I cant smell or taste the aromatics : (

[rondyr]

Are you a regular cigarette smoker? Smokes tend to dull your sense of taste and smell. I know this first-hand. :P

 

[hans]

Yes what many of the people have already said in this thread is true.

I would like to add one other thing that i'm not sure anyone mentioned.
Take small sips when smoking, very small and when you gently let some of the smoke out of your mouth, slightly inhale through your nose. Smell is ESSENTIALLY tied to taste.

Also it pays to push the smoke through your nose a couple of times per bowl to gain a different sense of the tobacco.
http://www.cigarinspector.com/cigar-tips/what-is-retro-haling

 

[Perique]

I've said it before on here, so not to sound like a broken record but a great crossover aromatic is Barbary Coast. Great aroma but also stout tobaccos. Give it a try if you're looking for a more flavorful 'aro'.

 

[jah76]

+1 to Hans.
Along those lines, snork some smoke out of your nose. It adds a roundness to the whole experience. You'll pick up different nuances of the tobacco.
Nothing like a little Perique out of your nose in the morning to wake you up.

 

[undermidnight]

Re: Retrohaling
This is a new thing for me and when I do it right, it does enhance and bring out the flavors. Today I was smoking Esoterica Margate and noticed an initial hint of coffee.. then some cocoa.. and sweet cinnamon. And the weird thing was it would alternate between the cocoa and cinnamon throughout the bowl.
Last night I was smoking Balkan Sobranie on the way home from work and the cinnamon flavor/aroma dominated throughout the bowl (After the initial charring light and I settled in for the smoke).
I could be full of it and making stuff up in my head!! lol..
Oh yea the other thing.. I am starting to notice stuff like.. "I think this is Latakia I am tasting" and I look and sure enough it was (FM Cellar was the example where I noticed it).
Jason

 

[flyguy]

One thing I don't want to do is pick on aromatics. Heck, I cut my teeth with pipes on aromatics. If we were honest, most of us in pipe smoking started by smoking some drug store aromatic. I still remember the bite of Mixture #79

 

[captainbob]

Yea, I started with a cob and Middleton's Cherry Blend back in 1963. Not a bad place to start. But, it has been an adventure ever since until my relationship with Craig and Chris Tarler of C&D and eventually creating the ultimate blends of my personal desire. It was Craig who decided to go public with CBB.
Every blend is flavored with food grade flavor additives. It is a matter of "degree" which distinquishes Aromatis from Non-Aromatics. One simply cannot tolerate "raw tobacco". Personally I have done the test. The late Craig Tarler did not look forward to what he called "tongue-bite Thursdays" wherein he would smoke raw Red Virginia to test the arriving new palates in order to determine the consistency of the harvest.

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[colesradioactive]

@prettyinpink- I don't smoke aros with the exception of one blend that my fiancé bought for me because she's not to keen on the smell of the English/Balkan style blends I smoke. It's a house blend from one of the local B&Ms called Riverwalk, its a butternut/caramel style aro and out of all the aros that I have smoked, this one comes the closest to tasting like it smells, if you'd like, you can PM me your address an I'd be happy to send you a sample. I don't keep alot on hand, as an oz. will last me several months but I'd be happy to send some your way and since it's from a local B&M in Tulsa OK, I could mail you a couple ounces if you like it.