Changing Tastes...Shifting Toward Aros (Long Post)

[sittingbear]

I picked up my first pipe 24 years ago and, like most others, started with an aromatic blend. For many years, I only smoked cherry cavendish beginning with Borkum Riff as I was living in Sweden in the town where their tobacco was processed. You could smell the various flavors in the air from the factory as they topped it with cherry, whiskey, etc. I was 16 at the time and largely associated pipe smoking with the aromatic aroma that was common among older pipe smokers who were probably all puffing on Captain Black or something.

About 11 years ago I decided to get serious about this hobby and devote myself to exploring different types of tobacco (not to mention accruing more pipes, of course). I quickly fell in love with Virginia blends and English blends, and over time had a growing appreciation for Burley. My favorite blends thus far have been Dunhill Flake, Sir John's Flake, Klondike Flake, Old Dark Fired, McClelland's Classic Samsun and Frog Morton Cellar, Mac Baren's Roll Cake, and a couple of codger blends, Edgeworth Ready Rubbed and Chatham Manor.

And yet I find myself being drawn more and more to aromatics as I get older. The purist in me doesn't want to admit that I am preferring more and more tobaccos that are topped with various flavors. I've never been totally adverse to aros, but it was always more of a guilty pleasure. Not so anymore. There's something about the sweet flavors, the warm and comforting aroma, and the comments of others that tell me that they, too, are enjoying it. (I mean, let's face it, I'd rather be associated with the smell of pancakes or warm vanilla than that of a leather tanning shop burning to the ground, so there's that.) Now, I reach for Scotty's Butternut Burley, Comoy's Cask #2, Autumn Evening or Sutliff's Rum and Maple.

We've all heard the maxim, "Smoke what you like and like what you smoke," but I'm curious. Has anyone else experienced a shift toward aromatics after a while?

 

[olkofri]

Not me: I've always lived there, in Aroland, beyond the fields we know.

 

[charf]

Will let you know in a few months. I have a tin of Autumn Evening I am going open for the beginning of it. Prior to that I am mostly smoking burley’s.

 

[danimalia]

I've seen a few people mention that they've started appreciating aromatics a lot more as they matured and improved their technique and palate. I'm not an aromatic guy yet, but I try to keep an open mind. It really would be good to have something that smelled nice to others.

 

[sittingbear]

Will let you know in a few months. I have a tin of Autumn Evening I am going open for the beginning of it. Prior to that I am mostly smoking burley’s.

Admittedly, most of my go-to blends the last few years have been burleys, which can oftentimes have slight toppings of molasses or anise or other light flavorings, so maybe it's been a slippery slope. I've recently discovered Amphora's Full Aroma, which is a wonderful burley/aro blend.

 

[sittingbear]

I've seen a few people mention that they've started appreciating aromatics a lot more as they matured and improved their technique and palate. I'm not an aromatic guy yet, but I try to keep an open mind. It really would be good to have something that smelled nice to others.

Well for starters I'd recommend the ones I mentioned in my original post! I don't like the really goopy ones, and many, many aros have turned me off, but I have really taken to these and a few others.

 

[bullet08]

i smoke almost anything and everything. just that, i have been focusing on va, va/per, and english lately. still have some aros that i need to get to. life is too short to limit myself to only few type of tobaccos.

 

[olkofri]

I don't like the really goopy ones

I don't either. Avoiding goopiness is key. It's unfortunate that so many equate aromatic blend with goopy mess; not always true. Top quality aromatics aren't goopy like, say, BCA.

 

[whsergent]

Started with 965 told the guy at the pipe shop that i smoked cigarettes, might even have mentioned that i smoked camel filters iirc and he recommended 965 and a good recommendation it was.
Smoked 965, durbar, nightcap etc for a long time, then suddenly didnt care for latakia for some reason and smoked mostly virginias and GH and SG flakes, (i sorely lament the passing of bracken flake).

Then i discovered burleys and pegasus became my favorite smoke and now after starting the pipe again recently, i find myself going toward aros.

I always liked Erinmore Flake, Royal Yacht, University Flake, Bagpipers Dream, but they were occaisional smokes.

Lately i prefer more highly topped tobaccos. Got some Bourbon Street Match, really like the floral topping, OTCs like CH are appealing, i got some Match Field and Stream and some Sutliffe Rum and Maple today.

So, yeah, i seem to be going in that direction too.

 

[Parsimonious Piper]

For me it hasn’t been so much a general shift, but maybe an awakening of taste. I lean toward burley or dark fired and only smoke aros when my wife is around—she hates anything that doesn’t have a fruit/dessert aroma. Lately I’ve begun enjoying the aros more…starting to get more flavor from them beyond the initial burst on lighting up.

 

[TinCup]

When pipe tobacco isn't sold anywhere in the entire country you tend to smoke whatever you can most easily get your hands on, that happens to be Borkum Riff, Holland House etc, basically ready rubbed aromatics

 

[tradition]

Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic has always been in my rotation of English, Virginia's and Burley's.

When you can get it, try Rattray's Exotic Passion, a wonderful aromatic.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm there. After thirty years and a solid decade of nothing but English blends, I now smoke mainly Virginia/Orientals and aros. The current favorite seems to be Milan Tobacco's "Hillman".

 

[haparnold]

I'm experiencing something similar, which I alluded to in a "What are you Smoking?" post as a little identity crisis. Lately I've really gravitated toward lightly topped blends, like Haddo's Delight and John Marr.

I'm really digging these blends, and my wife prefers the room note, so I guess all is well.

 

[Elric]

Aromatics have always been in my rotation but I'm starting to cellar more of them. They are my "comfort smokes" in many ways and I enjoy having them at hand. Also, with the world looking askance at smokers in general, other folks enjoyment of the scent is worth something. Self-proclaimed "Ambassador of Aroma", as it were.

 

[hauntedmyst]

Not a shift back but an always been there. I always have aros on hand. I have a pound of 1Q and a pound of Hazelnut on hand. I'm always on the lookout for the old Caminetto aromatics. I also like the Rum, Cherry and Coconut Twists from G&H. They are classified as aromatics on tobacoreviews.com Ha. They are to aromatics what a wild tiger is to a house cat.

 

[Marindas]

In this last year I have found myself shifting from Latakia blends to aro's. I too started my pipe adventure with goopy aromatics that I didn't really enjoy. Then based on some recommendations from a local tobacco shop, I discovered English/Balkan blends and that was pretty much all I smoked for ten years. During that time, I continued to try to expand my palate with Virginia's and VaPer's, but did not care for most of them (except Anniversary Kake).

Then based on this forum, I decided to try some codger blends and found that I liked SWRA and Carter Hall. That led me to start trying popular aro's such as Trout Stream, Butternut Burley. Now I find that I really like a quality aromatic and only reach for a Latakia blend once in a while. Other Aro's that I have been impressed with recently include Wilke's Gramercy Park and 7 Seas Regular (which surprised me).

I now tell my adult son, whose favorite blend is Pirate Kake, that I have become a codger in my old age... Of course he agrees.

 

[ray47]

I shift from time to time, but it usually only lasts a couple of days, then it's back to non-aromatics.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Avoiding goopiness is key.

Not in a very large pipe. Packing air light and smoking slow prevents residual moisture gives you about the same smoking time as a smaller pipe with a drier tobacco. Aromatics are why I generally prefer large to magnum sized pipes.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Yes, I find myself in the mood for an aromatic pretty often. I mostly scratch that itch with SWRA most aros seem to be a little short on the nicotine. Its a shame that the blenders dont make some nic stronger aromatics. I guess the Lakeland stuff counts for that.. but those blends aren't exactly what I think of when I think of aromatics.