@K.E. Powell I wouldn’t use the word ‘Artificial’ in describing Aros, unless it was a Synthetic Artificial man made ingredient.
The Aros I smoke, and have smoked, all had Natural Ingredients added.
I mentioned before, look at it this way. Compare all the natural flavor profiles found in various leaf; VA, Burley, Latakia, Orientals, etc.., and a topping/flavor that is added, that is not found naturally in these leafs profile, tends to be an Aromatic.
But, the problem, with some blends, with toppings that are very lightly applied, might not come across to some as an Aro, or be labeled an Aro, and what you typically see with some pipe smokers, is the thought that Aro always imply something richer/heavier in that flavoringl
I recently bought John Aylesbury Sir John’s Flake Virginia. This is listed everywhere as a Straight VA, but it’s not, it has a fruit/floral added flavor, and no one knows what it is, but this is not naturally found in a VA, at least not to my knowledge. This could honestly be classified as an Aro, because it has an ‘Added Flavor’.
www.tobaccoreviews.com
So, said a simpler way, any Added Flavors, should be considered an Aro.
It was mentioned a while back, about how many of Germain’s blends, especially in regards to their Esoterica lineup has a lot of Aros in it, listed as Straight.
This makes me think, had all these Unicorns out there, were actually listed correctly as Aros, their sales and popularity would be nothing. But it does seem quite odd, how there are so many so called Upper Class blends, floating under the radar as straight when they are not.