Latakia / English Tobacco » Sillem's Black Tobacco Reviews

Sillem's Black - Not What You'd Expect!

Well well well guys - let me tell you, I am so surprised by this tobacco. First off, let me say: the 100 gram / 3.5 oz tin is about $20. However, this may seem expensive, it is well worth the money. I'm not sure what type of tobacco this qualifies as, but my guess is an aromatic.

While the tin isn't air tight, the tobacco inside the somewhat sealed pouch is still moist enough to produce moisture in my pipe while smoking it. This tobacco tastes like nothing I've ever had before, if anything, the closest tobacco to it would probably be, in my opinion, W.O. Larsen 2010. It has some latakia and something floral in it, that's about the best I can describe the smell as being, is floral. While I did go through a few relights (I don't judge tobaccos on relights), it smoked the same through and through. I was amazed, usually tobacco gets too harsh for me to smoke by the time I get towards the bottom, this one just got slightly stronger but it didn't smoke harsh. In fact, it has a very mild tobacco after taste and it leaves a sweet floral note on the tongue and in the room.

I highly recommend buying a tin of this, in fact, on my next purchase I'll probably pick up 3 or more tins of it as it has become my number 1 tobacco! Oh, and I did put the rest into a mason jar just for good measure.

Star Ratings:

5 stars across the board, except for Tin Aroma.  Specifically, it smelled kind of odd in the tin, but then after opening the pouch, I got blasted with great flavors.

May the Schwarz be with You

Tin Note:

The Tin Note is a bit unusual, in that before I opened the carefully packaged tobacco inside the decorative black tin I caught the distinctive aroma of Latakia.  Neither the Bright Virginia tobacco nor the Black Cavendish presented themselves until the package was open and I was directly exposed to the tobaccos. The Latakia and Burley seemed to take a back seat to the sweet nose of honey, plum, and raisin. I think you can tell what is in this blend just from the Tin Note; however I didn’t pick up on anything more than an imagined hint of Burley. I say imagined because I had read the Tin Description prior to opening the package. And, I may have discerned it only because I was searching the aromas for it. There seemed to be a hint of Burley but I couldn’t swear to it.

Appearance:

It comes in a great looking tin. I’m sure I will find some excuse to keep the tin and use it for something. As for the tobacco, it is rough cut, basically a black tobacco interspersed with the Bright Virginia and Burley. Upon a second closer look, the Latakia and the Black Cavendish are distinguishable from each other, as is the Burley from the Virginia. In fact the Burley is crudely cut and some pieces actually resemble cigar wrapper. This blend isn’t overly moist, but does need some drying time. It dries quickly; so, 15 minutes should be plenty of drying time.

Room Note:

I will say the room note isn’t bad at all, to someone who enjoys the smell of Latakia. The Cavendish may mitigate The War Department’s dislike of the “stinky stuff”, but not entirely. One of my daughters says that: “It isn’t bad.”

I received this tin of Sillem’s Schwarz (or Black) from a fellow pipe smoker, and I’m grateful to him for exposing me to this English/Aromatic blend. I don’t usually smoke English blends because the wife, as I mentioned above, isn’t a fan of Latakia. It’s not that I don’t enjoy English or Balkan blends, but I don’t have the opportunity to smoke them except on infrequent occasions. I am however taking full advantage of smoking this “because I’m writing a review.”

I decided to smoke it in my Aldo Velani Bulldog for a couple of reasons. The bowl is a bit larger than ¾” and just seemed to be suited to this particular blend. The rough cut of Sillem’s Black seemed to be inappropriate to the smallish bowl sizes of my churchwarden pipes and some others. It may also slightly ghost my pipe; so, I opted for what seemed to be the best for my purposes. I believe my choice of pipes to be a good one.

Sillem’s Schwarz is an English/Aromatic blend according to the tin description. My first impression is that it resembles a Balkan blend more than any English or an Aromatic blend I have smoked in the past. At first I wasn’t sure what to expect. Prior to this I have had no experience with Sillem’s tobacco blends.

The first bowl was packed directly from the tin. I decided no drying was needed, the moisture content seemed ok using the pinch test. Upon the char light I was struck with the strength of the Latakia. Upon the true, the strength of the Latakia was just as prevalent. As for the Black Cavendish I have yet to really discern it from the Latakia. I have picked up on the Virginia a little, and I have noticed at an interesting hint attributable to the Burley; but, Cavendish (?)… not yet. I am leaving the door open in that regard because I have only smoked 5 bowls. I’m sure there are subtleties I have yet to pick up on but not as of yet. On a couple of occasions, (not in every bowl) I have tasted the unmistakably soapy aspect of Latakia, sometimes strong, sometimes less so. It is not one of my favorite sensations, but the soapy aspect isn’t unpleasant. At this point I must interject that I have yet to taste that peppery aspect I would generally associate with Latakia. This may be attributable to the Black Cavendish as described by Sillem in their description. To continue; the blend is mildly sweet but not overly so, and does have a mildly toasted aspect to the flavor profile as well. One further point; I taste only the very slightest hint of raisins or plum in this medium strong smoke, and one really has to search for that hint of honey.

The nicotine content is a bit stronger than adequate, it is not overpowering, nor does it threaten the smoker with the spins during a long and relaxing bowl.

My overall impression is this is quite a good Latakia blend… nearly a “Lat Bomb” but not quite. I believe it will match well with a strong early morning mug o’ Joe, and is entirely appropriate for that last quiet bowl to close the day. This isn’t what I would call a “go-to” type blend for me. I like it, in the realm of a Balkan blend and will smoke it on the occasion when I’m in the mood for a heavy Latakia blend. So, for those of you “on the Dark Side” “May the Schwarz be with you.”  I think you will enjoy this blend very much. 

Flavorful Because of the Flavoring

I was pretty excited the first time I smelled this tobacco straight from the tin. Its smell is both sweet and smoky. The tobacco is very moist. It's easy to understand why as soon as you've got Black smoking. This stuff, like many cross-over/American-English blends is just damp with all kinds of flavorings. It reminds me of a poor Frog Morton all sauced up. It took me nearly a year to finish this tin and I can't say it ever improved much after drying out. Just a junky blend in a 'cool' tin.