Today we have a review of a kretek called Djarum Black.

As a reminder, Djarum (which translates as “needle”) is an Indonesian company that produces kretek cigarettes using over 20 local tobacco varieties, cloves, and various flavorings. Djarum exports approximately 80 percent of its products, primarily to Southeast Asian countries. Kreteks are also popular in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Australia, and New Zealand.

I bought a promotional sample of Djarum products—a pack containing two cigarettes. The cigarettes themselves (I’ll continue to call them like that) are slightly thinner than regular cigarettes and 4 mm longer. The diameter of the cigarette is intermediate between compact and slim sizes.The cigarettes have additional packaging because they have a distinctive odor, and if they aren’t carefully packaged, the odor will immediately permeate anything nearby.

We don’t know the characteristics of the tobacco blend. The manufacturer Djarum states that its products can contain up to 70 percent spices, including cloves. Cloves are the main distinguishing feature of kreteks from all other tobacco products. Incidentally, anything containing cloves and intended for smoking is called a kretek, even if it’s the size of a cigar.

Cigarettes smell of cloves and nothing else. However, when smoking, it turns out that kreteks do contain nicotine, as it’s quite possible to get high from such a cigarette.

Specifically, Djarum Black kretek turned out to be overly clove-infused. It’s very noticeable. The smell comes not only from the cigarette, but also from the smoke. The taste is also overwhelmingly clove-like. Furthermore, kreteks crackle so loudly when smoked that it seems as if they contain whole chunks of cloves.

Smoking of kreteks is interesting but not for everyone. You could just as easily grind cloves through a coffee grinder and sprinkle them into loose tobacco. I’m sure it would be just as good, but ten times cheaper. Luckily, cloves are inexpensive.