When Is Flavoring Added Not An Aro?

allan · Mar 2, 2015

I have been dividing my smoking habits into 2 distinct categories; The Virginias and the English which will include the orientals and balkan blends.
Recently a pipe smoking friend handed me some samples of the new Wallace Flake from Rattrays. As soon as I opened the tin I knew that there was some flavoring added to it, but he claimed it was not an aromatic.
Looking it up on Tobacco Reviews, it listed that Plum flavoring was added. On smoking pipes.com, it lists it as straight Virginia's.
Now from reading G.L. Pease and others, I do know that casings are added during the curing process; apparently without them tobacco would be indeed quite tasteless or very poor tasting. But, a topping is another matter, I believe.
So, as much as I love this new tobacco (smokes beautifully and just tastes great-I won't attempt to describe the palate) I just have this thing against aromatics. Not to offend any Aro lover, but after my previous life of smoking Sail, Borkum Riff, Captain Black and a whole assortment of aros, I just want to stay away from them.
Knowing that BBF, Dunhill Navy Rolls, Solani, etc don't have the toppings, so when does a topping make a blend an aro?

cosmicfolklore · Mar 2, 2015

If you like it, what does it matter?
But, casings can have flavor. PS LTF comes to mind, which is technically a Virginia Cavendish. But, i think that most associate a true aromatic with something that has had a topping added, which is sprayed or dipped onto the tobacco after it has been cured, think goopy.
But, I think that we're just trying to pigeonhole things, but it may be an oversimplification. I've found a few goopy ones that I kind of like. I also find a few Cavendishes that repulse me like that Modern Virginia crap. It looks like tobacco, but tastes like a goopy.
I say, stop labeling and just go with it. If you like it, don't let the category turn you off.

nachman · Mar 2, 2015

To me, if a topping or casing is prevalent and changes the tobacco taste, it is an aromatic. Almost all tobaccos have a casing. Plum is used in Peterson University Flake and Wallace Flake, which are the same tobacco produced by different companies. Plum is also used in Royal Yacht which almost no one considers and aromatic. The plum is stronger in the first two, so I consider it an aromatic and it is one of the few aromatics I smoke. As cosmicfolklore said, If you like it, smoke it.

brass · Mar 2, 2015

If I like the blend, it has an elegant casing. If I don't like it, then it is one of those icky aromatics. :wink:

freakiefrog · Mar 2, 2015

I used to be very hard nosed about aromatics. I operated under the illusion that they were for people who didn't care what their tobacco tasted like or for old farts that had to smoke Wife approved tobacco. Now I hve a couple of different aromatics I like to smoke..
Lets face it we all like when Out tobacco is treated with some thing, Smoke (latakia), pressure/time (perique), being steamed, stoved, toasted, pressed twisted, rolled, spun the list goes on and on. To me if you like it smoke it..

allan · Mar 2, 2015

Cosmic:

If you like it, what does it matter?

I'm not sure why I care, again maybe due to my early experiences with the 'drug store' blends.
Nach

Plum is used in Peterson University Flake and Wallace Flake, which are the same tobacco produced by different companies.

I didn't know that and previously did not look it up.
My thinking must change!

beastkhk · Mar 2, 2015

I associate the term aromatic with smell, not necessarily taste.
I would think that if the blend is designed around the room note it leaves it would be an aromatic. If primarily designed around the flavor profile it would be non-aromatic.
There are going to be exceptions and hybrids of course, but ultimately I would think it comes down to does the casing/topping do something for the blend or for the room?

hiplainsdrifter · Mar 2, 2015

Allan, I am with you. From a esoteric standpoint, I would like my tobacco to be as 'natural' as possible. I am fine with any number of preparations and blends, but the thought of casing/topping leaves a bad taste in my mouth (pun intended). I am after homemade apple pie here, not Twinkies. That said, I know that one of my favorites- Stonehaven actually has a light traecle casing. Maybe someone with more experience can recommend some more 'natural' blends? I would guess that most straight VAs are pretty natural?

andrew · Mar 2, 2015

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it does it make a sound? This is the kind of question you're asking.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 2, 2015

Virginia #1 and Newminsters Navy Flake have honey in them (I can smell and taste it), and I suspect FVF and a few other flakes as having a sugar water casing of some sort, because a pure age cured Virginia would have an odor similar to McClelland's Virginias, because this is the aroma of an all natural age cure without any casing. This is just my own deduction based on my own experience with homegrown curing. Why don't these other flakes and "pure" Virginias have that Vinegar smell in the tin if they didn't do some other process to case it?

lordofthepiperings · Mar 2, 2015

I also find a few Cavendishes that repulse me like that Modern Virginia crap.

Mac Baren's Modern Virginia is 70% Virginia with only 20% Cavendish and 10% Burley. Not sure why you'd say it's a Cavendish when the blend is only 20% Cavendish.
Any who, I typically consider a blend aromatic if it's some form of Virginia, Burley, and or Cavendish and has a noticeable top dressing that comes through rather pronounced in the flavor profile. To me if there's any Latakia or Oriental in it then it gets lumped into the cross over category.

woodsroad · Mar 2, 2015

Nearly all pipe tobacco has flavoring added to it. Fact. I can't think of any that doesn't, but perhaps some of the D&R's?
If you've ever smoked tobacco straight from the curing barn, then you'd call almost everything that comes out of a pipe tobacco tin an "aromatic"
I see it like a see-saw. You have tobacco on one side, flavoring on the other. I like my tobacco to sit fat and heavy (but a little added flavor enhances the blend tremendously). At some point though, if you keep adding flavorings you're left with nothing better than a federally-regulated air freshener. For me, as long as the tobacco predominates, it's a non-aro, no matter what has been added to the blend.

andrew · Mar 2, 2015

I'm kind of the opinion McClellend's uses vinegar as an anti-mould agent after Macbaren stated they used it for Old Dark Fired. I just don't see how you wouldn't get that smell from any other tin of tobacco as they're all going to ferment. Maybe the vinegar helps ferment it, but personally I really enjoy that smell.

allan · Mar 2, 2015

As I mentioned in my original post, almost all pipe tobacco is cased. As G.L.Pease has stated in his excellent article (found on this forum somewhere) without casing the tobacco would taste like, well, not very well at all.
He did distinguish between casing and topping; the former involved somewhere in the curing method, the latter an afterward addition.
He was not 100 percent clear to me at what point a tobacco became an aro.

lochinvar · Mar 2, 2015

I think the aromatic bias has come from the myriad OTC and shop blends that are junk tobacco chosen mainly as a cheap, blank canvas for the strong smelling (but rarely to me good tasting) toppings. Various cherry blends, Captain black, etc, etc convinced me aromatic was synonymous with serving Satan.
Then I was given Rattray's Terry Red and Bagpiper's Dream, and Smoker's Haven Cognac. They smell great, taste great (both tobacco and flavoring), and the base tobaccos are solid, top quality. It's not that I don't like aromatics, I just don't like tobacco that tastes like floor sweepings, topped with snow cone flavorings. Now, I don't always crave them, but I no longer feel like Gilles de Reis when I buy an aromatic.

bigpond · Mar 5, 2015

I'm kind of the opinion McClellend's uses vinegar as an anti-mould agent after Macbaren stated they used it for Old Dark Fired. I just don't see how you wouldn't get that smell from any other tin of tobacco as they're all going to ferment. Maybe the vinegar helps ferment it, but personally I really enjoy that smell.

A vinegar-like odor is a natural byproduct of fermentation. Most of the fermented tobaccos I've tried have a minor to moderate vinegar aroma compared with the moderate to strong aroma in McClelland's. What's interesting is that tobacco naturally inhibits mold growth (or nicotine does) but the sugar and water toppings require additional bacterial management.
I keep reading that we need all these additives to make tobacco palatable but I don't believe it. How many options are there for us to decide? Are there any option at all outside of Semois? I think there's a demand for all natural pipe tobacco and would absolutely love to see more blenders move in this direction. It's probably a lot more difficult to create a good blend without additives. Perhaps we can encourage someone to undertake the challenge.
You make it I"ll buy it. Who's with me?
Anyway, about aromatics...I think we all have our own metrics. I'm really conservative with that and classify anything in which I can pick out a distinct flavor/aroma that doesn't come from tobacco as an aromatic.

When Is Flavoring Added Not An Aro?

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