Uhle's Blend 71

If one has never seen a Uhle's tobacco brochure, then one is missing a marvelous piece of American pipe-smoking history and an eloquent testament to truth in advertising. The late and much- loved Jack Uhle was an honest man, as honest as the tobacco blends that bear his name.

In the description of Blend 71, Jack told the story of how he had been afraid to use Latakia, and that a tobacco salesman helped him cross that Rubicon that led to Blend 71, the store's second- oldest. From there, Uhle sallied forth to create some "American- English" classics.

Blend 71 is just plain good, harkening back to a day when Latakia often appeaared in American tobacco blends. The names are the stuff of memory--Brush Creek, Crosby Square, Bond Street, Holiday. Aside from store blends from Pipeworks & Wilke, et al, the only one left is Middleton's Walnut. House of Windsor's Revelation, Barking Dog, and Country Doctor are not copies of the authentic tobaccos, though they aren't bad.

Uhle's Blend 71 stands above all of them. There is nothing here but tobacco, OUTSTANDING tobacco, as with all Uhle natural blends. Burley orchestrates the symphony...cool, nutty, just earthy enough. The Virginia component adds sweetness, but no heat. The black Cavendish taste is masked by the Latakia, but adds a plus to the room note for those not fond of the Cyprian weed. There isn't a bite to be found in any bowlful, and virtually any smoker will find something to like here.

An ideal warm weather smoke for those who MUST have Latakia, a nice change for the Burley fancier, a satisfying, tasty, all-day smoke. It will leave you mellow...and your pipe dry.

4/23/13 This venerable blend has evolved, and now has even more to recommend it. For some reason, there is a wonderful presence of genuine Syrian Latakia that I have not found in other Uhle's blends. I cannot define the difference for those who have never savored the Syrian weed...but, if you give Blend 71 a try, you will define it for yourself!

Uhle's can do Burleys arguably better than any blender, so it stands to reason that they can also do a fantastic job on an American English such as Blend 71. Indeed, they did IMO.

|I truly enjoyed this one and wish I had more of it in my cellar. I will put it on the wishlist to get one day, but it won't be easy as I live in one of the states to which Uhle's does not ship.

On to this tobacco, it is a burley blend foremost as burley is the star. This, to me, is how an American English should be. The Latakia, Perique and oriental components are condimetally used and do impart both smoke and spice to the blend. This is what many of the old school OTC American English blends wish they could be.

There is no sense of PG or any chemical type taste to this, it is all of tobacco and, odd to the genre, there is some shifting of the flavors and some complexity. I am automatically reminded of the C&D blends of this ilk when I am smoking this, but I prefer this to those blends in that it has more nutty sweetness, whereas the C&D equivalents feature a more earthy (and bitter) burley that tend to take away from the condiments.

In my experience, this is the best tasting American English blend that I have tried and earns four stars for that distinction alone.

Things change. Tobacco processors come and go. Tobaccos, themselves, come and go. But very rarely is the blender of a smoking mixture today the same guy who blended it two decades ago. Happily, Chris Rentner of Uhle's is the exception.

A very recent purchase of Uhle's Blend 71 perplexed me. It was certainly different from the blend as I remembered it from 1982 until 2012. Excellent, but different. The cut now is more of the cut-plug type, whereas it used to be a broad ribbon. The moisture level is much higher than it used to be. The Perique is now very much in evidence, where it used to be detectable only half-way down the bowl. And that wonderful Syrian Latakia is now replaced with Cyprian. The pouch aroma is now very much Perique-forward.

The smoke, however, was as good as it has always been...but...different. So I called Chris Rentner at Uhle's to see what gives. According to Chris, just about EVERYTHING. Both the Syrian Latakia and the Burley used as the base are no-longer obtainable. So Blend 71 has been re-formulated. And part of that is the mightier role the Perique now plays. Chris said that big-time changes came down when he ran out of Syrian Latakia.

But the story has a happy ending. Instead of being a compromise, the current iteration of Blend 71 is a triumph. It is, if you will, a re-imagining of an old idea. It is not really better or worse, but new and interesting. This is still about the best "American English" on the market. Its only equal is LJ Peretti's Blend 7485. They are totally different variations on the same theme, but are equally marvelous.

"Savory." That is how I would describe today's Blend 71. It is quite expensive, but if you are a fan of the "American English" genre, it is worth every penny.

A well balanced smoke .. Enjoyable, no bite, and smoked fairly cool. The room note was Incense like.

This is really great if you like the Walnut type of thing. It definitely has more latakia than Walnut, but the tobacco is all of higher quality and the flavoring is less pronounced here, making a really great smoke. Uhle's is a revelation.

Lately I've been looking for a burley based smoke that would be a combination of old fashioned cube cut burley and a touch of VA and latakia. Kinda like what used to be more commonly available. I happened upon Blend 71 and I am done searching. This is it!! High quality burley, a smidge of latakia, I can barely taste VA and I know it says burned cav but it's nothing apparent. As others have said, don't mistake mild for anemic. This is a cool, slow and relaxing smoke for those who like excellent burley with a little latakia to keep it company but not take over the whole conversation. For a full english their Bishops Blend is, IMHO, one of the best of the genre. For everyday, knocking around quality smoking, blend 71 has my vote.

I am lucky enough to have once lived in Milwaukee where you could find Uhle's tobaccos in cardboard display stands near the grocery store checkout line. Now I find that a small local bookstore in my little town here in Minnesota has Uhles available as a sideline. I recommend, as others have, that your at least visit the website to check these great tobaccos out!

The late John Bognar (whose artwork graced the pages of the Ephemeris) spoke highly of Uhle's blends, and the service he received from the shop. It was inevitable that a burley fancier, such as myself, should give Uhle's a try.

I am still experimenting with their blends; so far two things are true. They are quite honest in describing their tobacco as mild. And, Blend 71 is my favourite, so far.

Please don't mistake mild for weak or defecient, though. Blend 71 is, perhaps, not suited for the one or two bowl a day man who's looking for a mighty whallop of flavour. Rather, the burley is soft, friendly, and flavourful; just slightly nutty, hardly earthy at all. Even though 71 is described as non-aromatic, I would declare that there is a slight topping. But Uhle's applies this with the lightest of touches: the tobacco is not at all "goopy"! Along with the burley there is a touch of Virginia, and Cavendish, each providing their sweetness. And the latakia. A perfect amount of the smokey leaf for me; just a suggestion, I know it's there, but it's not at all overpowering.

Wonderful.

A few days ago, just to see how it would perform, I loaded up my pouch with 71 and smoked it exclusively. At home, at work. Indoors and out. the first pipe of the day, and the one that closed the night. I was never less than content with the easy, non-biting smoke, and those about me were quite complimentary about the aroma.

I'm quite impressed!

Feb., 2016: A fair bit of water has passed under the bridge since I wrote the above, and I've turned my fair share of tobacco into smoke and ash. My feelings about this blend haven't changed a bit; quite rare for me! I find it, still, to be a friendly, well-rounded, easy smoking mixture. I'm still impressed.

Uhle's was forced to reformulate Blend 71 due to the unavailability of one of the blending components. Uhle's brochures formerly described Blend 71 as "Our second oldest blend ... rough cut for slow burning ... AA Highland Burley, sweet golden Virginia, Syrian Latakia and burned Cavendish." Now, Blend 71 is described as "A classic medium blend, boasting the flavors of a medium-well done steak, this blend is the Uhle's patriarch of English blends. A solid blend to sink your pipe into. Ingredients: Latakia, Perique, Turkish and Burley."

The original incarnation of Blend 71 is a complex and dependable American-English and a perfect all-day, all-season tobacco. If you think you don't like burley, try Uhle's burley. They must have some special curing process because their burley never devolves into any harsh, ashy, and bitter edge--it remains smooth and nutty throughout the course of a bowl. The Virginia adds sweetness, the Turkish hint of floral spice and sourness. The Latakia hovers in the background, imparting a tangy smokiness around the edges like a light glaze of barbecue sauce. The "burned Cavendish," which I assume is Black Cavendish, adds a little sugar and makes the room note more palatable to passers by. The side-stream aroma is sublime--old-timey Burley but with the complexity of an English.

The new version tries to live up to the original but lacks the synergy and magic of its predecessor. It is in the spirit of the original--but now, the Burley dominates, and its nuttiness is diminished. whereas before it was round and deep, now it is sharp and thin. I can't taste the Turkish. The fleeting sweetness provided by the Black Cavendish is also missed. The English character has gone missing,

Three stars for the current version, four stars for the original, I'm leaving my rating at four stars as a tribute to Jack Uhle's genius.

Excellent. I just keep coming back to this one. I'd say this is very close to JB Hayes' K2. Also similar to Middleton Walnut, but sweeter, and less nuttier and less smoky. Very mild English. Burns very well, dry fine ash. I'm going to try mixing it with Walnut. Similar blend I have reviewed is Iwan Ries Private Blend. Also suspect both are close to Spillmans.