Uhle's Old Shoe Blend

My go-to smoke for 35+ years. Lucky to have the Uhles store so close by. My father smoked this in the 1960’s and I remember the aroma well. If Borkum Riff, is your thing, you’ll love this! A VERY good grade of burley with a whiskey-ish note and flavor. Kind of a “ high class “ aromatic. Even staunch English fans will enjoy this I believe..... From a very long time local blender in Milwaukee WI

WOW!!! I thought I would never be able to find another blend that I would like as much as my beloved Boswell Berry Cobbler or Christmas Cookie but I have found it. This stuff has a taste that is a little hard to describe. Once lit it is good but halfway through the bowl is is exceptional. It kinda has a what I would describe as a slight spicy taste, a little earthy. Very smooth on the draw and I love the way it seems to just nibble at the tounge, it does not bite but it seems to have a little tingle on the tounge. When I first seen the name Old Shoe I thought who would want to smoke anything that tastes or smells like an old shoe, but after smoking the first bowl I realize that it is as comfortable as an old shoe.

Absolutely love this stuff!!!

Uhle's blends just about speak for themselves. Excellent quality tobacco is used in all the Uhles stuff. Seems moist in the bag but actually smokes on the dry side. Once you get it going (light-tamp-light) the flavor, which does seem to be a little "rooty" as in root beer, (and just a tad sweet) is, if anything, understated. Nice mix of good casing and underlying tobacco flavor. Burns down to a dry ash with no bitters or goop. Room note is superb.

My go-to Blend. I stumbled across this and haven't looked back. I supplement my hobby with different blends, sampling English, Aromatics, and the basics, but this stuff is habit forming.

I can't quite describe the flavor explicitly, usually because I am too busy enjoying the party in my mouth. It's creamy, it's sweet, it reminds me of coca-cola cake. However, there is enough tobacco flavor to remind you that you are smoking, not sucking on a jolly rancher.

My biggest gripe with aromatics is that after the initial light, you lose the flavor and the smoke starts to taste like that flavored smoke. With this blend you have the tobacco flavors all the way through the bowl, just a tasty, creamy, rich flavor.

If you've not tried the Old Shoe, call or stop by Uhle's and try it out, I bet you'll like it. If you don't, send it to me.

I am not much of an aromatic fan, sticking mostly to straight VAs or latakia blends, but I have often tried to find an aromatic I could enjoy when I am in a social setting. I have only recently tried Old Shoe and, as aromatics go, it is pretty good. While it is sweet and the tobacco is quite wet out of the bag, it smokes dry and burns to a nice ash. The tobacco is very limp, but not sticky and does not appear to leave that awful goopy residue in the pipe. Like the description given above, it does come through slightly of the rum and root beer, but not in a bad way. The combination of flavorings reminds me of hot buttered rum or of butterscotch candy, but the flavorings do not overwhelm the tobacco. Many aromatic casings tend to bother my sinuses, but I did not have that problem with Old Shoe.

Despite my usual preferences, I find that I enjoy Old Shoe.

Update 11/11/06: I am upping this to 4 stars because I find myself going to this and enjoying it more and more. Of the three Uhle aromatics I have tried (Black Stoker & Marquette are the others), this has become my favorite. It consistently burns cool and dry, stays lit very well and burns down to the very bottom without a hint of goop. Shows you what a proper aromatic can be that is cased without some cheap sugary mess.

Update 09/02/2007: I still find that I come back to this often. It is one of the few aromatics that I enjoy smoking for the flavor. I find that nuking the tobacco in the microwave to the point of almost burning it not only dries out any residual goopiness, but I like the slightly roasted flavor it produces. Try putting at least 4 oz in a covered microwave dish and use a low setting.