Why Are Aromatics Generally Weaker Than Non-Aromatics?

[carolinachurchwarden]

I've discovered for myself that I like certain aromatics, but don't like smoking them an awful lot because they just don't give you that kick like some other non-aromatics do. I've also discovered that I really do love English blends, but not all of them have the most pleasant room note. So why is it that a lot of the great smelling aromatics out there don't seem to have the same quality of punch that some English or other strong blends do? Is it because the leaf that provides such a kick doesn't smell all that appealing or can't take the toppings as well? I personally love the aroma I get when I smoke my English blends, but sometimes find the wife saying I smell like smoke. Not bad, not good, just smokey. She told me the other night after smoking some Nightcap that I smelled like the pipe was smoking me, lol. Any thoughts?

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Master blenders can break it down a lot better than I can, but from my novice experience as a pipe smoker who enjoys aromatics and non-aromatics (Va/Va-Pers) aromatics tend to have a lesser quality leaf where the top dressing or casing is used to exploit the weaker leaf flavor profile or in some cases completely over take the leaf flavor profile. I think the fact it's typically a lesser quality leaf (for the most part) you're not quite getting the sugar to alkaline ratios that you get in non-aros which effects the nicotine level i.e. that "punch" that you're talking about. I have noticed that C&D aromatics have that punch more so than Lane Limited aromatics or Mac Baren aromatics. I would suggest giving Autumn Evening from C&D or Virignia Cream from GL Pease (manufactured in Pease's name by C&D). To me those have more so had that punch to them than other aromatics and still left a nice pleasant room note. I've also heard that the rope blends that have a casing on them are pretty powerful as well and leave a more pleasant room note, but I've never had a rope blend myself, so I can't speak to it personally.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Master blenders can break it down a lot better than I can, but from my novice experience as a pipe smoker who enjoys aromatics and non-aromatics (Va/Va-Pers) aromatics tend to have a lesser quality leaf where the top dressing or casing is used to exploit the weaker leaf flavor profile or in some cases completely over take the leaf flavor profile. I think the fact it's typically a lesser quality leaf (for the most part) you're not quite getting the sugar to alkaline ratios that you get in non-aros which effects the nicotine level i.e. that "punch" that you're talking about. I have noticed that C&D aromatics have that punch more so than Lane Limited aromatics or Mac Baren aromatics. I would suggest giving Autumn Evening from C&D or Virignia Cream from GL Pease (manufactured in Pease's name by C&D). To me those have more so had that punch to them than other aromatics and still left a nice pleasant room note. I've also heard that the rope blends that have a casing on them are pretty powerful as well and leave a more pleasant room note, but I've never had a rope blend myself, so I can't speak to it personally.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

From what I gather from years of reading what Master Blenders post on here, aromatics are NOT made of lesser quality leaf. There are a few aromatics that have a moderate (or better) nicotine level, as Lordofthepiperings has stated, but there probably is no one specific reason why so many are of a low level of nicotine. I think companies like Lane Ltd just don't understand that many smokers want nicotine. In interviewing Mr. Stokkebye of Lane Ltd at our pipe club meeting last year, he just couldn't seem to fathom why a pipe smoker would want more nicotine. Several of us were trying to convey the question to him, but he just seemed flummoxed by the concept.
Another reason may be that the more processes the tobacco goes through, lessens the nicotine, heating, Cavendish, the acidity of the toppings, all could contribute to restricting how much nicotine we can absorb, or how much is available to be absorbed.
All in all, I think that most bulk aromatics are marketed to B&M's for beginner pipe smokers anyways. While it may take more experience to fully enjoy an aromatic, it is still, unfortunately, targeted to the complete newby to lure them into the... hobby. "Get in the van, kiddie. We have cherry and apple flavors."
The better aromatics tend to be more expensive, and sold in tins, or limited in bulk availability.

 

[ignaciojn]

In the blends that use it, I'd blame black cavendish for that.

 

[mso489]

Low nicotine aromatics sell better. Aromatics are about 95% of the market. And apparently of those, the low nicotine blends sell best. After that we get into speculation. Maybe over-the-counter smokers, who are most of pipe smokers, like to sip along all day and don't want a nicotine buzz going on all the time. Forums members are a special group of the small world of pipe smokers. Remember, you can always pep up your aromatics by mixing in Five Brothers or another nicotine-rich leaf. I don't go after a nicotine buzz in particular, but it's welcome when it's there. But a low-nic bowl is often equally satisfying to me. So I'm probably a rarified part of a rarified group.

,,,just in terms of process, I'd guess that flavoring a blend tends to dilute the nicotine, and perhaps milder (lower nicotine) leaf takes on flavoring more readily, but the blenders among us could speak to that. With me, it's pure surmise.

 

[npod]

Great topic. Great comments above.
I really don’t have much to add other than I agree that aromatic blends tend to have a strong taste but a week strength. It took me a few years to actually understand what that means. A lot of tobacco reviewer’s present different terms to describe the experience. Then one day I realized that some of the aromatics, while tasting a certain way and generally very noticeable, had really no strength or body or whatever else you wanna call it.

 

[mso489]

Just as an afterthought, I notice that most of the classic over-the-counter blends have some kind of flavoring, in many cases just slightly noticeable. Certainly Prince Albert and Carter Hall, but also the ones that make no mention of an aromatic flavoring like Half-and-Half and Granger. I was a little surprised to hear Granger was "technically" an aromatic, but after deliberative sipping of it, I guess it's true. Rough cut Kentucky burley thought it is.

 

[craiginthecorn]

The addition of sugary casings reduces the pH of the smoke, which reduces the amount of nicotine actually absorbed by the linings of your mouth.
https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=fhyf0213

 

[mso489]

craig', thank you for pinning that down to biochemistry. Most astute, complete with a reference. I do like the minimal nicotine blends too, as well as the sometimes surprise of a nicotine buzz. I'm smoking Tabac-Manil Semois right now, but I knew it had vitamin N.

 

[workman]

The few aromatics I smoke (Mac Baren Navy Flake, Amphora Full Aroma), I prefer very dry, as I get more of the burley.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Aromatics are about 95% of the market."
I've oftentimes heard that mantra spoken on here and with that in mind wondered why it was that when McClelland folded it was their aromatic blends that were the last to be stripped from the shelves. Everyone wanted the straight Virginias and VaPers and by golly didn't they disappear quick but the aromatics lingered for several weeks.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[alan73]

Mawnasniff: my theory on the mcclelland aromatics lasting longer is that aro smokers usually smoke cheaper readily available tobacco, that doesn’t cellar as well as Virginia’s and generally speaking have a less sophisticated view of tobacco taste profiles (no offense intended). members of this forum by and large are in the extreme minority of tastes, knowledge, and OCD

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Jay, there are lots of reasons that McClelland’s aromatics were the last to sell. But, aromatics being the majority of tobaccos sold and consumed isn’t just a rumor or forum fodder. The fact is supported by the statistics that retailers give us. Keep in mind that pipesmoking forum members, YouTube fans, and pipe club members are a small minority within the pipe community. We are a sliver of a fraction of the entire pipe smoking world. The majority of pipe smokers buy their tobacco and go home and smoke it, without a care in the world of what is happening in the pipe community. Most don’t even know there is a pipe community. Most could care less who makes the tobacco they smoke, as long as it meets whatever standards they have in mind. So, when it was announced that McClelland was going tits up, they didn’t hear it, nor care, most likely. Most of them may even be buying renamed aromatic bulks that make it even harder to trace to a company. It was those that actually participate or keep up with the world of pipes that got the message, and most of them are non-aro smokers. Those who were smoking McClelland’s Strawberry Daiquiri may have been buying it under the name “Strawberry Fields” for all we know. Therefore, what sold out last, doesn’t neccesarily mean that more people smoke 5100 more than their chocolate or cherry offerings. It just means that the 5100 fans heard about the closing and stocked up, because they are more connected to tobacco news.

 

[brian64]

"Aromatics are about 95% of the market."

And I would guess that 95% of that is Captain Black and 1Q.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Captain Black, Prince Albert, Sir Walter Raliegh, Carter Hall, Paladin Cherry, IQ, and all of the aromatics found in jars of B&Ms across the land.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"But, aromatics being the majority of tobaccos sold and consumed isn’t just a rumor or forum fodder. The fact is supported by the statistics that retailers give us."
And those retailer's statistics were telling us "we have no McClelland Virginia or VaPers left but we have plenty of McClelland aromatics available".
Michael, I do get your point to some degree but that surely cannot be the whole story.
I've never accepted the 95% figure and have yet to see clear evidence to make me think otherwise.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Maybe In the UK things are different, but if you set in a B&M in the US, you’ll hear every customer buy an aro from the jar all day long. And, all of the pipesmokers I know, mostly smoke PA or SWR all day long. It’s really only after someone joins our pipe club that people I know ever even try a non aro, but even then, they usually go home with a cherry or vanilla pipe tobacco to smoke. Even at pipe shows, that waxy smell of aromatics is what I smell being smoked most often. So, it’s not hard for me to believe. I wish I could visit the UK to see how it is at their B&Ms, or to see what is offered more at drug stores.

 

[brian64]

Captain Black, Prince Albert, Sir Walter Raliegh, Carter Hall, Paladin Cherry, IQ, and all of the aromatics found in jars of B&Ms across the land.

Including all of that does make the 95% seem more plausible, but I don't normally think of PA & CH as aromatics.

 

[pylorns]

Another reason may be that the more processes the tobacco goes through, lessens the nicotine, heating, Cavendish, the acidity of the toppings, all could contribute to restricting how much nicotine we can absorb, or how much is available to be absorbed.

Cosmic hit the nail on the head. Cavendish tobacco takes the top note the best when it comes to making an aromatic. In order to get a cavendish you take a Virginia (in most cases) and steam it. This process reduces the nicotine dramatically.