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

This was sent by mistake as part of an order that I got last week. When reaching for 3 tins of Honor Blend, they must have had a tin of Stimulus Package in the pile. The labels are dangerously close in color and design. Instead of throwing a fit, as I am apt to do, I decided to keep it and try it out. I never would have ordered it, but I like English blends, so...

The brick is dark and dense with a heady Latakia fragrance. It breaks apart easily and rubs out well with a minimum of dust. A little bit too moist for me from the tin, so I rubbed it all out and loaded it into a mason jar to place on my tobacco cabinet. I laid out a pipe full to smoke later.

Packed well and took to match better than expected for a Latakia heavy blend. (The smoking fires they use to cure this stuff tends to reduce it's combustion characteristics.) Only had one relight and no bite whatsoever. The smoke volume was a bit low, but the flavor was full. Definately a Latakia bomb with a velvet glove. The effect is so smooth and gentle that you forget how much Lat is in this. The Orientals are very good and keep perfect time with the Lat and Virginia.

Flavors are very typical of a full English blend. A well done one at that. Nothing too remarkable, just really good smoking. One wonders what a little Yenidje would do for this. I can say that I will not be buying more because I have way too many English tins in the cellar to add another label to the mix. But, if anyone is on the fence about this one, rest assured that it will be a pleasurable experience if you try it. Assuming of course that you like English blends to start with.

Cheers!

Most of our reviewers are younger than I am and want to compare Stimulus Package to other recent blends. To me, it seemed somewhat like the old Smokers Haven's Krumble Kake and we will look at that in the "Similar To" section. I knew nothing of this blend when I found myself buying five tins of it in a package deal at our 2019 NASPC show. I shook one of the tins and heard "thump, thump", so, I knew it would be a flake in the form of a brownie. Opening the tin did reveal that and a blend looking a lot like my last review of G.L. Pease's Lagonda. I found Stimulus Package to be more of a chore to rub out than Lagonda and even harder to keep adequately lit. They smoke somewhat similarly with Lagonda more fragrant and Stimulus Package a tad more flat and nasally. I was pleased with Lagonda's ability to maintain an even profile down the bowl and, conversely, perplexed at Stimulus Package's strangely wandering all over the place. In general, SP's top thirds were disappointing, confused and confusing. I didn't understand what the blend was trying to do and I couldn't grok what it was trying to be. The middle thirds were better and, sometimes, much better; almost to the point of four star performance. I've had some trouble deciding where I am going to come down on evaluating this blend and refer to two reviewers' wisdom. First is reviewer Emeritus Account 2011-08-11. He liked the blend enough to give it three stars but felt that it lacked complexity. Second is reviewer Tomcat 2019-08-29. He felt less enthusiastic about the blend and said it had no balance. They're both right and Tomcat and I figured out what was wrong. We both added new constituents that tilted the blend to the positive; namely, a Bright tobacco. My initial reaction to Stimulus Package was "oh, another one of these blends that's too dark". All's well that ends well - three stars.

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.

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.

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...

Pitch black with some brown flecks mixed in, crumble cake. I found this one particularly easy to prep - just break a chunk off with your fingers and it crumbles apart and is ready to go. Moisture level is perfect and requires no drying time.

Latakia is big and bold and up front in flavor. There seems to be a nice Virginia component adding a balancing sweetness. I get a hint of Oriental tang, but I wouldn't call this a major player in the profile. I'm not blown away with complexity, but it's very pleasant, well balanced and round in flavor - mostly just bold spicy latakia with an underlying balancing sweetness.

Burn is very good, requiring fewer than average relights. Nicotine level is medium.

I wouldn't call this a new favorite, but it's definitely good. Recommended if the flavor profile fits you.