Aromatics are Not for the Pipe-Smoker

[Choatecav]

This is why I like Danish aromatics.
WO Larsen and MacBaren have some great aromatics that are not goopy, and taste like tobacco....with something extra.
Ive been smoking a tin of Rattrays Exotic Passion...I can't believe I have to keep typing that....im gonna be put on another list!!
Anyways, it's not only not goopy, it's down right dry.
Next on my agenda is some Boswell aromatics. They have a lot of good reviews.

Sig,
You gotta ask yourself this question..... "Would my avatar persona, Charlie B, ever smoke a tobacco called "Exotic Passion?" Or, for that matter did he ever order a drink that contained a little pink parasol (I know you didn't do that, but I was on a roll.....)?

 

[Waning Embers]

.im gonna be put on another list!!

Nah, that one has lots of fans.

 

[jdlander]

Just out of curiosity, do you retrohale?

I *think* I do. I heard it after I had been smoking for a few months, and so I read about it online and watched some videos and learned that lots of people really struggle with doing it. I had been doing it almost naturally since the first week, so it made me wonder if I was really doing it right.

It's basically just slowly blowing the smoke out of your nose instead of your mouth, right?

If there is more to it than that, please let me know...

 

[jdlander]

which have you tried? That could be a big part of the issue.

• All the Captain Black line
• 10 or so blends from Country Squire (I actually really did enjoy Tombigbee, now that I think about it).
• About a dozen from Sutliff
• 10 or so blends from C&D (I actually did enjoy Autumn Evening, Apricots and Cream, and Black Frigate, but I got tired of them rather quickly).
• C'est La Vie Chocolate Eclair (was actually quite good... lol)
• Backwoods (the Original was actually quite good)
• Several from Low Country
• Several from MacBaren
• SWR Aromatic

Turns out (now that I actually think about the ones I've tried) that there are four or five I would actually buy again...

 

[jdlander]

I like aromatics that still retain tobacco flavor. Lakelands, lightly flavored burley, and a select few C&D blends, really. I just don't care for the blends that are all black Cavendish laden with a heavy, goopy topping. At this point it gets rather boring just firing up the same old VaPers, English, etc.

I have yet to try to try some Lakelands. I only have a couple pipes, and I hear they can cause ghosting, so I think that getting a Lakeland also requires me to get a pipe, right? Which one(s) are your favorite?

 

[anotherbob]

I have yet to try to try some Lakelands. I only have a couple pipes, and I hear they can cause ghosting, so I think that getting a Lakeland also requires me to get a pipe, right? Which one(s) are your favorite?

I smoke them and never had a permenant ghosting issue. Yes a few bowls later had some hints of the lakeland. Now if that is a problem or not is up to you. I'd say try it with a pipe you might not mind getting ghosted over buying a new one (just my opinion) but if that's all you smoke in a pipe or smoke a lot in a pipe it will possibly never leave the pipe.
Oh and see that's the thing with aromatics. There is variety and they certainly range from something that's a hint to drowning in flavor.

 

[sardonicus87]

That's part of the problem there, no Devil's Holiday or Ennerdale on that list...

 

[Michigan_Bill]

Covid is what did it for me. Previously I enjoyed English and VaPer blends. Then the virus rearranged my sense of smell. Now I enjoy aromatics only.
It's a very peculiar thing, because I remember how much I enjoyed specific non-aromatic blends, and now they taste like wet cardboard to me. Disappointing but these things happen, and fortunately my taste of food is mostly unchanged. So I can’t complain!

 

[Steddy]

There are times when only a flavored blend will hit the spot. Call it a craving. As far as smoking one because you’re around others, sometimes the occasion calls for it.
I am starting to think dedicating pipes to specific aromatics is a good thing.
I have pipes for Autumn Evening and Mixture 79 so far.

 

[Waning Embers]

It's basically just slowly blowing the smoke out of your nose instead of your mouth, right?

That it is.

 

[EMP27]

I have come to a realization... aromatics are not for the pipe-smoker, but for the pipe-smoker's wife.

I am working through several of the aromatics recommended to me by various threads and websites as "the best aromatic." Maybe they are just not for me, or maybe my palate isn't developed enough yet, but so far, I find them all to be insanely boring and bland.

As I look up Reviews for these aromatics, I have discovered a common theme in most of the 5-star reviews of popular aromatics. They almost all say this: "My wife loves it! She says I can smoke this one around her."

So there's the reason aromatics are popular! Your wife doesn't mind them as much.

This isn't wrong, of course, As pipe smokers, we need to be aware of the people around us and not be a nuisance to them, but I am thinking now that people who recommend aromatics do so, not because THEY like them, but because the people AROUND the smoker likes aromatics.

What do you say, aromatic lovers? Do you smoke them because you truly love them, or because your wife doesn't complain much when you smoke them?

I mostly agree. I have found a few aro's that I like but aromatics generally aren't my thing.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Just as I write this I'm smoking aromatic where tobacco taste is still dominant , Amphora Red Full* the rest of the Amphora portofolio shares the same , tobacco forward with only subtle flavoring

 

[Benedict Munsinger]

I’m not particularly into aromatics myself — I gravitate toward Va/Pers, as well as blends with Kentucky or Burley. I enjoy the natural interplay of Virginias’ sweetness with the spice of Perique, the earthy strength of Kentucky, or the nutty depth of Burley. These tobaccos offer honest, evolving flavors throughout the bowl without the distraction of heavy toppings. Unfortunately, even many so-called non-aromatics today are lightly topped — probably to smooth out young leaf or to ensure consistency across batches. Still, I prefer blends where the tobacco speaks for itself. For me, GL Pease Telegraph Hill remains a benchmark — refined, complex, and clean-smoking.

 

[pappymac]

This is why I like Danish aromatics.
WO Larsen and MacBaren have some great aromatics that are not goopy, and taste like tobacco....with something extra.
Ive been smoking a tin of Rattrays Exotic Passion...I can't believe I have to keep typing that....im gonna be put on another list!!
Anyways, it's not only not goopy, it's down right dry.
Next on my agenda is some Boswell aromatics. They have a lot of good reviews.

I knew there was a reason I liked you.
I have smoked a lot of Danish or Danish made aromatics ever since I was introduced to them about 12 years ago. Before that I was smoking mostly OTCs or bulk blends and it was probably more non-flavored blends.
Then I was introduced to flavored blends made by Kohlhase & Kopp and Dan Tobacco. It led me to trying more tinned "aromatics" and I found that I really preferred those made on the other side of the Atlantic - including the Lakeland blends.

 

[BriaronBoerum]

I've been on an aro/crossover English kick for a while: Silem's Black, C & D Cordial, Lane HGL have all become part of my rotation, and I've also enjoyed some of Watch City's burley blends like Deluxe Crumb Cut and FUSTG. For me, most traditional aro's are too bland or one note beneath the fragrance, but I can get into a complex blend of tobaccos with some flavoring on top.

I even tried Captain Bob's Blend after hearing about it from a FB group, but that s%#) is too weird!

 

[FLDRD]

I'm just the opposite mostly. I feel like my palet.... pallet.... palette? anyway... I can't taste the breadiness, sweetness or nuttiness that folk use to describe the burley's and virginias.. Either that, or I'm not good at putting words to experiences. In either case, I've tried and jarred the straight tobaccos. I have a couple vapers that don't get any attention either. I occasionally get out my english mutt mixture for something different, but 95% of the time it's a Lane or Country Squire aro.

Palate, if you're still wondering.

 

[Pipeandapencil]

I don't smoke aromatics since I am a real man. I smoke only 5 brothers out of a pipe made from the jawbone of a donkey.

 

[NookersTheCat]

I smoke by myself, outside 99% of the time. No heavy aromatic is ever going to replace "non" aromatics for me, but I do like some of them.
They key is to smoke them very lightly. Once the tobacco is burning, the flavor is gone. You want smoke from the smoldering tobacco near the burning tobacco. This goes for all tobacco, but especially aromatic ive found. Even what most people think is slow, is too fast for most aromatics.

Exactly... most of the aromatic flavor (in my opinion/experience) comes from the vaporization of the toppings rather than the burning of them.

This is why I think the standard advice of suggesting burley based aromatics for newbs is probably the biggest disservice going. People think it's helpful because (when smoked properly) they are the most mild flavored blends... but it's recommending the easiest blends to smoke too quick and hot to the people most likely to smoke them too quick and hot... hence why I think so many people end up with the "all aromatics are crap" opinion.

Also because there seems to be a certain status associated with hating a cheap plentiful aromatic but loving an austere, expensive, difficult to acquire Perique or DFK blend... almost like our hobby's version of snobbery lol

 

[Pipeandapencil]

Also because there seems to be a certain status associated with hating a cheap plentiful aromatic but loving an austere, expensive, difficult to acquire Perique or DFK blend... almost like our hobby's version of snobbery lol

someone should make a burley cav. based aero that is hay, stewed fruit, plum, and bread flavored. Then everyone would be happy and we could all get along.

 

[NookersTheCat]

someone should make a burley cav. based aero that is hay, stewed fruit, plum, and bread flavored. Then everyone would be happy and we could all get along.

They did.. it was called Edward G Robinson blend...