It looks like a black brick which slivers easily. I’ve tried it in small filtered Savinelli. Very sweet and rich taste, mostly Latakia but some Orientals and Virginia inside. Is it strong? You bet it is! But not like Irish Flake or 1792, which is going straight on you like a drunk Irishman, and you know what to anticipate. This one crawls to you slowly from behind like Russian partisan in snow-covered forest, and in the end his axe will reach your head.

Seriously, this tobacco is good. Top-quality tasty mixture with big but manageable nicotine content. Treat it with respect, and it will be your friend for life.

You can get the same smell by jamming your head into a fire pit the day after a campout, but it isn't as relaxing or socially acceptable.

Update: Best ****- Odyssey ( 9 months cellaring),

Good ***- Ten Russians ( new tin),

OK **-Engine 99 ( new bulk)

I just noticed reviewer," Tom Servo 03/29/2011", I have to agree

Updated 12/7/12- I just retried this blend after about a year in the cellar, it's still spicy and burns hot, I've taken this down one stars, I won't buy again , too many other similar better blends out there. ( Engine 99 is smoother and creamier)

Soli Deo gloria!

I did not find it to be a latakia bomb nor even a nicotine bomb (though I do have a very high tolerance for nicotine).

What I did find it to be was an exceptional smoke. Not a whole lot of nuances but a very pleasant, somewhat sweet and somewhat heavy on rich smoky flavor. It crumbled very easily, loaded very easily (a light loading and a very light settling/tamping in the bowl) and "held fire" very well. Overall, a very very pleasant, easily-smoked mixture with enough flavor to hold my interest and enjoyment until almost the end.

I say "almost the end" because in some pipes, particularly those with a dublin shape, the mixture would get a little sour and a little harsh at the very end.

I tend to smoke my pipes down until there is nothing whatsoever left but ash; on this mixture I found myself sometimes dumping out the dottle... the leftover shreds of unsmoked tobacco at the very bottom of the bowl, mainly because I just didn't want to taste that bit of souring and harshness at the end.

Room note was not objectionable to anyone; my wife never once commented on it, as she might with some latakia blends (GLP Odyssey or Penzance for instance).

I also thoroughly enjoyed Ten Russians after somewhat lengthy DGT; many times I would load a pipe in the evening, smoke a third or half of it, and then relight in the morning with a cup of coffee... it always, after the first couple of puffs, blossomed into a good, rich morning accompaniment to a strong cup of coffee or a strong cup of Earl Gray tea stirred with brown sugar and just a hint of Half & Half.

I very much intend to purchase more of Ten Russians... I've enjoyed it in the morning, midday and in the evening. For me, at least, a very very pleasant and enjoyable mixture.

Interesting, this Ten Russians. In the tin it smells a bit like an old factory; creosote, wood, and oil. The Crumble Cake format is very interesting, and it rubs with ease.

Smoking is nice, but boring over time, as the flavour has no nuances. It is simply smoky, not as an Islay whisky but actually like a campfire. It is indeed strong, and requires a full stomach before partaking. Although I will not likely buy again, it deserves three stars.

Crumble Cake crumbles nicely. My tin was a little dry. Packs easy. Once it is lit it tends to stay lit pretty well.

In the bowl “Ten Russians” is much less complex. The Latakia in my opinion is over done, but it still keeps a smooth-ish balance. The Orientals have a sizable presence as well, the Oriental leaf seems to be trying the hardest to balance the Latakia landslide. Somehow it balances, but the flavors themselves are muddled. It gets more one-note as the bowl progresses. Still, it is a pleasant note. The second half of the bowl settles into very smoky, dusty notes from the Latakia. Sweet & tart notes and sea salt are all the Orientals tobaccos are contributing now, or at least that’s all that I can get through the Latakia.

A surprising tobacco, enjoyed it quite a bit. Bites if neglected. High Priced in my opinion, for this particular blend. But well made and absolutely worth a try.

I personally think C&D should leave out a little of the Latakia. Maybe throw in a couple more Russians - make it an even dozen. (Ha, Ha! Hails of derisive laughter, Bruce!)

Easily the best tobacco I have smoked. Insanely cool in the bowl, slow burning, easy to pack and light. No bite. At all. And I smoke like a chimney puffing away when I am reading/writing for work etc.

As others have mentioned, the cake form is really well done and adds a bit of fun to the usual packing process. I can't detect the cavendish, but then again, this is such a well blended tobacco it's hard to pick any one flavor out of the general taste profile.

Yes, the N content is... well, nuclear. But not too much, at least not for me. To be very honest, this is the first tobacco I have smoked where I could really notice a Vit N factor. Maybe I have a massive tolerance from years and years of cigarettes or my inherent size mellows the hit out. But it's tremendously calming.

An absolutely brilliant tobacco which I will be buying a great deal more of over the course of my smoking life.

Yes, it would be awesome to have it come in bulk. Or at least like the GLP stuff where you can get the 8oz.

I wish the presence of Cavendish in the blend was, well, absent (I can take them in small doses) as I think the other three blends make for a complex enough mix; but you Lat lovers out there probably won't even notice it. I will probably come back to this, because it's an interesting smoke, but Ten Russians is like one of the heavyweights of the tobacco world and you have to treat it with respect and train for it. Otherwise, it will feel like Ten Russians did a number on you.

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

I was handed a small batch of tobacco in crumble cake 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 wish this came in 1 lb. tins. I will definitely try other products from Hermit.

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.

~~~~~~~

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.