Aromatic vs Room Note

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cabinfever

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 6, 2016
117
3
I have read several pipe tobacco reviews and am confused over the terms "aromatic" and "room note." Are these two terms describing the same tobacco characteristic or are they different?
Is "aromatic" describing the aroma of the fresh tobacco in the pouch or can or is it being used to describe the aroma of the pipe smoke (which I assume is "room note"....right?)
Or, is aromatic being used to describe a blend of pipe tobacco similar to Oriental, English, American, etc? If so, do all aromatic blends have a pleasant room note?
Sorry, but my head is spinning.....

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
"Aromatic" is describing the blend type itself. And no, not all aromatics have a pleasant room note. Room note is simply the way the burning tobacco smells to people who are (generally) not smoking at the time. The way the tobacco tastes is usually waaaay different than the way it smells.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Aromatic tobacco blends have flavorings added other than tobacco -- like rum, vanilla, carmel, etc. Scores of different ones are available, and sometimes they are specified in the blend descriptions, sometimes they are generalized like floral or citrus, and often they are not disclosed. Room note means the fragrance or odor given off in the room by the tobacco. Often aromatics give off a better room note from a bystander's point of view, but a good aromatic blend doesn't categorically give off a good room note, so they are two different things. This is an important distinction, so that's a good question.

 

tmb152

Can't Leave
Apr 26, 2016
392
5
Would it be incorrect to say that what distinguishes an aromatic is in the blender's mind the intention that part (or all) of the desired goal of the blend is the emphasis on a pleasant, agreeable aroma given off to others?
With that often comes some sort of non-tobacco flavoring for the smoker to taste/enjoy.
Whereas all tobaccos, aromatic or not, have a room note of some kind.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
I would be inclined to agree with that statement; what may be "pleasant" to the blender's nose, however...
EDIT: It just occurred to me how much old pipe tobacco advertising focused on how pleasant the smell was to everyone around the smoker. Hmmmm...

 

darwin

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 9, 2014
820
5
"It just occurred to me how much old pipe tobacco advertising focused on how pleasant the smell was to everyone around the smoker."
I'm fairly sure that before the mid-sixties, in a cigarette and cigar smoke soaked world, making a pipe tobacco with a pleasant smell to non-smokers was a a lot lower bar to jump over than in the virulently anti-smoking culture of today.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
Possibly very true, Darwin. I'm a smoker, and even I don't enjoy the acrid stench of cigarettes and cigars. Then again, look at the stench people got used to in major cities of the mid-1800's!

 

darwin

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 9, 2014
820
5
"...look at the stench people got used to in major cities of the mid-1800's!"
No kidding. At the turn of the last century the electric trolley and the automobile were seen by many as the savior of the big cities which were increasingly buried under vast amounts of horse dung.

 
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