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

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2013-02-18		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Stimulus Package from Hermit's Captain Earl's series greets the nose with the usual Latakia forward scent that is similar to the many of the other blends that I have tried in the series. The cake breaks apart with ease and reveals a nice smattering of light and dark chopped ribbons supporting the Latakia. The smoke from SP burns cool and while I wouldn't call it complex, I find it more interesting than the others that I have tried. The supporting tobaccos, for me, extend themselves a bit more, broadening the wonderful flavors. I would call SP a full tasting blend, but not strong in the nicotine department. Having smoked Ten Russians, Private Stock, and Mystic, Stimulus Package is my favorite thus far. If you are a fan of full flavored Latakia blends, this should be on the short list.

26 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2014-01-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

How can there only be 7 reviews on this masterpiece? Maybe we should keep this to ourselves, eh? I'll just keep this short then. This crumble cake is about as well balanced as you can get it. It just doesn't get any better than this. If you are a true lover of English blends you will, without a doubt, enjoy this one.

Pipe Used: MM General

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2015-03-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Stimulus Package is a whale of a good smoke for those times when only a stout Latakia without the harshness will do. I find that a lot of Latakia laden blends being released the last few years are from blenders who are just tossing in any grade of the stuff they can find. Hermit, known for finding the good stuff, did so again here and wove in some mighty fine stoved Virginia to boot!

Pipestud

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tabaco (112)	2014-12-27		Medium	None Detected	Extra Full	Tolerable

This is a real gem, if you're a fan of a full English and very Latakia forward, then this is for you. I would caution new combusters it may ruin your pipe experience, kind of like an Islay Scotch can for some people. A rich dense plug, requiring a serrated knife. I did not rub it out fully since I prefer them a bit chunky, a longer cooler smouldering burn.

The moisture content was just right and ignited easily. It's not overly complex but does what it does very well, rich and mellow Latakia yet full with some creaminess and a nice whisper of Orientals on the top note. Tastes great all the way down and I especially enjoy the last third the subtle complexity gets deeper. I prefer this considerably over Ten Russians or Pease's Gaslight.

It's been quite sometime since the Murray era of Dunhill, the same goes for the last time I packed any; however, this stuff vaguely harkens back to those days mostly on the rich Latakia side of things. I actually prefer this one a bit more; deeper with complexity. There's a moderate nicotine hit yet very well behaved, not a brute, mind you earlier on during the day on an utterly empty stomach a different tale may be told.

Certainly worthwhile to have some tins in the cellar albeit not something I'd smoke day in/day out, and the plug is great for the outdoorsy folks who prefer something compact and not too fragile. It also tastes great outside although losing some of it's subtleties. A fine blend for sitting in a treestand on a snowy day or puffing away in your ice-fishing pop-up, yet refined enough for a quiet evening shared in good company after cigars and some nice malts.

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-12-04		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Now this is a tobacco that I can get behind. Jay and Louise are wonderful people and I try not to let that get in the way of my objective reviews of their tobacco... The blend is packed into cakes and upon opening the tin you are confronted by bricks of Latakia latent tobaccos (yummy). The blend was entirely too wet when initially opened but after a day or so of drying out it became very easy to smoke. The blend reminds me very much of Pirate Kake, but with a twist. It seems the mild Virginia and Oriental tobaccos of Pirate Kake were replaced with fragrant rich and delightful tobaccos. This blend has officially replaced Pirate Kake in my typical rotation.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2076)	2018-07-12		Medium	None Detected	Very Full	Pleasant

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

I've smoked a fair few of the Captain Earle's blends and Ten Russians was the only one that I found a bit overpowering: too much Latakia. This, like Nightwatch, is a fabulous smoke.

The kake isn't too tightly compressed so it crumbles with ease, there's even a bowl's worth already broken at the bottom of the tin. It contains about an even quantity of black to brown leaf. The smell isn't a surprise: a heavier English aroma.

I fail to see how any incorrigible smoker couldn't adore this. The flavour's immense: lots of Latakia, with any possible roughness smoothed by the buttery, creamy, Orientals. Although, if the Orientals weren't present I still couldn't see any severity developing from the Lat'. The Virginia's pretty much redundant, the other two aren't up for sharing the playing field; they're far too formidable. The burn from it's even and steady, and the cool smoke doesn't bite.

Nicotine: medium, only higher at a push. Room-note: quite heavy, but I like it!

Stimulus Package? An unequivocal four star blend:

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Peterson Hansom P'Lip

Age When Smoked: Stamped 02/09/18

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2014-09-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Based on about 4 oz sample from a friend. Brick of mostly dark tobacco, easily broken apart for rubbing and loading. A vigorous rub is desired in order to ensure the plug will burn properly.

I'm generally not a fan of "lat bombs", as I find them too monodimensional and lacking in balance. This one escapes that issue, once I hit about the 1/3 bowl mark. It starts out kind of ashy tasting but once it hits the zone, the mellow Virginia and the orientals come out and play. They help to balance the smoke and provide some sweetness along with a little brightness to offset the latakia's darker character. I'm not sure the latakia percentage but I'd guess it's at plus 50%. It always rules the roost, as this is latakia-forward, backward and sideways. But it does become more subdued and balanced as the bowl progresses. Seemed fairly light on the nicotine, but definitely leaning towards full flavored. Certainly not a complex blend but not exactly a one-trick pony, either. Probably one of the finest "lat bomb" tobaccos I've tried, but again, I'm not really a fan of them. If you're looking for just latakia, look elsewhere. But if you want a light touch of basics with your condiments, give this a try.

Pipe Used: meerschaum and morta

Age When Smoked: new

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2014-05-14		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Wow, what a find ! The plug is easy to work with; if you first pull it in half thickness wise, then slice it in 3/8 inch wide cuts and rub it out. As you do this, you will have no problem determining that this blend has Latakia in it, you should be able to smell it from 6 feet away, nice.

I tried this back to back with JLP's Odyssey and they are similar but SP I like better ,which is pretty high praise. There is a full flavor blast that stays the whole bowl, powerful but smooth and no bite. What I especially like about this blend is an absence of "Burley Bitters" that I find in many similar blends. This might also have a small touch of Kentucky but it just makes this creamy. I like this blend the most of all the Capt. Earl blends.

One word of caution, after rubbing , take some additional time to further rub out the "Little nuggets" that remain. Otherwise you will have problems with the burn and will require many relights.

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: 1 month open

Similar Blends: Odyssey, Pirate Kake, Quite Nights.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tripjoker (65)	2011-09-09		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

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!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2020-01-11		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

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.

Pipe Used: Ashton ELX 1/4 bent yatch

Age When Smoked: eight years old

Purchased From: a fellow exhibitor at our 2019 NASPC show

Similar Blends: I thought Stimulus Package smoked somewhat like the old Smokers Haven's Krumble Kake. Not the oldest version tinned by Sobranie Ltd, but the second generation blend tinned by Germain. I had trouble deciding on two v. three stars in evaluating SP and had, way back then, the very same issue with Krumble Kake..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Brooklynsmoker (10)	2014-12-19		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Strong

I never really understood the term "Lat bomb". I thought you either liked the smokey leaf or didn't.To my Buds I have the "Capt." to thank for showing me the way.The presentation is wonderful,a full crumble cake with a lovely tin note of smoke and maybe dark Virginia.The taste....Latakia,latakia and more latakia.Nothing really wrong with this but a little to monochromatic for me.

Pipe Used: some cobs and some briars.

Purchased From: pipes & cigars.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	puro66 (73)	2014-06-22		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

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.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (212)	2019-08-29		Medium	None Detected	Full	Unnoticeable

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 .

Age When Smoked: 1 yr

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (395)	2019-05-28		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

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.

Pipe Used: Briar

Age When Smoked: 12/18/18 tin date

Similar Blends: Pirate Kake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-08-11		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

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.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-10-22		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

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.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Indianapolis (49)	2020-04-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

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...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cam91 (23)	2019-12-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe&leaf (9)	2019-03-20		Mild	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

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.

Pipe Used: Benton special billiard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking pipes.com

Similar Blends: Star of the east by c & d but with more Latakia..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Reagold (29)	2017-09-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

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.

Age When Smoked: more than two years

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl - Pirate Kake (Sea Scoundrels) and many others full of latakia mixtures..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gahdzila (61)	2017-03-20		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	porshcigar (44)	2011-02-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Another great blend from the Hermit Tobacco Works. Plenty of Latakia for those of us who love it. Not overwhelming. It lights well, smokes cool and evenly, and ends well. It delivers a very satisfying smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jankoez (69)	2011-02-05		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another one excellent blend from fine serie of Captain Earle's. Burns well, gives pleasant sensation and it matches at evety time of day.

My rate: 5.0

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (448)	2023-02-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin note of pungent sour fruit, smoky and spices. Tobacco is a black, dark brown and tan marbled Krumble Kake. Moisture content is good. Kake breaks apart and rubs out with a little effort. 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 smoky, wood, floral, leather, spices, lemon grass, toasted bread, herbal incense, earth, musty vegetation, tangy citrus, orange peel/zest, spicy/acidic, a savory stewed sweet fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia is leading with Oriental/Turkish and Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: 1991 Ashton Old Chruch XX Prince

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Purchased From: TobaccoPipes.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-01-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I'm never going to say no to a stimulus especially the way things are going in the states, but this tin promises to be a better stimulus than any government can give me. As I've smoked the lineup of captain Earle's I've realized Latakia can be a very versatile leaf. Whether in the light English Diamond Head or the rich dark Nightwatch. I have to say from the outset that smoking Stimulus Package has been a joy.

As always, when. You open your tin you get a nice crumble cake. This one is way darker than the previous blend I reviewed: Reflections. The smell is of rich, smokey, leathery Latakia, tangy oriental, and bready Virginias. Smells almost good enough to eat. The cake is again very easy to break up, and easy to stuff. It's a smokable dryness and keeps lit well like pretty much all the others.

The Latakia is up front and on point. If this isn't whats considered a Latakia Bomb I dont know what is. The Lat is rich, creamy, leathery and salty. The amount of white smoke and creaminess astound me. The Orientals are floral, incense-like, and slightly tangy but they are not in the foreground. The Virginia is playing more of a smoothing kind of role. I can taste some breadiness and maybe some dark fruits, but it's hard to tell. As an aside I don't think the room note will impress any of of your non-smoking friends.

The taste here is wonderful. I think it's a medium-full. The smoke fills your mouth and you get beautiful puffs of white smoke as you puff along. The strength is a solid medium and I think it is all the better for that. This is a blend which has really impressed me. I don't have a lot of Lat heavy blends I like to smoke but I could see myself buying this one again. I give this four stars.

Pipe Used: Peterson Standard System XL315

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.