Commodore is winner on both counts, and would be part of my regular rotation if it were more readily available, and at least in the U.S., a little easier on the pocketbook.

Hard to believe this is mostly Latakia, because the aroma and flavors do not have the typical campfire smokiness. The muted smokiness that is here is a deep, roasted malt flavor that reminds me of a German Rauchbier. Occasionally there are draws that taste like somebody put a tiny marshmallow in my dark ale. On the retrohale there are occasional hints that a pinch of anise may have been part of the casing, and a nice savory flavor of smoke-cured meats (like Tyrolean Speck). When I put my nose right to the bowl it smells like beef jerky! The aftertaste is of dark ale.

If you like brighter flavors like Va-Pers, lemon sorbet, or hoppy beers, you won't like this one. It is at the opposite end of the spectrum: rich, dark, and malty. If you like dark lagers or ales you've absolutely got to try this one. I wouldn't be surprised if when this formula was originally developed somebody slipped a pint of Dunkel Bier into the mix. When they liked the results, a new creation was born!

This is one to sip and savor, not because it will get hot, but because there is so much flavor that big gulps would be a waste! In a wide bore bowl like my Charatan pot, flavors are slow to develop, while in tall, narrow bowls, they arrive sooner - in either case, flavors deepen and tend to concentrate at the end of the bowl giving the last few minutes a flavor that reminds me of a fine aged cigar, like a Padron Aniversario (while keeping the dark ale aftertaste).

Some have mentioned strong nicotine but this one has never bothered me.

Verdict: Different enough that I wouldn't turn to it often, but when I do, I always thoroughly enjoy. All in all, nothing else quite like it. Perfect choice for an evening session with a good dark ale!

Summary: a strong Virginia flake dominated by the flavors of dark-fired Burley and Latakia.

On first light, these black little flakes give off a strong tangy Latakia flavor with an undertone of Virginia sweetness, but as the bowl goes on, the dark-fired Kentucky Burley swallows up the more piquant Latakia and produces a dense, powerful flavor. This takes Latakia in a different direction than your standard sweet-and-sour English blend, making it more like an English Christmas pudding, a rich and almost morbid intensity with a blanching dose of nicotine compared to your average English blend. Within that, a gentle sweetness drifts to the surface. This blend made me rediscover Latakia and I will likely buy it again.

I can't really call this an English Blend. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what to call it. I can say that I like it, a lot. Lots of Latakia, and just enough "other stuff" to make it socially acceptable to smoke. There's a vanilla sweetness to this that makes me think there may be a topping or a decent dose of black Cavendish. The flakes are certainly black; glossy, crumbly, and dark as a Raven's wing. The tin note is very jerky-like; smoke and lots of black pepper. The smoke is cool and creamy, rather sweeter than one might expect. Rubbed out or folded, it takes a light easily and refuses to go out. I can't speak to the nicotine content; nothing but the strongest ropes or irrational quantities even touch me. It's certainly a full-flavored smoke.

On a whim yesterday I grabbed a tin of Sillem's Commodore Flake. No date stamp appears anywhere on the tin. When I popped the lid, I was hit by a wallop of fire cured prunes. As I peeled back the paper it was all dust and diamonds; there was a thick layer of plume(not mold, I inspected it closely) and crystals atop the brick of ancient leather below. The flakes broke apart like cedar bark, easily, but took a great deal of rubbing to become pliable. The char light took two matches, but opened with an aroma, and flavor much like a Pinot Noir reduction. Once fully lit, I can only describe it like eating mincemeat or pecan pie from a stovepipe. The bowl burned ferociously in the beginning, until I realized I was puffing like a locomotive. I tamped lightly and relaxed into dopey nicotine bliss, accompanied by Piano Jazz: with Marian McPartland on the radio. The sweet, fruity cavendish and spicy latakia were perfectly married by time, and the Virginia or Kentucky offered an elegant, yet understated presence. Like a campfire the end was a mixture of fine ash and small lumps of charcoal. A euphoric, and invigorating experience only pipe smokers can know.

Among so many similar mixtures in their composition, it is always nice to find an exoticism like Commodore Flake, as can also be Cornell & Diehl's Mississippi Mud.

The flakes are black like charcoal and come with a moisture level that pulls to the high side, allowing them to rub off easily for subsequent drying. The aroma in its tin is unique. Experience tells me that in the best mixes the cold smell does not differ much from the flavor that it will provide later in the pipe, and this is no exception. Despite its appearance it is not an excessively strong tobacco in any sense, nor is it overwhelming. Rather I would say that it is a very balanced mix, where Latakia and Kentucky go hand in hand. The Cavendish smooths and rounds the mix so that all the ingredients work as a team, providing a relaxed, pleasant, reflective, very rich and nice smoke. I usually smoke it at night and not every day, but when I smoke it it never disappoints me and it always gives me a long and pleasant smoke as it burns quite slowly.

You should not expect typical English mix, because it is not. Don't expect a typical Kentucky-flavored mix either, because it isn't either. It's something else, it's ... Commodore Flake. As another reviewer has said, you will never know if you like something if you don't try it first. Do it, and if you don't like it, send it to me, I'm willing to sacrifice generously for you and smoke the rest of what's left in your tin. You don't have to thank me, that's what friends are for ...

Commodore Flake: A fantastic Lat bomb that defies genres.

The tin-note smells of sweetened beef jerky. The tobacco is made up mostly of Latakia, and while potent, melds together with the dark-fired leaf. They provide a pleasant burning cedar flavor with a rich barbecue undertone. The addition of black cavendish adds a smooth-creaminess and just enough sweetness to turn this into a fantastic and distinct flake tobacco. No other blend compares to it. It is not really an English or a Virginia/Latakia blend. It is its own thing and I cannot get enough of it.

*Update*

Sadly, this blend, unlike most pipe tobacco, does not take to age well at all. When fresh it is easily a 4 star tobacco. Once it has about a year on it, it becomes a rather bland mixture, wherein the latakia is muted. The kentucky also becomes muted, and the burley taste becomes predominant, loosing most if not all of its smokiness, resulting in a very mediocre tobacco.

I had aged this in a well sealed mason jar as well as in original tins (I cracked a second one to be sure) and the same thing resulted. Aged, at best this is a one and a half star blend. I find this very odd, because all of my other English blends have only deepend in taste.

I ordered a fresh tin to compare with my 30 aged tins, and the fresh tin was as vibrant and good as I remembered it. But aging does not do this one any good. It is like laphroaig scotch, in which the 8yr and 10yr bottlings are divine, the 15yr has rounded, but the 18+ bottles have lost their original "zing." Nicotine content is the same in aged samples, just a whisper short of medium.

Original review: This flake is a modern masterpiece destined to become "THE" flake tobacco of fame, which pipe smokers the world over will lament the passing of, as has occured with lost blends such as 965, balkan sobraine etc.

This is undoubtedly the best latakia flake I have ever tried. Can hold its own against any other latakia blend, and is even better than many old classics. It is a lat-bomb without the bitter, which has the strongest incense taste of any english blend I have ever tried, without any orientals! Not a replacement for your favorite english or scottish blend, this is in a class all its own. It is the most flavorful tobacco that I have ever tasted. Too much so for every day smoking, this is like the richest Finnish smoked custard you ever had. But oddly, has no long lingering aftertaste. Even the room note is pleasant to others! This is not the nicotine bomb it is said to be, as the nicotine is no stronger than in most full English blends, but is just right.

This flake is so good that if you haven't tried it, and enjoy latakia even a little, you positively, absolutely must get a tin.

This blend is always sold out for good reason. It is the best modern blend on the market.