Are Tobacco Toppings Natural?
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No, I only smoke English with no toppings, pure tobacco's, the only way I like, been doing it for 60yrs, occasionally Lakelands, that's as far as I go. 
I've been liking the Match Nighcap recently.No, I only smoke English with no toppings, pure tobacco's, the only way I like, been doing it for 60yrs, occasionally Lakelands, that's as far as I go.
I believe toppings are food flavorings. So it could be natural, artificial and/or both.
Unless you're growing them yourself, most production tobacco is cased or topped. Latakia doesn't naturally grow with pine and oak soot on its leaves.No, I only smoke English with no toppings, pure tobacco's, the only way I like, been doing it for 60yrs, occasionally Lakelands, that's as far as I go.
Night Cap was a English Blend made by Dunhill but made now in Scandinavia under the name of Peterson, still a great blend, not like it was 50yrs ago.
A year or two ago, someone published the link to a site that listed all sorts of toppings. Some were natural and others were artificial, so the short answer is both.
Yes there are both natural and artifical toppings. We all seem to be pounding the same drum. And Peterson MM965 is amazing if you want to try it. The bulk is match 20.
Both natural and artificial. It depends on the company. C&D prides themselves on using natural ingredients. For example, for the blend Corncob Pipe and a Button Nose, they melted marshmallows down in high proof vodka and added cocoa for the flavoring. Most of the time with blends like Englishes, the toppings are natural. A lot of tonquin, anise, and honey flavorings are used.
Toppings are both (think food type flavorings), man-made (think booze and other things) or chemical (polypropylene). Greg Pease said a few years just about all tobaccos have at least little something put on them.
you know those terms actually mean nothing. I'd say though in general I'd say they're closer to what people consider natural. But the best thing to answer that is go to the source and ask them. Some blenders will be pretty happy to tell you precisely what toppings they use and others not as much.
You may think that you are smoking "pure tobaccos", but chances are there are flavorings added. Have you ever bought whole leaf tobacco and smoked it straight? It's certainly not what most pipe smokers are accustomed to! I once bought samples of every Latakia that I could get my hands on. In a side by side comparison where we should have fairly subtle differences (based on where and when it was produced) there were some major deviations that could only be attributed to post-processing with flavorings. I was quite surprised. The best Latakia was the 1998 vintage whole leaf from Whole Leaf Tobacco, right out of the bale. The Latakia that I bought from Mark Ryan was also exceptional. The most questionable was Gawith Hoggarth. It didn't even look like Latakia. Russ O. opined that it may have been steamed, then flavored, but we really had no way to tell.No, I only smoke English with no toppings, pure tobacco's, the only way I like, been doing it for 60yrs, occasionally Lakelands, that's as far as I go.
Both "natural" (meaning not synthetic, but derived from natural sources) and wholly man-made flavorings are widely used across the entire spectrum of pipe tobacco blends. Not all, mind you, but many blends have had some help from the bottle. I don't think that's a negative, at all. Unless those additives turn out to be unhealthful.
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I think the question is not clear.
We know that they are not Naturally part of tobacco.
I think the OP wants to know if the additives are natural or if they are chemically formulated.
Spices, food flavors vs something impossible to spell and less possible to pronounce.
We know that they are not Naturally part of tobacco.
I think the OP wants to know if the additives are natural or if they are chemically formulated.
Spices, food flavors vs something impossible to spell and less possible to pronounce.
After years of struggling to find commercial blends I liked, I eventually switched to smoking relatively “natural” c&d blenders. From there I went to whole leaf tobacco, which is pretty much the only thing I’m smoking now. But I’m an odd case (pun intended)
When Russ of Hearth and Home was on here, he would always talk about experimenting with using natural flavors, and it was pretty much a unique topic. Most pipe tobaccos are flavored with artificial flavors, because when you burn a cherry, it doesn't smell or taste like a cherry, and the same for most things. Burn coffee, and it smells horrible. Burn chocolate, and it you wouldn't be able to tell if it was chocolate burning or cardboard. So, most will use or alter a flavor till it does smell similar to what the intended flavor is supposed to be.
As for casings, probably similar to toppings. I have a list of the tobaccos that are not cased, because I have spoken with the blenders and do not detect any, and a list of those which I can tolerate the casing. And, I have some that are cased and I am aging it till hopefully that casing will subside some. I have also thrown away a bunch.
It cracks me up that guys who will put down an aromatic, but then they will brag about scoring an Esoterica or GH blend. They seem to live in mixed signals.
As for casings, probably similar to toppings. I have a list of the tobaccos that are not cased, because I have spoken with the blenders and do not detect any, and a list of those which I can tolerate the casing. And, I have some that are cased and I am aging it till hopefully that casing will subside some. I have also thrown away a bunch.
It cracks me up that guys who will put down an aromatic, but then they will brag about scoring an Esoterica or GH blend. They seem to live in mixed signals.