This is a rather unusual aromatic, at least in cut. It is half cube cut burley and half very coarsely cut black cavendish. The cav is so coarse, in fact, that packing this blend too tightly would take some serious effort.
The blend was quite wet in the tin, but it dried readily. I got one bowl’s worth nearly crispy after an hour or so of sitting out on paper. It burns cool and slow, and there’s not much chance of bite unless you were puffing hard.
A lot of other reviews referred to this as a vanilla aromatic. While vanilla is likely one component of the topping, it is not the primary one IMO. I find a cinnamon/baking spice flavor to be much more prominent. The flavoring is fairly heavily applied, but it’s not goopy. The burley is always apparent under the topping, and has a nice spicy kick that really goes well with the cinnamon flavor. This is definitely not the “flavored hot air” type of aromatic. The overall flavor is rich, and the topping contributed to it all the way to the bottom of the bowl.
Besides carrying the topping, the cavendish gives the smoke a good amount of creaminess and body.
The oomph of this blend reminds me a bit of Wilke’s rum cake, both in terms of the unexpected spiciness and full flavor (in an aromatic context).
Being Sillem’s, it’s overpriced and often hard to find. However, the unique cut, full flavor and spiciness have justified the purchase of the tin. That being said, I think I could make something similar mixing the Peretti BPC and Sutliff Cinnamon Spice I have in my basement.
The blend was quite wet in the tin, but it dried readily. I got one bowl’s worth nearly crispy after an hour or so of sitting out on paper. It burns cool and slow, and there’s not much chance of bite unless you were puffing hard.
A lot of other reviews referred to this as a vanilla aromatic. While vanilla is likely one component of the topping, it is not the primary one IMO. I find a cinnamon/baking spice flavor to be much more prominent. The flavoring is fairly heavily applied, but it’s not goopy. The burley is always apparent under the topping, and has a nice spicy kick that really goes well with the cinnamon flavor. This is definitely not the “flavored hot air” type of aromatic. The overall flavor is rich, and the topping contributed to it all the way to the bottom of the bowl.
Besides carrying the topping, the cavendish gives the smoke a good amount of creaminess and body.
The oomph of this blend reminds me a bit of Wilke’s rum cake, both in terms of the unexpected spiciness and full flavor (in an aromatic context).
Being Sillem’s, it’s overpriced and often hard to find. However, the unique cut, full flavor and spiciness have justified the purchase of the tin. That being said, I think I could make something similar mixing the Peretti BPC and Sutliff Cinnamon Spice I have in my basement.
