Are there aromatics that are good to smoke dry? If so, which ones? I’ve seen people recommend smoking Macbaren Vanilla Cream dry. Is that true? There are some aromatics that have to be smoked wet I think. So, what’s the difference in terms of categories? I feel like there needs to be a general warning or knowledge imparted because wet tobacco seems to me to require more skill to smoke/enjoy. Personally, I don’t want to smoke wet tobacco anymore. Just me. At least I want to understand. There’s some Sutliff tobacco that’s impossible to dry…
Wet vs. Dry Aromatics?
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I smoke any wetter tobacco in a cob seems to wick the moisture away.
For my personal taste, I would smoke it dry, but not crisp.
The cob idea sounds good. I don't have any success or joy smoking wet aros. Need to dry. Usually, though, as aros don't do much for me in general (bag note is nice, smoking is utterly unsatisfying for me with majority of them), I mix them in with too-dry tobacco like a dry english, or a too nic-strong blend, and that works wonders, imho. Results in enjoyment of all the tobacco on hand, not having to toss any out. Of course, i don't buy any more of that aro, either.
I thought there are some aromatics that are meant to be smoked wet. They lose taste when dried. On the other hand, I thought there are also some that are meant to be dried.
A lot of them are fine in my experience any way. I usually try and let them dry out.
IMO, maybe for some folks not for others. I don’t smoke anything on the “wet” side but my preference is to dry aros some and dry Virginia Flakes more but I don’t claim any consistency in doing either. Too wet interferes for me in a lot of ways that I don’t err on the wet side.
That’s good to hear. It gets confusing because some some of them are definitely reported to be only good wet. Others are explicitly recommended to be dried.
Some aros, like Sutliff Spiced Rum, cannot be dried. You can leave it out for a year and it’ll be wet. So, I think I’ve read that certain types of aros use a certain chemical that keeps them wet and these need a technique to smoke. I was wondering about this vs. aros that come drier or can be dried. When reading some reviews of some aros, even Jiminks will sometimes say something like, “this one needs to be smoked wet to get the flavor.” These are the questions I want answered. It seems to me that there’s a factual answer regarding the blending of aros. People say there are Danish style aros and American styles - but I’ve no idea if this is really true. I want to know about this, if someone does.
Have you tried putting them on a hot plate or under a heat lamp? I'm usually not patient enough to just let wet tobacco dry naturally especially in my summer where humidity is quite high.
I often put some in a little bowl and under a heat lamp. I bet it could even dry blends covered in PG.
That spiced rum really resists drying. I haven’t tried that. I guess I could. Well, maybe I should try the lamp. In the reviews, people do suggest it. Thanks!
The euro style aros are much better drier IMHO. Haven’t been smoking much of the usual style PG cased aros for the past 6mo. I’ve got a couple good canisters of my 2 house blend codger mixtures that are nice when it’s cooler out, but stuff like Dan Devil’s Holiday and MacB Vanilla Cream (even that I cut 50/50 with their VA#1) dry and smoke better here in the desert.
I like my ladies moist and my tobaccos dry.
I like my ladies moist and my tobaccos dry.
A laugh for the last sentence! Thanks: this is the answer I was looking for vis a vis Euro vs. others. I think there are these different styles and I'm interested in different categories of aros and how they're "supposed to be." I have VA#1 in a jar that I haven't touched BTW.
I prefer my aros dried a tad. I still want some moisture but I don't have a set formula.
I'm in much the same boat as you, having discovered that while I really enjoy aromatics I don't much care for the wet and goopy ones; which are unfortunately most of them. Sutliff and Lane aromatics especially. You can dry them out, but then they tend to lose their flavor and just smoke hot and harsh, and I'm pretty sure most of the Sutliff blends I have jarred up could be left sitting out for weeks and they'd still never dry just because of how much propylene glycol they're saturated in.
Thankfully there are some aromatics out there that come nicely dry straight out the tin and are intended to be smoked that way! I've been trying quite a few different drier aromatics lately and my favorites so far are Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening, Cornell & Diehl Corn Cob Pipe (and a Button Nose), and Mac Baren 7 Seas Red. I recently tried Mac Baren's Vanilla Flake as well, and it was very pleasingly dry and nicely flavored, but a bit too heavy on the bright Virginia for my liking so I'm going to give their Vanilla Roll Cake a try next.
Low Country Santee by Cornell & Diehl is another dry aromatic, but I'll need to smoke it a few more times before I decide whether or not I like it. Gawith Hoggarth & Co's Ennerdale Flake is most definitely a dry aromatic as well, but may be a bit of an acquired taste and just absolutely knocks me on my butt in the Vitamin N department every time I smoke it. In any case, all of those are nicely dry and feel like a non-aromatic between your fingers and in your pipe. No stickiness or goopiness at all.
Other purportedly dry aromatics on my "To Try" list are G.L. Pease's The Virginia Cream, Mac Baren Navy Flake as well as their 7 Seas Regular and Royal, Peterson University Flake, Erinmore Flake, and Gawith Hoggarth's Rum Flake and Bob's Chocolate Flake. Hope that helps!
Thankfully there are some aromatics out there that come nicely dry straight out the tin and are intended to be smoked that way! I've been trying quite a few different drier aromatics lately and my favorites so far are Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening, Cornell & Diehl Corn Cob Pipe (and a Button Nose), and Mac Baren 7 Seas Red. I recently tried Mac Baren's Vanilla Flake as well, and it was very pleasingly dry and nicely flavored, but a bit too heavy on the bright Virginia for my liking so I'm going to give their Vanilla Roll Cake a try next.
Low Country Santee by Cornell & Diehl is another dry aromatic, but I'll need to smoke it a few more times before I decide whether or not I like it. Gawith Hoggarth & Co's Ennerdale Flake is most definitely a dry aromatic as well, but may be a bit of an acquired taste and just absolutely knocks me on my butt in the Vitamin N department every time I smoke it. In any case, all of those are nicely dry and feel like a non-aromatic between your fingers and in your pipe. No stickiness or goopiness at all.
Other purportedly dry aromatics on my "To Try" list are G.L. Pease's The Virginia Cream, Mac Baren Navy Flake as well as their 7 Seas Regular and Royal, Peterson University Flake, Erinmore Flake, and Gawith Hoggarth's Rum Flake and Bob's Chocolate Flake. Hope that helps!
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Wonderful! Thanks for giving such a detailed answer on this. This gets to the point!I'm in much the same boat as you, having discovered that while I really enjoy aromatics I don't much care for the wet and goopy ones; which are unfortunately most of them. Sutliff and Lane aromatics especially. You can dry them out, but then they tend to lose their flavor and just smoke hot and harsh, and I'm pretty sure most of the Sutliff blends I have jarred up could be left sitting out for weeks and they'd still never dry just because of how much propylene glycol they're saturated in.
Thankfully there are some aromatics out there that come nicely dry straight out the tin and are intended to be smoked that way! I've been trying quite a few different drier aromatics lately and my favorites so far are Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening, Cornell & Diehl Corn Cob Pipe (and a Button Nose), and Mac Baren 7 Seas Red. I recently tried Mac Baren's Vanilla Flake as well, and it was very pleasingly dry and nicely flavored, but a bit too heavy on the bright Virginia for my liking so I'm going to give their Vanilla Roll Cake a try next.
Low Country Santee by Cornell & Diehl is another dry aromatic, but I'll need to smoke it a few more times before I decide whether or not I like it. Gawith Hoggarth & Co's Ennerdale Flake is most definitely a dry aromatic as well, but may be a bit of an acquired taste and just absolutely knocks me on my butt in the Vitamin N department every time I smoke it. In any case, all of those are nicely dry and feel like a non-aromatic between your fingers and in your pipe. No stickiness or goopiness at all.
Other purportedly dry aromatics on my "To Try" list are G.L. Pease's The Virginia Cream, Mac Baren Navy Flake as well as their 7 Seas Regular and Royal, Peterson University Flake, Erinmore Flake, and Gawith Hoggarth's Rum Flake and Bob's Chocolate Flake. Hope that helps!
You're very welcome! I know that was a lot of potential blends to try, but if I could recommend just one to start with it would be Cornell & Diehl's Autumn Evening. What you'll find with most dry aromatics is that the flavor of the toppings take a backseat to the flavor of the tobacco and can be rather subtle, but with Autumn Evening both the maple topping and red Virginia tobacco flavors are bold and in perfect balance; and Autumn Evening is as dry as an aromatic gets.
Just my opinion but I'm a big aro guy, although now more so Virginias; I think if an aro is that goopy and wet it will still have flavor when dried. It's tongue bite and a thousand relights, which isn't worth my time. And yes you're right, aros are the first thing a lot of pipe smokers begin with, and they're difficult. A lot of pipe smokers think they graduated to different tobaccos and circle back to aros. Also, I get you on Sutliff, but trust me its all dryable. Microwave it for just a few seconds then let it set out and cool. Sutliff Cream Brulee is a 2 week dry time easy. You can microwave it and save time. It's way better dry than goopy. You shouldn't be forced to use a cob to enjoy your tobacco. If dried, you can use which ever pipe you prefer. But yes, cobs are forgiving.
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I was actually just trying to frame a question around this concept. I only smoke aros at this point and have been trying to dry them out. Specifically the C+D Nutty Irishman and Captain Black, which are my daily smokes right now. Sometimes I mix them. I'm not entirely sure but I feel like when the humidity stars align, and I finally get them pretty dry, they will smoke on their own a lot more in the bowl, tending not to achieve that nice slow roast we are looking for and kind of burning up too quickly...is that a thing?