@quint writes "It can be difficult to find flavorful 'dry aromatics', but they are out there."
For my tastes, I've found 'em at Uhles, Boswells, Peretti, 4Noggins, Milan Tobacconist, and vtpipes, to mention but a few...
Received 2 tins of McClelland 40th anniversary today. Didn't know what to expect. When I popped the can the smell surprised me in a really good way. I haven't sampled many tobacco yet but this is the best tasting I've tried so far.
You know, you make a good point.
The task of a blender is to make tobacco flavors great, not cover them up.
That being said, I am weak, and love a few aros like Prince Albert and BL/WB.
But in my hobbyshop, what gets me excited is making previously unknown flavors emerge from mixtures of types of tobacco leaf!
The first time I made marzipan-tasting tobacco, without using flavoring, I was blown away.
Let me just post a final thought on this thread. Out of the tobacco I've tried so far McClelland vbc is probably closest to what I remember experiencing in my youth. Mac Baren vanilla however has been an absolute joy for me. It is the one I want to smoke every time I reach for my pipe. Everyones tastes are different and for me personally I don't think I would have continued pipe smoking if I had started with non aromatics. Perhaps that is because I vaped for a number of years, I don't know. I only know that the mac Baren vanilla is very easy to smoke with no bite, low nicotine, and wonderful smell and flavor. It doesn't hurt that people around me love the smell of this particular tobacco. I'm not sure why McClelland 40th anniversary isn't considered an aromatic because to me it is a wonderful savory tobacco. My thanks to all of you who made recommendations, but particularly those of you who recommended mac baren.