Hermit Tobacco Works Co. Captain Earle's - Stimulus Package

This is a very tasty, rich and full latakia blend with very low nicotine( that will bother some but it's a big plus for me.) If you want a big latakia blend this is the one to go for. A bit like Star of the East Flake but a tad smoother.

Don't hesitate to try.

It says it is a full engilsh blend . Ok so probably i am to blame for not loving it . It also says perfectly balanced . I just don’t taste ANY balance . Almost all nice latakia tobacco with a WEE bit of oriental spice i can barely taste . The Virginias are nowhere to be found . But i almost never throw away good tobacco so i blended in some smyrna oriental and some nice yellow lemon Virginia!! Now it something nice . I love the crumble cake but not what taste like 90% latakia to me anyways. If you love a lat bomb go for it .

The tin note on this one is nice, strong, slightly sour and smells like a good grade of tobacco. It comes in a soft easy break apart square and smokes exceptionally well. Some have compared this to Pirate Kake and I can see their point. I have smoked quite a bit of this lately and do not tire of it. I always smoke outside and was talking to my neighbor and she even said that it smelled pleasant. I have had Nightwatch, 10 Russians and this is as good as the other two.

Certainly a strong latakia blend. Full, rich, with some creaminess. This tobacco hits the spot when you are in need of a latakia fix. The only drawback I find with this blend is its lack of complexity. This isn't an everyday smoke for me, but when my taste buds are calling for some strong latakia this tobacco is sure to please.

Soli Deo gloria.

I normally only smoke Latakia blends, so when a new one comes along, I am always interested. I normally don't try a great number of new blends, since I have many already in my rotation. That coupled with the fact that I am not normally a fan of tinnings by Cornell & Diehl, made this tobacco a surprise. I first tried it at the 2010 Richmond show and immediately liked it. I bought the last tin that Jay & Louise had at the show. Since then I have been able to get an additional tin. I am not sure if this tobacco will be added to my normal rotation, but I am sure I will be buying more of it, it is very enjoyable.

The pressed cake is very easy to break-up, it lights easily, and burns very consistently, all the way to a nice ash.

This is a really fine blend, and almost deserves four stars. It is NOT a lat-bomb, the latakia is balanced out by some orientals and, to a lesser degree, some virginia breadiness. It is lat-heavy, but not as heavy as Pirate Kake (god forbid), Gaslight, or Ten Russians. The latakia is heavier than Ashton Artisan, Levant Mixture, Nightcap, and MM 965, if that gives some perspective.

I really like the first 2/3 of each bowl. The cake breaks up nicely into chunks, lights easily, and burns cleanly. This is one of the better construction crumble cakes I've smoked. The orientals have just enough tang to cut through the latakia, and during the first half of my first bowl of this I was sure that I'd found my new favorite middle-to-full english.

And then.... the last third of a bowl. This mixture gets me every time at the end. There's something oddly caustic that comes into the flavors, it almost tastes like a chlorine-type acridness. It approaches a bleach or chemical-type flavor. I've tried sipping it (worried the heat was charring something), packing lighter, packing tighter.... I can't avoid this flavor at the end of the pipe.

So I'm giving it three stars, which is still "recommended". It is a really excellent smoke, but I just pitch the last 1/3 of a bowl now when the odd note comes in, and enjoy this happily.

I'll probably always wonder what that oddness is at the bottom of the bowl...

Another full flavored yet unoriginal, ininspired, boring latakia bomb. I like this a great deal more than Ten Russians but it still isn't anything special. If you have smoked Pirate Kake or Ten Russians or any of the other 50% latakia or more blends then you know what to expect. Kind of like these craft beers with ridiculous amounts of hops added. Yea, it was cool at first but at some point the lack of creativity needs to be acknowledged.

Oh yeah?......oh yeah!

This stuff is almost a month old since I've cracked the tin and the Virginias are sweetening up real fine! Wow. I'm glad I got this and I think i will again. Although I want to try the other blends in the series, as well.

It's a potent Latakia blend that really delivers. I can taste all the components of the blend which makes it interesting and delicious.

Do it, to it.

To my taste there's nothing really new here, and as others have noted this is very close to Pirate Kake.

Opening the tin, the aroma is heavenly and the krumble kake is really small, it must be that "50g when packed" thing, because it is very wet and, although it lights easily, I always end up with the bottom of the bowl unsmokable due to this.

I guess this is the only lightweight in nicotine in the whole Captain Earle's series.

I can't help but keep thinking "ok just another full of latakia mixture". Not bad but didn't worked for me.