Hermit Tobacco Works Co. Captain Earle's - Private Stock

This has become my favorite English. I have a more sensitive palatte than I used to and I'm not looking for anything harsh whatsoever.

The definition of medium full and rich with absolutely no trace of harshness and it's replaced my Dunhill (Peterson) Englishes. Then, my palatte has grown more sensitive (I now smoke Royal Yacht out of 9mm filter pipe, which is a perfect smoke imo).

What this lacks in complexity it makes up in smoothness. I find it ever so slightly skewed toward the orientals but mostly balanced. The deep red VA does mute the spice tobaccos especially in cake form, but I like this kind of English presentation and I do not find it dull, but I'm not looking for English thrills and chills anymore.

I would describe it like Dunhill's Standard Mixture without any bite or harshness.

A real cut above C&Ds "standard" English tobaccos in approachability, yet having much more body than the "Frog Morton" type Englishes which are popular from other blenders.

A real unheraled, older "brand" and should not be overlooked.

Got a little bit of chocolate at the beggining of the bowl, then turns to slightly burnt buttered toast, great blend with good enjoyable flavours. After dinner would be the best time for this blend.

Smoke, leather, salt, tangy, and lightly sweet are all appropriate adjectives for this sleeper crumble cake English blend. Never bites and burns down to a nice gray-white ash. Just an exquisite English blend in a crowded field of many. I confess that I like it as much, if not more, than the highly acclaimed Esoterica Penzance ... and it’s much easier to find and not so hard on the wallet. For the money ... this is a go to English blend for me. 4 stars and my hat is off to the late Mr. Jay Jones of Hermit Tobacco Works for his creation ... and to Mrs. Louise Jones & Cornell & Diehl for carrying the blend forward for future generations to enjoy. God bless!

Now THIS is a great English! Smoky, slightly sweet, and robust (but not overpowering). All the parts work together to make for a wonderful smoke. The krumble cake makes it easy to pack, and once lit it stays lit and burns down to a soft white ash. Love this!

Flavorful English blend. Lots of richness, many things going on with this blend. Really like the Latakia in the background. This one of my favorites to top off an evening with a glass of malt whisky.

A very nice representation of a medium English blend. Well blened with a nice touch of Latakia and Perique and not over powering. Burns well and the crumble cake is easy to use.

Tin note of sour plums, tart wine, and smoky sweet. Tobacco is a marbled reddish brown and dark brown Krumble Kake. Moisture content is great. Kake breaks off and rubs out with a little effour. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and consistent, with notes of floral, tangy citrus, smoky, tart stewed fruit, musty sour vegetation, woody, leather, rasin, earth, fermented vinegary, spices, orange peel/zest, bread, mildly bitter, a savory sweet background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia barely beating Oriental/Turkish for the lead, Virginia and Perique are supporting, while Cavendish is cheering from the sidelines. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Harmonious English blend. Smoky, spicy and sweet all at the same time. Strong but not overly strong. Could definitely be an all day blend. Krumble kake presentation was easily rubbed out.

Moist out of the tin but not so much so that it needed drying time. Charring light and then 1 single light was good for the entire bowl. Burned beautifully to a grey ash. The weight of the tamper was enough to keep it lit through the entire bowl.

Every tobacco was present yet nothing really dominated the blend. The retro hales were delightful as it woke up my taste buds with nuances. Definitely has some nic-kick therefore the reason I used a smaller group 3 billiard.

Hello gentleman, this is my first review on any tobacco blend. I only recently picked up this wonder hobby back on March 30th 2024 so I've very new to this world. I preface this review by saying that most of my experience is with aromatics, and I thought I wouldn't enjoy anything else, I was very wrong.

Now for the review! This blend is a hard 2nd to GL Pease Quiet Nights in my books. It's not as intense as I was expecting. That wonderful latakia oak wood campfire smell and body with subtle sweetness in the first 10 minutes of the bowl brings memories of camping, and grilling with natural oak charcoal for my family, the nostalgia is a massive quality I have come to greatly appreciate.

As for the other components, I'm more aware of the virginia's in the beginning as a supporter in this blend. As time went on the orientals and perique started to make their way on stage without being too spicy and harsh. I'm sensitive to perique and some orientals so I'm always happy to add another blend that has these wonderful components.

Towards the end of the bowl I had to mind my desire to taste everything and awe at this blend, since I got a bit too enthusiastic the back of my throat got a bit spiced out haha. It was worth the experience so I have no regrets for my first bowl!

The one thing I did that in hindsight was a major benefit was using my pipe that has only been used with latakia forward blends, allowing my to get the true experience without muddying the waters so to speak. I'll continue to add more pipes to dedicate to certain blend profiles, I only have 5 currently but I'll add more in the future!

My final thoughts, I thoroughly enjoyed this mild-medium blend, the flavor, scent, the experience was a very pleasant and relaxing one that made me want to keep the bowl lasting even longer. I'm too new to recommend blends as of yet, but I hope that if you haven't tried this, consider grabbing a tin!

With sincerity, Gordon