Uhle's Black Stoker

It seems to me that some of the best aromatics available on the American market are being produced in bulk form by tobacco shops with a rich history. Uhle's fills that bill. Black Stoker is a fairly dry aromatic in both feel and burning quality. The nice cocoa flavor doesn't crowd out this all dark tobacco. I didn't pick up much of the rum flavor as it must have been added very lightly. I didn't experience any tongue bite either. As with all of the Uhle's house tobaccos, the leaf is of high quality. The flavor builds as the bowl progresses and BS leaves no goop at the bottom of the pipe. As aromatics go, I wouldn't call this the sweetest aro I have ever smoked, nor the lightest. Black Stoker falls right in the middle. BS is another well done tobacco from Milwaukee's favorite pipe shop. Three and a half stars.

Wow! I just had the best smoke I’ve ever had!! Now, I’m no seasoned veteran. I’ve been smoking for nearly 2 years now, but have not been very regular. On average, I have probably smoked less than twice a month and have been trying to figure out this complicated pastime. So, up until now, I didn't feel I had much of a right to review a tobacco, but today was different. As I smoked my pipe (on SuperBowl Sunday, a stone's throw from the Meadowlands where the Broncos and Seahawks will be playing in a few hours, watching helicopters hover and planes with banners as signs that something is different about today) I really enjoyed it like I never have before.

I’ve used a few different pipes, and have read ceaselessly to figure out my mistakes. I’ve learned to smoke slower, I’ve just learned recently of the air-gap method (which has been the best so far), and I use several pipe cleaners along the way to keep the moisture from building up in the bottom of my pipe. I’ve tried a number of different tobaccos, including a few from the shop Briar and Burley in Bloomington, IN where I got my first pipe (Smokey Stover, Joe’s Blend, Black Satin, Liverpool - a latakia blend I haven’t been able to tolerate yet), and I’ve had several of Uhle’s including Blend 00, Irish Aromatic, Old Shoe, and recently I tried the Black Stoker I picked up.

Well….I have tried a couple of the others since I picked up Black Stoker, but going back to it each time is like a little slice of heaven. I just had the BEST smoke of my limited time with this hobby. It was awesome! I only used 5 matches, smoked for well over an hour, had cool beautiful plumes of smoke through the whole thing that were dry, cool, and downright delicious! This stuff is fantastic. I’m going to cycle through what I’ve got to see if the other stuff wasn’t as good because of my being a novice and I’ll try some new stuff, but it is this is Black Stoker is going to be the measuring stick for all the rest!!

I received a small sample of this recently and have smoked about five bowls. It is obviously high quality tobacco, and it smokes relatively dry and goop free and does not bite. The room note is very nice, and the flavor is good. I do detect a bit of a medicinal taste, presumably from the black cavendish, as I often pick that up right away with blends. I am giving it three stars precisely because I know there are aromatic blends that don't have this slightly artificial taste to them. It is a very nice blend and well worth trying if the description sounds interesting given the other blends you enjoy smoking.

Another good aromatic from Uhle's. Smokes cool and even though the tobacco seems wet, it smokes dry right down to the bottom to a fine ash. Most aromatics seem to sizzle when they get near the bottom from built up goop, but Uhle's blends apparently are flavored with a non-sugary casing. Aromatics will never be my mainstay, but Black Stoker delivers good flavor without the usual aromatic drawbacks. My preference among the Uhle aromatics is Old Shoe, which to me is just a little smoother, but Black Stoker is a good choice.