The Aromatic Majority; Who Are They?

[jarit]

Apologies if this has veered off topic, but I became curious about exactly when grape and apricot and chocolate and vanilla and cherry and anything and everything else over-flavored became the American standard pipe tobacco.

I'm very interested about this as well, and have asked about this before on a different venue. I think the consensus then was then that artificially flavored tobaccos started to appear in US catalogues and ads in the 1940s, but I think the term "aromatic" used in connection of these more heavily adulterated tobaccos came only much later. Before that the term was apparently used to describe naturally aromatic and fragrant blends - often blended with oriental tobaccos.
I find this late '70s Druquer's brochure amusing. After a few pages of natural tobaccos they have one page of Aromatics, and you sort of get the feeling they are not terribly exited about selling them:

How snooty of them!

 

[vigil]

Count me in the group of "I Like Everything"...

I like most aros, most English, most of nearly everything. And never have a long run of anything other than my "go to" blend (which is an abomonation of 1Q mixed with every leftover I have in the frankenstein jar).
Variety is the spice of life for me, along with everything in moderation. So, toss me in the crowd that plays the field.

 

[woodsroad]

pylorns inquired

@woodsroad seriously?

No, not seriously.

 

[pylorns]

 

[kashmir]

I can understand the lure for the aromatic smoker. I myself spent my first ten years smoking nothing but Captain Black (White). But today, I much prefer the taste of straight tobacco, be it Virginias, burley, or Latakia blends, in flake or loose form. My disappointment with many aros was that they tasted a whole lot different from how the smelled in the package, or even, for that matter, the room note. To each his own. Smoke what you like in what you like.

 

[teufelhund]

I like both, but I generally stick to Virginias which have their own sort of sweetness. I also have a tendency to enjoy aros when the weather is warmer and nons when it is colder.

 

[pipeherman]

If its tobacco i'll put it in the pipe! I'm happy smoking anything and everything Aromatic, English, Oriental you name it; if i can get my hands on it i'll smoke it! ::

 

[peter70]

I think, that there are outstanding aromatics on the market, which have a good quality tobacco base and highly thought through aroma, which blends with the tobacco flavor very well. Of course, there are also aromatics, which are made cheaply in every regard and taste like that. I like to smoke a good aromatic as much as I like to smoke a good Virginia, or a good English.
Kind regards,

Peter

 

[doctorthoss]

I don't think the real shift toward aromatics took place until the '60s and '70s. Why? I have no idea, except that perhaps availability became an issue. Or maybe companies relentlessly pushed aromatics because they are cheaper to produce. Or maybe a great many guys just decided they liked something sweet (it may be hard for some of us to believe, but I can remember a time when the Balkan Sobranie was an OTC blend). It's a great question, though, and I loved the Druquers ad.

Anyhow, I think a great many smokers like variety. I've got a huge cellar at this point, and there are quite a few aromatics in it. I've found there are some very, very high quality aros on the market, and there are times I'm just "in the mood" for them. That doesn't mean I prefer them over the more "natural" blends. 90 percent or more of what I smoke are English/Balkan, Va/Per, or burleys. But a large part of the attraction of smoking a pipe to me is the vast variety of flavors available, and I imagine I'm not the only one.

 

[msandoval858]

Anyone who spends anytime behind a sales counter at a tobacco shop can easily confirm, aromatics make up the huge majority of what people buy. I agree that those of us who enjoy the premium non-aro blends are probably a very very small percentage of the pipe smoking community. When I did the retail thing, 95% of the people that walked in wanted to buy something that smells nice and is not too expensive. Even trying to get guys to consider trying a tinned blend was a hard sale because they liked their BCA, 1Q, etc. I would go as far as to say if it were not for consistent sales of aromatic tobaccos, there might not even be a pipe tobacco industry for us to enjoy.
Although I am not a fan of aros for myself, though I dabble in them from time to time, there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying them. I say smoke what you like, that's what matters the most!

 

[misterlowercase]

Jarit,

that Drucquer's catalog is priceless, thanks for sharing that, as well as all the other info, good stuff!
Doctorthoss,

yep, I've noticed the big push in the 60's and 70's, massive ad campaigns and such,

definitely a profound shift there.

 

[Perique]

I've never been a big aro guy. That said, a GOOD aro is a wonderful (albeit rare) experience. A good English Aro is sublime.
On the thread topic, I also find the sales figures fascinating and can only conclude that the average pipe smoker isn't an 'enthusiast' per se, nor a forum junkie.

 

[weezell]

Smoke what you like!

 

[buzkirk]

Aero guy here, smoke Dan Tobac, Sweet Vanilla Honeydew as my daily go to smoke, I have dabbled in a few VA flakes and a couple VA/Per blends but keep coming back to what I really enjoy DAN SVH.
Tom

 

[batdemon]

I am another one who like them all.

 

[Scrapyard Ape]

To classify a pipe smoker by what he/ she smokes is just shit.

Truth.

 

[winton]

When I smoke, I load one pipe with an aromatic and another pipe with a non-aromatic. I smoke one until it goes out and then light the other pipe, then keep switching back and forth. WHY? Because this is the way I want to smoke. I enjoy both. Also, the trading helps me distinguish the differences.
Winton

 

[yaddy306]

When I smoke, I load one pipe with an aromatic and another pipe with a non-aromatic. I smoke one until it goes out and then light the other pipe, then keep switching back and forth. WHY? Because this is the way I want to smoke. I enjoy both. Also, the trading helps me distinguish the differences.

Winton, I did exactly that yesterday.

I was beginning to think I was the only one who does A/B comparisons.

 

[shutterbugg]

I smoke aros mainly because bystanders don't find the room note objectionable as is the case with the Lat blends I prefer. But I tend toward the aros that derive their flavor from blending and pressing, with as minimal casing as possible.

 

[misterlowercase]

I think this is just a bit of a sociological investigation, mso489 certainly didn't post it with any ill intent, he's simply curious about some of the involved parameters of things, and I thank him for bringing the subject up, I think it's worth discussing at least,

can we not have a dialogue here?
I'm very interested in the arc of preferences for certain tobaccos throughout pipesmoking history and it's a legitimate line of discourse I'd reckon.
Why, for example, did the average British pipesmoker develop a taste for sauced and steamed dark flakes?

A lot of it has to do with manufacturer technique, marketing, and cultural dimensions.
But these preferences don't define us, and we're talking averages here, no pigeon-holes exist in pipeland, which is one reason it's still a magical exercise, and offers a broad range of experiences to a wide range of different folks, with different tastes and different objectives.
It's undeniable that at some point a majority of pipesmokers in the USA shifted from natural blends to more sauced blends, and for the most part I think we're talking about the easily available drugstore variety of aromatics, not really the world-class aros out there today.
When people enjoy pipesmoking, it should be celebrated in whatever form it takes, it matters not what pipe or tobacco is the prime choice, but the act itself, of which we are all enjoying for the same reason, regardless of our particular preferences.
Us online forum enthusiasts exist in a hyperreal world, if you will, exploring and talking about all the myriad nuances and all that jazz, whereas the "average" pipesmoker exists in the real world, smoking his pipe with complete happiness with whichever blends he has chosen and feels no need to go on the computer and be an "internetdummy" (a funny term I read in a recent tobacco review), some people can be completely content and other people can become somewhat obsessive about it all, and it's all good either way methinks.