History of Aromatics?

[bosmer]

Is anyone aware of the history behind aromatic tobacco?

It seems that a great amount of tobacco sold is under the aromatic label and In my opinion, seem to be of lower quality. That is not to say that quality aromatics don't exist but the point being, how and when did aromatic tobacco start and when did it become popular or a good way to make use of tobacco that you would not designate to quality flakes and english blends and whatnot.

Did it start with the rum soaked leaves of sailors?

Was it a personal thing started to improve that taste?

Or was it Sir Walter Raleigh's Wife nagging him about the smells coming from his nasty weed?

Inquiring minds wish to know.

 

[Waning Embers]

With sailors, it was likely stored in rum barrels to keep mold down, and incidentally imparted a flavor, but flavoring tobaccos goes back further. American natives used herbs and fruits such as bearberry and willow bark to flavor their tobacco mixtures. After the discovery of 12,000 year old tobacco seeds, the flavoring of tobacco likely goes back further than we can imagine. As for nagging wives, they can always go outside during smoke time.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There are reports of Natives using sugars, maples syrup, etc... to slow the burn, but I'm not sure it was strictly conducive to pipes. Then I have read some on how the small Germanic countries from early on in the tobacco trade, using syrupy confectioners to add weight to the tobacco and make it more palatable. There was ado about weight though. The trade was taxed coming into port, but to make their money they had to increase weight, or something along those lines. This would explains some of the history of the Danes and Germans using confections in their blending.