Hermit Tobacco Works Co. Captain Earle's - Diamond Head

(3.35)
Diamond Head is a celebration of all marriage. First is the marriage of Captain Earle and Honor Matthews on December 27, 1895. Second is the marriage of an 1890's Atlas Blending Company blend with today's latakia, red Virginia plus small leaf tobaccos creating Captain Earle's latest blend, Diamond Head. Truly this is a celebrated marriage.

Details

Brand Hermit Tobacco Works Co.
Blended By  
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type English
Contents Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Krumble Kake
Packaging 2 ounce and 8 ounce tins
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.35 / 4
7

9

1

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 17 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 02, 2023 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
A good example of a full English Crumble Cake (not plug) is full of Latakia and balanced wiith Orientals. I enjoy this blend in the afternoon or evening. The full body is just a great way to end the day. It is well blended by C&D.
Pipe Used: Chacom Rustic Bent Billiard
PurchasedFrom: Smoking Pipes
Age When Smoked: 1 Year
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 11, 2012 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
I am a bit miffed as to why this blend hasn't been reviewed prior to this one. Diamond Head is a well done kake by Hermit. It isn't the Latakia powerhouse that are some of the other Hermit blends, but a balanced English blend that's easy to rub out (my preferred method) and DH offers some complexity to boot. It took me about four months to finish the tin as it isn't an everyday smoke for me. DH should benefit from aging and it's worth a few tins for the cellar. Those that seek a solid English Krumble Kake or those that like Hermit Blends should enjoy this well made blend. Recommended.
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 12, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
The original Diamond Head by Hermit carried a great flavor to the palate of those who enjoy lighter English fare but still want to get slapped around a little by the Latakia. The Orientals were very airy and carried some spice into the mix, but it was the Virginia backbone that got my attention. It was super smooth and had a good deep bottom that made the Latakia come alive. I've been hunting for another old tin of this one for a long time with no success... but I'm gonna keep trying!
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 28, 2018 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
Hermit Tobacco' - Captain Earle's - Diamond Head.

A multi shaded kake which crumbles with ease. I find the moistness suits my smoking, it's a touch damp but not wet. The tin-note smells quite rich but doesn't imply 'Lat Bomb'.

The smoke has quite a rich flavour but doesn't give me a punch in the face of Latakia; the Lat' leads, but doesn't monopolize the smoke. The Orientals give a definite support to the Lat' whilst the red Virginia sweetens things up. The burn from it is exactly as I like: cool, slow, giving a bite-free smoke.

Nicotine: a spot above medium. Room-note: not the nicest.

Diamond Head? A pleasant smoke, but not good enough to highly recommend. Three stars:

Recommended.
Pipe Used: Altinok Lee Van Cleef: My Friday pipe
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 05/31/17
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 16, 2013 Medium None Detected Full Pleasant
I like to review blends while I smoke the tobacco I'm reviewing. The medium size cutty I selected is working well! When I crumbled my cake it felt a little moist to the touch, no worries,I have learned with this blend it is common, it smokes dry and lights easy. To me, it reminds me of the englishes I smoked years ago like, Cooks #5, Penzants and Sullivan's Gentlemen's mixture. Its smoky and creamy.Full of earthy taste and pleasant.It is almost as creamy as the old Bengal Slices! I feel like this is going to be a Diamond Head day, all day! This is one blend you don't want or need to smoke fast. It is high in nicotine content and very satisfying.It burns to a bright gray ash. There is nothing about this weed that I don't like. Captain Earls blends are all fabulous. This one is my favorite followed closely by Ten Russians. There is no doubt it will cellar well.I can't imagine it improving, its that good!
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 16, 2015 Mild None Detected Full Tolerable
If you're looking for a good, cool-smoking English, you should try this. To me, this was a peculiar blend. When I opened the tin, the aroma of Latakia hits you right in the nose with a bit of dark sweetness like that of sorghum or molasses. It was very smokey though, and I thought at first that it reminded me of C&D Pirate Kake. The plug was very uniform in shape, and very dense. Others have described it as a crumble cake, but honestly I don't see where the "crumble" factor comes into play. I could peel layers off of it, but not really crumble it up. Therefore, I took my knife and sliced off a very thin slice and rubbed it out. It wasn't as moist as I thought it might be, which I found to be a good thing. It packed amazingly well with a three-step packing method after I rubbed it out good. I smoke this in smaller bowls since it burns very slowly (I like to smoke on my 25 mile drive to work, so smaller bowls work better for me a lot of the time). It takes a flame fine, and it produces a very hearty and flavorful smoke. You'll definitely taste dark Virginias and Latakia right off of the bat. I also found notes of oak, wood smoke, and leather in there as well. It wasn't very high in nicotine, but it satisfies. It wasn't as tasty as Pirate Kake or Gaslight, but it was perhaps the driest smoking tobacco I've ever had. It reminded me of drinking a very dry wine - not in flavor, but in mouth feel. I'll continue to smoke this throughout the cooler months as an early-morning wake up. If you like Latakia, you should try this fine blend.
Pipe Used: LHS Purex, Grabows
PurchasedFrom: pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh from tin
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 27, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
Upon opening a year and a half old tin of Captain Earle’s Diamond Head I was greeted with a very dense crumble cake in brown and black shades married together giving an overall melted appearance. The smell of charcoal and smokiness greeted me along with an indescribable sweetness that had a bit of a tang. The moisture level was about right, moist but on the drier side.

An unlit sip brought the smoky Latakia to my mouth as did the initial light which also brought an underscore of a creamy sweetness. I found the overall smoke to be well balanced and not overwhelming in the least. It was a good slow smoker that did really well in shallow wide bowls. Rarely a sour note would come into play, but it was all to brief as I tend to enjoy those quite a bit. If I puffed it too hard it left me with a burnt, bitter taste. It had a rather short finish and the room note didn’t seem to bother the cat, then again she never complains about anything.

I enjoyed the experience of smoking this blend, though I don’t think I need to get another tin, it just didn’t seem robust enough. Maybe if I had smoked it younger it wouldn’t have been so mellow, but I have other strong English blends to fill that need already. I think anyone who enjoys a good slow burning light to medium English would enjoy this blend.
Age When Smoked: 1.5 Years
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 22, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
I like Diamond Head. It arrives as nice single brownie in the tin and was very easy to krumble off what I needed per bowl. It is not heavy on latakia but is complex while remaining a smooth smoke. Not too heavy in the nicotine department and it definitely ages well. Worth keeping a couple of tins on hand.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 03, 2018 Very Mild Mild to Medium Mild Tolerable
I have been pushing a concept recently that we need more of a show of enthusiasm in our hobby/business, especially by we senior members, when talking to younger prospective pipe smokers. It was hard, however, to be enthusiastic about this blend. The tin presentation was attractive as a "brownie" of pressed tobacco in mottled browns and black that was reminiscent of G.L. Pease's Gaslight. The tin aroma, however, was much weaker with a strange sweetish component that I couldn't quite place. The smoking aroma and taste were of a weak and vague English mixture that could not quite be made to come to a definite conclusion. The bowls I smoked were weak and unexciting from rim to heel with a rare moment of taste in the bottom thirds that was, both, welcome and fleeting. When used in micro blending the same strange bottom third performance occurred consistently - pleasant but fleeting. I don't understand what niche this blend occupies in pipe smoking, but I still give it a somewhat recommended two star rating.
Pipe Used: Charatan Executive 1/4 bent Dublin
PurchasedFrom: Ebay seller
Age When Smoked: 2 yrs old
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 30, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
This is my first English I have had in a crumble cake. I'm not sure if Bow Legged Bear and Black Frigate count as one is highly Oriental forward and the other has rum. Either way, I have no problem admitting that I am struggling not finishing this off, but I purposely held back to sit down and write this review. When it comes to English mixtures I tend to like smooth, well melded, smokey and incense like mixtures. This is good.

When I opened my tin, I found a crumble cake that is very similar to C&D's crumble cakes. This one is easy to rub out, and I get a nice fine ribbon when it is rubbed out. There is a little Latakia dust. It smells smokey and campfire-ish. The Orientals smell slightly tangy, and the Virginias are nice, sweet, and slightly fruity. It is easy to light either straight out of the tin or after a little dry time, with crumble cakes I often leave them open in their tin for a week before jarring, because I've had several that have almost drowned my pipe in the past.

When I light up I get lots of white smoke from this. The first thing I notice is the Latakia, it is smooth, smokey, and woody but not overpowering. Next I start picking up Orientals, they give this blend a tang, they're sort of herbal, and definitely incense-like. The Virginias are fruity, sweet, and grassy. What I really like is that the flavor is really consistent from first light to the bottom of the bowl.

Like the smoke, the taste really fills your mouth, and it has a great mouth-feel. I give this one a medium-full on taste. The strength is a medium, Lady N has stopped in for a pizza and movie date, a regular good time. I'm giving it a medium. I love the slow burning nature of this coupled with its consistency. The room note I think will be whatever a typical English gets, I get mixed reviews on that. Some people love the smell and are amazed you are smoking tobacco, and others put you on the porch. I really do love this one, and I will be buying more. I know I rate using a four star system but this could earn a fifth. Solid Four Stars from me.
Pipe Used: Peterson Standard System XL315
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 20, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
A decent medium-bodied English

The Turkish tobaccos hold the main portion of the flavor profile—being sour, floral, and slightly spicy. The Cyprian Latakia comes in next with its cedar-smokiness. The red Virginias are earthy and tangy. Overall, Diamond is nice, but the sourness and tanginess can be a bit much all together.

*This review is based on a small sample and limited life experience.
2 people found this review helpful.
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