See my profile to get to my blog's more verbose review of Ten Russians.

I was handed a small batch of tobacco in krumble kake form. I’ve heard of Hermit as a brand. I know they’re made by C&D. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it; however I’ve never tried any of their tobaccos. From the beginning, one can deduce that this would be one powerful smoke. It was dark, and there is no mistaking the good amount of latakia in this blend. I have to admit I do love latakia, and lots of it. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite tobaccos is C&D’s daVinci. Unlike other krumble kakes, this tobacco broke apart easily, packed and smoked very well.

I used a Cavicchi Bent Brandy with a chamber depth of 1.89” and a chamber diameter of 0.90”. I will concur with everyone who reviewed this product. This is a POWERHOUSE of a smoke. I mean this in a good way, though. What is so surprising is that unlike other strong tobacco, it had such a cool smoke that I could hardly detect any bite to it. Again, be forewarned this is NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED SMOKER! C&D for the most part, have always put out a good product. Captain Earle's Ten Russians is an example of such product. Out of a possible 4 stars, I would give this 3 ¼. Although I love the strength and the coolness when smoked, it could do with a little more complexity in flavor. However, I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND it.

I am glad I was given the opportunity to smoke this fine tobacco. I will definitely try other products from Hermit. Does anyone know if this comes in bulk?

The Tale of Ten Russians: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

I absolutely love my extra large, bent poker that was made for me by Tom Johnson. The chamber is almost 3.5 inches high, and 7/8 of an inch in diameter. Nothing pleases me more than stuffing that pipe with an excellent tasting tobacco, and draining it to the bottom.

Yesterday, I was feeling my oats. I bought a tin of Nightwatch and a tin of Ten Russians. I went to my favorite place in the world, hiked the woods and fields a bit, and smoked a full chamber of Nightwatch. As I was about to head for the car, I got a notion to call a friend. As the conversation was sure to go long, I decided to, against the advice of some reviews here, pack that huge chamber with Ten Russians, after a full dose of Nightwatch. I love latakia, and smoking that bowl of Ten Russians was amazing. I kept saying to myself, "what are these bozos talking about? The Vitamin N isn't that strong. Hell, I could probably finish this bowl, and then another."

I continued under that delusion until I hit the last 10% of the bowl. This is when the truth was revealed to me about Ten Russians. Have you ever been so out-of-wack, that you felt as if your pants had fallen off, even though you still had them on? Because, if you know that feeling, then you know what it felt like to me.

My body temp went from 98.6 F to about 100,000 degrees Kelvin. I could barely finish my phone conversation. Every muscle in my body got weak. I began to yawn incessantly. As I drove home, I had to keep my head perfectly still and my torso at a perfect 90 degrees. You see, I was gripped by the fear that I was going to projectile vomit so hard that my windshield was going to get shot out, like in a Starsky and Hutch episode...except from the inside of the vehicle. The drive home is still a complete mystery to my memory banks.

When I got home,I couldn't even gather all of my goods from the truck. I just left my sh*t in the cab. I walked in the house, grabbed a cold rag, laid on the couch, put the rag on my head, and passed out.

I woke up an hour later, refreshed and okay because the Vitamin N overdose had processed. I had to eat a large bowl of organic noodles, and a bagel to reach true homeostasis.

I give Ten Russians 9.8 out of 10 stars. It's powerful, unassuming, great Latakia taste, and if you step out of line with it, it will pummel your a$s with the power of ten extremely burley Russian men. I'm better for it. Can't wait to smoke a bowl of it when I don't act like an a-hole with the amount. I'm not giving it a 10 star rating because my nuts still hurt, and I am sure that I will never sire another child while I am on this planet.

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Update 07/04/10: Now that I know how to approach Ten Russians, I can say that it is by far my favorite blend.

Yes it is almost singular in taste, but that's what I love about it. It is earth, and smoke, and strength.

Bravo to Cornell and Diehl, and Hermit Tobaccos.

This is Big Boy stuff.

It's Darth F-ing Vader.

This is for the hardcore latakia lover who believes too much of a good thing is never enough. It's the latakia equivalent of a Triple-Decadent Chocolate cake. This is as strongly balanced a latakia blend as you're likely find that doesn't go over the cliff into pure latakia. The orientals are distinctive and complement the latakia very nicely, and the virginias add just a hint of sweetness to take the edge off the tsunami of latakia that crashes over you.

I don't know that I'd call this an english or a balkan blend. If this is an English blend, then it's pre-Norman because there's something elemental and primeval about this blend. (Maybe taking the name as a suggestion, perhaps this should be called a Russian blend...? Somehow seems fitting.) Ten Russians is really in a class all its own -- it's like nothing else I've tried. It's not what one would call a subtle blend -- though very high quality, there's nothing remotely elegant or subdued about this in-your-face blend -- but it's got a complexity all its own. If you read through the previous reviews you'll see descriptors like leather, salt, clove, smoky sweetness, sourness, oily finish, and they're all correct. I would add words like earth and dirt.

The crumble cakes are the best I've seen. They break apart beautifully.

Ten Russians is uniquely satisfying when you're hungry for a full-bore latakia blast. Be forewarned, though -- this is one of those tastebud blockers that can have an effect on your appreciation for the more subtle, pure and "cleaner" flavors of virginia or VaPer flakes. You might need to cleanse your palate after this orgy of latakia.

I plan on always having a tin of this stuff around.

I know this tobacco has other components, but the various flavors were snuffed out due to all the Latakia. I think CAO's Old Ironsides wuld take a back seat to this one. If there is a fuller Latakia on the market I'd frankly be afraid to try it. I like Latakia every now and then, but this is just too much for this old cowboy. Taste presentation; leather & salt.

Separable by peeling and breaking apart the dense layered nuggets, the tin nose is sweet, smoky, and rounded with just a hint of fermented fruit and pungent spice. Preparation requires patience, as does choosing the right pipe. Ten Russians is nothing if not finicky.

Like hot tea, Ten Russians is best when slowly sipped. In the bowl the blend is dominated by a smoky Latakia which displays notes of pine and camphor, both of which figure in an oily, lingering finish. The Virginias add just a bit of sweetness and the orientals, apparently in small dose, a certain sourness which complement, but never overshadow, the blend?s assertive Latakia core which, to this reviewer, seems to be of the Cyprian variety. Heavy bodied, it can tend towards flatness.

Overall, Ten Russians does not possess much in the way of complexity. This, however, would seem to be exactly what Jay and Louise had in mind in creating what they call, not once but twice on the tin label, a ?rich full Latakia blend?. If nothing else, it is certainly that. If you are a confirmed Lataphile you will most certainly enjoy Ten Russians, but if you like some cream and sugar in your tea you may very well find yourself growing weary of pouring yet another cup from this dependable old samovar.

There's just something about this blend. Sure, it's Latakia. And oh Lord is it strong. Like coffee from Africa strong. And the room note scares away all but the masochists. But whether it's the pressing or some other magic hoodoo, J and Louise give up a really great one here.

This blend is made for sitting on the porch or walking through the woods. This is not an all-day blend. This is not an every day blend. This is a blend for pot roast and Yorkshire pudding evenings, for stiff ales and lagers. This is a blend to bring out when some n00b annoys you by lighting up some sticky pouch of dessert like Cap'n Black or Cherry Cordial. This is the real deal.

Complex? Please. About as complex as a Nascar race. It's loud, it's strong, you get dizzy just being there and it keeps going around the track until it's over. But there's no question in your mind that you've had a pipeful of some high-octane Latakia. And you'll be back for more. Right around the time your wife speaks to you again, you'll think to yourself... "Yeah, that was some powerful stuff. I wouldn't mind another bowl."

Not for the faint-hearted, experimental or dessert topping crowd. Consider yourselves warned. But for you Latakia fiends, you have no excuse for not posessing at least one tin of this. Break half of it up and jar it up. Leave the other half in bricks and jar that up too.

Strong, but not overwhelming, full and complex. Seems to be pretty even al;l the way throught the bowl, I describe the room note as pleasant against the sig. oth.'s vote, I think she was leaning toward unbearable as she does whenever I smoke anything not from the drug store or the tinder box.

Note to self *buy more*

Captain Earle's 10 Russians is a quality latakia centric blend. To the point it is a bit deadening to the palate. I love latakia and don't mind this excessive smokey sweetness. But I'd probably normally reserve this for a last smoke of the day. There isn't a huge amount of variation but the orientals do kick up to a spicey/tangy pitch later in the burn. Certainly all top quality and IMO a bit more flavorful than even some famous tinned premium blends. Not existential, but a hearty latakia smoke. I agree that this tastes *a lot* like some of the C+D latakia mixes.

Overall high quality but did not blow me away in any particular sense that would urge me to order a ton of this stuff. But I certainly will finish off my sample!