Well - Aromatic or Not?

Hmmm, retailers generally just list things willy nilly. But, the MacBaren site doesn't mention anything of the sort, actually mentioning the "natural" Virginia taste. But, it could be topped, maybe. But, if it is an aromatic, most of the VA flakes would fit the aromatic category. I love, and I have no issues with aromatics. I would just think someone getting a hold of Virginia #1 thinking that they were getting an aromatic would be disappointed, ha ha.

If you read Mr. Pease's article on tobacco blending, he states that almost no tobacco makes it to smoking state without some kind of additive. He further states that if it did, you probably wouldn't like the taste. #1 is not an aro in my book at all and what casing it does have is as light as can be.
"G.L. Pease Answers: In fact, very few tobaccos on the market today are not cased to some extent. Casing is the process of adding sugars and flavouring agents before the leaf is further processed. The raw leaf is soaked or sprayed with a heavy solution of sugars and flavourings like liquorice, vanilla, molasses, tonquin, and so on. The amount of sauce absorbed by the leaf depends on the method of application, the structure of the leaf, and the length of time the leaf is in contact with the sauce before further processing. The leaf is then processed as usual. It can be conditioned and cut, or pressed and held to allow further fermentation. It can be heated, steamed, toasted, or just allowed to “bulk” in the atmosphere.

Raw tobacco, especially burley, usually doesn't taste very good, and can have poor smoking characteristics. Very few smokers have ever experienced tobaccos that do not have SOME sort of casing applied. It's not the casing that turns smokers of “pure” tobacco off; it's the excessive use of flavourings. When used delicately, they can enhance the flavour of the tobacco itself. When used heavily, as in most American style aromatic tobaccos, they can overpower the underlying tobacco flavours." Pipedia

Cased, yes, but the quote above states that it is top dressed, which is different and makes it "technically" an aromatic. But then my question to P&C would be why are they the only ones who seem to have knowledge that it is dressed? Or, is the person who listed this not aware of the differences?

Thanks Daimyo. That original article by Pease really opened my eyes to the differences with aro tobacco and how everything is cased but not always topped.

I would say, to my tastes, that Va #1 is cased with a slighty sweet honey concoction but no toppings.

Every pipe tobacco, virtually every tobacco really, has been cured, aged, heated, cased with plain or flavored sugared water, stoved, pressed, steamed, topped, rested, cut, and processed for packaging. Call it preparation or processing our weed goes through a lot before it gets to us, even in the rare event that a particular blend has not actually been topped. I'd say that a safe description of an aromatic is a blend that is dominated by non-tobacco aromas when sniffed in the tin. Whether these aromas persist during the smoking of the blend (to the smoker) is another, and widely variable, matter entirely.

Growing up in a family that grew, harvested, dried, and cured tobaccos for several generations, I can say that if you tried to smoke dried Virginia leaf without a casing at all, you wouldn't enjoy it. It burns instead of smolders, like cardboard or shredded paper. Russ O has come on the forums and said that some but few tobaccos are free of casings, but I wonder which ones. In my experience some sort of calorie has to be added to slow the burn. Now, topping is where a flavor is sprayed or dipped onto the leaf to give it a flavoring. Most of our goopy aros are done in this way. Obviously, the guy who typed in the description just wasn't familiar with this product at all. Or, copied it from something that was written by someone who didn't know either.

Phil, casing is done in the initial production of the leaf, topping is added by the blender. Or at least that is my understanding.

but I wonder which ones

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I believe Samois has zero additives but I don't know about others.

The "aromatic" designation seems in need of expansion. There are a number of "degrees" of aromatic, from cased Virginias to American English blends, to Danish aromatics all the way to American style aromatics. Then there are blends like the GLP "aromatics": Haddo's Delight or Barbary Coast, for example.
All of these are very different styles of blends.
IMO it comes down to flavor vs aroma: which is the dominant feature of the blend?

That would then raise the question: What is the difference between 'cased' and 'topping'

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To quote Russ O. on this one:
"Casings are mostly used to lessen the negative qualities of a tobacco. If a Burley has a high pH which can lead to tongue bite, a casing (with or without a flavor) containing some sugar will help to bring the smoke back toward the acidic side, and will reduce the chance of bite. Some Virginias can be harsh or ashy, but with the right casing, that can be mitigated as well. Mostly, though, casings are not used to flavor the tobacco as much as to prepare it for other processing, much as a mild marinade is used to prepare meat for cooking and to tenderize it more than to flavor it."
"Top dressings are flavorings that are applied at the end of manufacturing (most of the time), and are responsible for most of the pouch aroma and room note of an aromatic pipe tobacco along with the signature flavor of the blend. Top dressings are usually alcohol-based, and a quick examination of the method shows why. When the casing (water-based) is applied, the drying process will bring the tobacco back down to where it belongs, humidity-wise. But at the end of the process, the maker doesn’t want to use heat to finish the job, so by using an alcohol-based flavoring and allowing the tobacco to sit for a day or two, the carrier (the alcohol) will dissipate, or “flash off”, leaving the concentrated flavor behind with little additional moisture"
See whole article here:

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/a-tale-of-two-syrups-casings-and-top-dressings/

Technically almost every blend is an aromatic as they all have some type of casing. Now anyone who smokes a really loaded aro like Molce Dolce are totally light in the loafers, not that there is anything wrong with that.

There is definitely tobacco out there that has been "cased" with nothing more than misted water. Some very simple examples would be American Spirit Cigarettes and pretty much every 'real' hand rolled Cuban Cigar.
I have to assume just because a tobacco is cased, it does not mean it has to be some type of syrup. After color curing raw tobacco, the next step is fermentation to expel the ammonia and other naturally occurring chemicals hidden within the leaf. During this fermentation process, the leaf needs to be pliable so it does not crumble while being handled. The simplest way to do this would be to mist the leaf with water. Would this not technically be considered casing the tobacco?
@Cosmic, when you say you smoked dried Virginia leaf without casing, and did not enjoy it, was that before it was fermented or after?

It seems the term "casing" has long been misused when describing tobaccos. As mentioned above, most tobaccos have something added to them to achieve a certain flavor profile. Having had the chance to smoke some "natural" untreated tobacco a time or two, the experience is very different from the blends most of us enjoy.
What I find interesting are the differences in the aromatics out there. Most people think of aromatic blends as your goopy sweet blends and they carry a reputation as being such. On the other hand, Lakeland style blends are very aromatic the with the essences used to produce them however they smoke much drier and cleanly.

I do not consider Virginia No. 1 to be what we would consider an "aromatic". All tobaccos are treated with some sort of top dressing. The last I checked, the MacBaren website lists and describes Virginia No. 1 is a straight / pure Virginia treated with sugar water.

Also....i don't understand where tobacco reviews.com gets their descriptions. They certainly didn't get their description of Virginia no. 1 from MacBaren...and I personally trust the producers description as they would certainly know better than the vendors.

Lol ... we love to get really technical around here.
I've always appreciated this community's ability to dissect and analyze all the

various mysteries that surround our hobby.
If I were to explain the difference to, say, a non-piper friend I would simply

state that an aromatic is one that has an overall non-tobacco smell and flavor.

Molto Dolce would be a prime example of a "tobacco" that smells and tastes nothing like tobacco.

I've always appreciated this community's ability to dissect and analyze all the

various mysteries that surround our hobby.

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LoL. Pipe forums: a solution in search of a problem
God help us and our various T/PADs......
No nit is too small to pick!