Uhle's Golden Shag Blend

The rather floral and sour, acidic, dry, woody, earthy, spicy, slightly buttery sweet Turkish is one of the important ingredients. I tend to notice the raisins, figs and plums from the perique more than I do the spice, but that’s likely due to the additional spice of the Turkish. The nutty, earthy, woody, slightly molasses sweet burley is in a secondary support role. The smoky, woody, earthy sweet Cyprian latakia is an ever present condiment, and at times, is a little more forceful than that. The grassy, citrusy, lightly bready Virginia is mostly a background player. The strength and taste levels just miss the medium mark. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite, but may get a little tongue tingly to a fast puffer. Has a rough edge here and there. Burns clean and slightly slow with an inconsistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and needs a few relights. Has a sour, acidic, smoky after taste. Can be an all day. Not sure why it’s named Golden Shag, as this isn’t that golden nor is it a shag cut.

-JimInks

This one reminds me of Blend #71, but with the addition of Turkish Monopoly and a bit more latakia. It is somewhat richer in taste due to the Turkish, and with more latakia strength it approaches the taste of a mild to medium English/Balkan blend. This is coarser in cut than the Blend #71 and is also a dry tobacco, which is normal for these blends, so little moisture is generated. I really enjoy this tobacco when I want the taste of Turkish and latakia but in somewhat lesser quantities than a full English or Balkan blend. I should point out that it is stated in Uhle's description of this tobacco that it is Blend X with latakia added. This is not entirely correct. You will note that Blend X also lists latakia as an ingredient, and Blend X is listed as an aromatic tobacco. According to Jim at Uhle's, Blend X was originally a non-aromatic blend of burley, virginia, Turkish, and flue-cured cavendish. It was changed to include a condiment amount of latakia along with an aromatic flavoring. Golden Shag, therefore, is the OLD version of X with the addition of fire-cured cavendish and latakia and contains no aromatic agents.

Based on about ¾ oz that was gifted to me. Naming this “Golden Shag” is about as accurate a description as naming McClellands Dark Star something like “Pink Ribbon”. This has a smidge of gold but is mostly various browns and blacks in a ribbon cut. Aroma is of latakia and rich,juicy orientals.

For me, comparisons to Bishop’s Move are dubious, since I have history with that one. Granted it’s the same recipe with different amounts of each condiment but it lacks Bishop’s mega-rich flavor and cohesiveness. Here the woody, sour, buttery, slightly floral, dry, exotic orientals take the lead to a moderate degree over the smoky, woody, leathery, spicy, creamy latakia but both are to the forefront. Next up is the earthy, nutty, toasty, molasses-sweet, woody burley which has a buttery and honey sweetness to it, but just a drop or two. That very slight casing adds quite a difference to the experience. The perique is nearly an equal partner to the burley and sports a spicy, peppery, slightly salty, plummy, figgy, raisiny, dark fruit sweet dash of flavors. Providing the base of the blend is the tangy, citrusy, grassy, creamy, stewed-fruity and somewhat doughy and bready Virginias. This blend was on the mellow but flavorful side of the spectrum and can be an all-day smoke. Indeed, I began my smoking day today with the final bowlful. Barely needs any relights and provides a lightly smoky, woody, barely sweet aftertaste.

Billed as the lighter Bishop's Move, this English had a sweeter mustier smell in the jar, but it certainly retained that sharp latakia overtone. It lit up with an acrid bite and some light spice. It was tangier than I remember Bishop's Move being, and not in a good way.

Some relights later, midway through the bowl, the bite subsided and the more familiar English became the star player again. The nicotine was always present.

I'm glad I tried it, but would likely never buy it over Bishop's Move.

When I purchased some Uhle's tobacco a few years back, I ordered the Golden Shag thinking I was going to get either one of their exceptional burleys or a shag cut Virginia, which is not often seen. Instead, I got a so-so Virginia/Burley combination with Perique. Not a bad smoke and crazy to look at in the tin. I guess Uhle's went to a meat market and stole somebody's beef shredder. Anyway, not bad stuff but not really my cup of tea.

Pipestud

I enjoy this as much as I enjoy Uhles Bishop's Move. Slightly different and just as delicious. Always consistent and well worth your while if you enjoy blends with a fair amount of Latakia. A very smooth, tasty, satifying smoke. One of my favorites.

Here's one I've been smoking rather a bit of lately, and very much enjoying it too!

It is not an uncommon type of blend: a bit of everything...the above description says it all. Much like Revelation, Kentucky Club Mixture, and others which I haven't sampled yet. It is a difficult review to write because there is no one thing to point to, to give as an example of it's wonderful nature. It's base is a soft, mild tasty Burley; it holds down the fort, so to speak. Everything else is just there: slightly sweet virginias, the merest whiff of Latakia, and a pleasant, complementary flavour. Someplace in the Uhle's literature I believe it's mentioned that perique is added too. As usual, if it's not added in "Escudo" proportions, I can't positively identify it. Oh well.

Bottom line. An old style American blend. Very good tasting. Compelling aroma to the smoker and bystander. It's not a powerhouse, but rather it's a wonderful, natural, easy-to-smoke,all day mixture. So far, that pretty much sums up my experience with all of the Uhle's blends.

I liked this one quite a bit. Based on the components and the manufacturer, I fully expected a revelation type of blend with burley being a stronger component, which I am sure would be fine, but instead I was treated to a blend led by the Virginias to my tastes.

All the other components did show up and the burley was more than apparent providing much nuttiness. The Latakia was very light to my tastes as was the oriental component. The perique was not very strong in feel but did contribute a bit of spice and dried fruit to the mix.

This one is good and may be another on the heap of my next Uhle's purchase. recommended for something different to the Balkan or Virginia smoker.

Uhle's Golden Shag is described in an old Uhle's menu as "Blend 'X' with Fire Cured Cavendish and Syrian Latakia added." Blend "X" was comprised of "Golden, Yellow Virginia, light brown large leaf Burley, Monopoly Turkish, [and] a touch of Flue Cured Cavendish and Syrian Latakia." Oddly, Golden Shag had less gold-coloring than Blend "X." But what's in a name?

The current incarnation of Golden Shag describes it as "Close to Bishop’s Move, but with a bit less Latakia"; but strangely also adds "Perique and Turkish tobaccos," neither of which are listed in the ingredients for Bishop's Move. For my part, I don't see much direct overlap between the blends, save that the two are the fullest blends in terms of quantity of Latakia offered in the Uhle's lineup.

In Golden Shag, the smoky Latakia is up front, with a burnt caramel sweetness from what I suspect is Fire-Cured Cavendish (i.e. the "subtle sweetness" mentioned above) occupying second place. The Turkish periodically asserts itself and recedes throughout the smoke. There's just hint of the Perique's pepper. I don't really detect the Burley save for a background nuttiness, but it does add a bit of extra weight to the smoke.

Golden Shag is technically an American English--but more an American of the Colonial period, who still evidences a decidedly British manner of speaking.

A nice smoke. Starts with a good taste of Turkish shortly followed by the Virginias with the Lat in the background. The Lat catches up about the halfway point and the background starts giving hints of the Burley and Perique. A pleasant smoke with a nice evolution.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. No added flavoring. Excellent burn.