Basic Mc Barens Blends- Aros or not?

[pipesmokingtom]

I wonder if there are any exceptions to the rule, ie. a tobacco that is clearly an aromatic but all the flavor is added in the "sauce casing" process.
Similarly, I wonder if any tobaccos most certainly have a topping but are universally considered a non-aromatic.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

The devil's in the details, but you're saying that any topping makes something an aromatic. What I'm reading is "aromatics are normally topped".
Those statements are fundamentally different.

 

[pitchfork]

Cosmic, you're trying to differentiate aromatics from non-aromatics based on ingredients. In theory, that might work, but clearly it doesn't -- not for the way most people use the term "aromatic."
Just for kicks, try to come up with a definition that differentiates weeds from other plants. If you start listing physical properties, you're just gonna end up with everything being plants (or everything being weeds).

 

[cosmicfolklore]

None of this is my idea. I'm just regurgitating why I've read and heard on the radio show. How we (me included) define an aromatic may be different than how the industry defines their products.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I mean - I'm totally good with it. If something is receiving a topping, it's probably a vanilla, caramel, chocolate, berry, whatever topping and would therefore probably be considered an aromatic by any standards. By extension, all Lakelands are aromatics.
And thanks, Cosmic, for digging up those articles. I read them some time ago, but it was good to see them again.
Again, I just wonder if there are blends that are flavored at the casing level to the point that they're aromatics or if there are blends that are "topped" before tinning but "we" wouldn't consider aromatic. We may never know!

 

[pitchfork]

None of this is my idea. I'm just regurgitating why I've read and heard on the radio show. How we (me included) define an aromatic may be different than how the industry defines their products.

:rofl:
Hey man, he just asked me to drive him to the store -- I didn't know he was gonna rob it!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Hah.
I could be wrong, but I suspect a lot of blends I smoke have a subtle top dressing that I don't consider aromatics. I guess the industry would though.
Then again, I could be wrong all together. Pretty common.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yeh, if it were up to me, there would be a few other categories of aromatics. Goopy, not goopy, Lakelands, and the good ones.

If I'm not mistaken, Russ used to have an awesome blog on P&C, where he had way better explainations and lots of great info. Did that get moved or taken down?

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Yeh, if it were up to me, there would be a few other categories of aromatics.

Ahhhh, but it IS up to you, for you are the one smoking them!
I'm glad you differentiated Lakelands from "good ones".

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There are a few technical Lakelands that I like, but (up to me) I'd put them in the good ones also, ha ha!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Jim probably has the best categorization, with his taste buds. We should get him a blog to define these from the smoker's side of the fence for us.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

We all seem to have this bizarre obsession with putting things in little boxes with labels for some reason. I'm just as guilty most of the time.
With tobacco, I've pretty much given up on that, though.
English, latakia, Balkan, Scottish... watevs.
I have two categories: "I like it" and "I don't like it." Luckily, I've rarely flat NOT liked a blend.

 

[cortezattic]

Russ's blog: http://www.talkingtobacco.com/2014/07/about-aromatics/

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Amen!

For me, it just helps to know how the industry categorizes them, so I don't get put off when I read that Wallace Flake is an aro, when it's a darn good smoke that is nothing like an aro.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Thanks Cortez!! I guess it used to be connected to P&C, or my memory is just as faulty as my plumbing, ha ha?
Edit: it definitely used to look different, or that may just be the way my phone changes it.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I'll bounce this off of you, just for fun:
I FEEL as if Peterson Irish Flake has an ever-so-subtle added anise flavor. Is this added at the casing stage or... if it's added at what would be considered the "topping" stage, is it then an "aromatic?" I don't think anyone in their right mind would consider that beast of a flake an aromatic, but I swear that flavor is there.

 

[skraps]

The question that Tom posted about Aro's that are not top dressed... not sure if I missed a response to that, but I can think of one. I'm pretty sure C&D Autumn Evening does not have a topping, but the flavoring is added during the steaming process. I could be tooootallly wrong on that though.

 

[lestrout]

I've lately been operating on the assumption that a good part of the flavor undertone within Germains and some of the German houses derives from the casing at the start of the leaf preparation. Specifically, anise, which has a licorice flavor, is one of the choices a caser has. Other choices for sweeteners and humectants (sometimes there is a dual functionality) could be treacle, molasses, honey, pectin - there are literally thousands of sugar substitutes used by the food industry, many of which are artificially made as opposed to directly sourced from plants or critters (bees).
hp

les

 

[skraps]

I FEEL as if Peterson Irish Flake has an ever-so-subtle added anise flavor. Is this added at the casing stage or... if it's added at what would be considered the "topping" stage, is it then an "aromatic?"

My uneducated guess on that one would be that whatever flavors are there, would be done at the casing stage. Unlike University Flake which has an actual topping applied.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Petersons Irish Flake and a university Flake were both listed as aromatics on most online venders. P&C has changed the listing, but the industry does concider them so.. Also, Wallace Flake, Warrior Plug, and All of the other airish Plugs are concider and aromatics.

Our shock at this mainly stems at our preconceived idea of an aromatic as being tootie fruity-ish and weak in strength.

But, we can all make our own categories. Heck, let's call them Manly-romatics.