yeah it sucks having to smoke top-quality blends instead of syrup-doused dung
Pretty good, Bugg. In one fleeting statement, you have just put down not only hundreds of blends, many good makers, but all the people here who smoke them as well. I think in another recent thread, mso stated that aros make up 95% of the market? Imagine if the industry lost that.
I did a quick survey of all of Russ's blends, Scotty's, C&D, G, H & Co., Lane, McClelland and P. Stokkebye--- I came up with conservatively about 28% of their collective blends, about 255 out of 917 that I would consider "hard" aromatics; stuff with obviously added non-tobacco casings. I'm sure none of these companies taste or test their blends before sending them to market or say to themselves: This tastes like shit! Let's sell it. ;^/
To be clear, I have never been an aro smoker, at least that I was aware of. I smoked blends like McB Virginia #1 early on which I later found was considered one, but I mean the stuff with the obvious non-tobacco flavors and names.
Months back I was finally talked into a cherry blend and I tried Cult BRM. I found I could like it if dried enough or blended with other things. So I tried others. I have found a number of aros, the stuff with an obvious added casing that were OK to quite good and have added them to my collection. I still eschew the stuff that sounds like candy or sweet but perhaps someday I will try a few of them as well. To say that none of them are any good, not top quality or are all crap just because YOU don't like them or haven't bothered to get the hang of smoking them is your choice, but I find it sadly short-sighted. Many aros can provide a delightful alternative to the traditional smoke.
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