Spilman Mixture

Gage: It’s always an occasion when someone takes the time and care to resurrect classic tobacco blends. With a venerable, once-popular, long-forgotten blend like Spilman, it offers encouragement in these challenging times for tobacco and smoking.

The new blend faithfully reproduces Spilman, right down to the tin and artwork. I examined an original tin, with its simple yet somehow elegant appearance. Even the tax stamp is reproduced in this new version.

What wasn’t recreated was a diamond-shaped symmetrical cluster of tiny holes in the base of the original container, which went right through the metal. It appeared to be machine-stamped into the tin at the time of manufacture (because it was so carefully done), but that makes no sense for what should be an airtight container. Nobody has been able to figure it out, so it remains one of those little unsolved mysteries.

Spilman is a charming, tantalizing Balkan blend with a rich Latakia-laden tin aroma. It’s moderately heavy, featuring a significant amount of the smoky leaf. Visually, it is primarily dark brown to black and done in a chunky-cut style with large pieces of leaf. The rough and varied cut of the tobacco is reminiscent of 19th-century blends. This ragged cut also promotes an interesting burn, as the larger pieces allow individual flavors to rise and fall, unlike a perfectly cut and blended mixture. While examining the mixture, I unfolded one accordion-sliced piece of aged Macedonian leaf that was more than an inch long.

There are also pressed, pebble-cut chunks of nicely aged Burley in Spilman. The company doesn’t discuss the contents, but it’s clearly a mixture of Latakia, some very sweet aged (but not stoved) Virginia, some spicy Oriental tobaccos and the cube-cut Burley. Although the blend features so many tobaccos, they work harmoniously together. Other than the Burley cube, the mixture is all flake-cut tobaccos—no indication of any pressed slices.

Right out of the tin, Spilman is just a touch moist. It’s perfectly smokable out of the tin, but a day or two of drying makes it perfect. You want to smoke Spilman slowly to keep the combustion temperature low, which maximizes the flavor and delicacy of the individual tobaccos. The Latakia flavor is prominent, but this is a medium Balkan blend, not a full.

The second most prominent flavor comes from the golden-brown Oriental leaf, which is sweet and mild. I detected a relatively small amount of Virginia leaf, which primarily balances the smoky Latakia. The mixture smokes with slight overtones of lavender, not uncommon in fine Latakia mixtures, and a bit similar in resonance to Krumble Kake from Smokers’ Haven. The Burley lends its distinctive nutty flavor, but more floral—like chestnuts.

It’s a comforting tasting blend that works well in any size pipe. I found that the best results came with slightly larger pipes, lightly dry tobacco, loosely packed. This allowed more airflow, minimized the need to puff to keep the blend lit, and maximized the flavors from the individual components.

I’m sure Spilman will age well, but the variety of the blend actually mimics the subtlety and soft Latakia flavors you might expect after several years of aging. So you can enjoy this blend right out of the tin while you let some of those other mixtures cellar and mature.

Harb: Spilman Mixture was created by Edward Hoffman 130 years ago. The label on the packaging is a reproduction that includes the Hoffman trademark and lettering of the original packaging. My sample was a vacuum-sealed tin, which described the contents as a combination of the choicest tobaccos with natural aromas. Once I popped the seal, the smoky Latakia aroma rose above the tobacco and scented the room. A close sniff just above the tobacco revealed a rich combination of spice, pungency and sweetness typical of quality Virginia and Turkish tobaccos. The blend is a mixture of various coarse and medium cuts that include cubes, nuggets, flecks of broken leaf and ribbons. The composition is a mix of light grayish-tan and medium tan, medium brown, dark brown and black leaf. Before I lit the first bowl, I sipped the tobacco and got a fruity, sweet, spicy flavor. Once the tobacco was charred, the smoke was very smooth, with a medium level of pungent and smoky flavor. By the first third of the bowl, the Turkish tobaccos began to move to the forefront, and all the tobaccos combined into a chorus of flavors that shifted back and forth between the smoky Latakia and the rich Turkish leaf, supported by a nice sweetness from the Virginias. This lasted almost to the end, when the Latakia asserted itself for a very flavorful finish. I tried this blend in pipes with various chamber diameters and volumes, and it was just as good in one as it was in another. Overall, I would classify this blend as a Balkan/English, but others may be more attuned to the Latakia and would classify it as an English/Balkan. I don’t know if my great-great-grandfather was a pipe smoker, but if he was and smoked the original Spilman Mixture, he had a very well balanced, rich and exceptionally flavored blend to enjoy. And I think he would have smoked it frequently. P&T

"Overall, I would classify this blend as a Balkan/English, but others may be more attuned to the Latakia and would classify it as an English/Balkan"

Wow. Talk about splitting hairs.

Thanks for the extra info, Bob. Have you tried the blend yourself? I have read through the reviews on tobaccoreviews.com, but I always like to hear the insights of my fellow MPCers.

You are welcome. No, I have not tried this. I believe it would contain far more Latakia than I can tolerate. In Captain Bob's Blend I have only one ounce of Latakia to a pound. I can detect it but it does not overwhelm me or the other tobacco's in the blend; Red VA, Black Cav, Perique, Turkish and Carolina Brights.

Everyone is different. It took me more years than I have left in order to nail down the combination of unflavored tobacco's I want to smoke. If you are adamant about flavoring additives, you should try specifying mixtures (unflavored) or better yet, buy the blending tobacco's separately and experiment. C&D has a web-page devoted to what is available and how to go about it. The link didn't work so just go to their site scroll to the very bottom and click on Blending Tobaccos. www.cornellanddiehl....

I need to hit the hay.

But after the review posted by Cap'n Bob, (Thanks so much for that), I can't wait to try it. I get mine tuesday. I am not the afficianodo but I have certain tobaccos that I have tried and liked. To be honest, I don't know that I have ever ventured into Latakia blends. Another smoking adventure for me.

I'll let you know.

From what I have read, the latakia content is rather low. It will hopefully be a good introduction to that weed for you.

With my limited knowledge, I will try to explain my first time use of this new blend. Upon opening, I found that the mixture was not overly moist. seemed to be "normal". the smell in the can seemed mild and "woody". I tried a small bowl pick-axe at first and found it hard to keep lit. I am now trying my second bowl in an old Denicotea filter pipe with a "regular" sized bowl. I used the "Frank method" (after seeing the movie clips)and it's staying lit longer. The taste is mild to my palette with a nice mellow robust smoke. Some slight hint of the Latakia

The final test, My wife likes the smell.

Since I smoke in the house, If she didn't like it, It would be out the door.

I'll give it a few days and try it again.

One question. Since I got the 7oz, should I move it out of the tin to a mason type jar?

put it into 2 - 4oz (half pint).

Or 4 - 2 oz.

He he!

By the way... you said your wife liked the aroma... can you get a description for it? I'm curious. Usually anything with Latakia in it is immediately noticeable. Is it so with this blend? I'm quite curious about this stuff... I might have to give it a go.

I'll find out this evening. Her first response was " it's not as sweet smelling as some of the others I smoke. I enjoyed the few bowls I tried yesterday. The reviews given in the thread seem to be pretty good. The latakia is so light, I don't think it's a big factor.

I'll get back to you with the reviews of my most severe critic. tee hee.

as far as my wifes rating. but HER favorite is the test blend I had from Benningtons (?). As soon as all the reviews are in, I'll probably get an ounce and a half of that just to let her enjoy every now and then. I will say, the more I smoke the splilman though, the more I like it. I think I will let it sit for a week or so and let it dry out a little. It takes a while to get it lit now. After about ten minutes of relighting, I can get about 20 minutes out of it. then I have to tamp and relight. All in all, not bad.
I find that I can pick up the hint of latakia scent more so in the evening when I'm not so distracted and focus more on the smoke. As strange as that may sound.