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Hi guys.
I don't see as much talk about aros as other blends which is fine but I still enjoy them and I know there are more of you out there so I'm looking for some opinions.
As a footnote, now that the weather is nice, I've found Autumn Evening in my back yard with a tea first thing in the morning is absolutely heavenly....imho.
Anyway, I'm running out of my MacBaren Vanilla Cream and would like to replace it. Question is, am I already smoking the epitome of vanilla blends or is there something better out there? Looking for something natural tasting and not chemically.
Also would love to hear about any other of your favourite aros.
Thx.
As far as the epitome of Vanilla blends in my opinion is Mac Baren Vanilla Roll Cake. It’s not just a different cut of what you’ve been smoking, it’s quite different and really good. Incredibly natural and high quality tasting and about the perfect balance of flavor to tobacco. Definitely my favorite in the vanilla genre.
I think of Gawith and Hoggarth Rum Flake and Bob's Chocolate Flake as aromatics and they're my favorite.
But I also enjoy Silems Black which is a Latakia blend with strong berry topping.
In the more mainstream, I like several of the 4 Noggins house blends like Essence Of Vermont, Lord Methleys, and Britts Balkan which is a balkan blend with distinct vanilla overtones. Also Butternut burley from either 4 Noggins or Pipes and Cigars is a nice sweet burley blend.
My biggest issue with aros is their lack of strength. DTM has aros in a really special way with Da Vinci and Blue Note. The latter is mainly vanilla but also some fruit and has a little more strength than average. Da Vinci has a scent I never come across. It is described as Wine and maybe that is right ITo me it stands out with its strength. It is deeply satisfying ,sweet and also the tobacco comes through.The best aro in the vanilla/caramel department is Cochmond by HU. The BEST FLAVOUR I EVER EXPERIENCED in a aro, wow. So deep and lasting til the end. It is described as fudge. Don`t know what fudge is but it seems to be my favorite dessert. I hope Kopp continue producing it after HU went to Kopp. Befor it was made by DTM and I know it was not sure which former DTM produced HU blends keep in production.
I love a aro in a while and when I come across a remarkable one I will let you know. because I know about the failure rate when it comes to aros
A lot of those sound good. I can get Gawith and Hoggarth product here so I'll look for that. The rest sounds like stuff that I never see here. Those plain packaging laws really restrict what I can buy. I can check into it but I'm pretty sure I can't buy "original package" tobacco and have it shipped from another country. Basically I have to buy what's at arms reach. Still plenty to choose from I guess. Brigham does a lot of knocks-offs of other brands so they might have something to choose from. Maybe I need to take a trip.
It reads like it's birthday cake sweet but it's definitely something I would try if I find it.
Butternut burley is fantastic. I'd recommend also eileen dream from CAO. Simply amazing.
Oh man, Eileen's Dream seems to be haunting me. It keeps turning up in posts and searches and conversations like it wants me to go find it. I have yet to see it.
You won't regret I'm sure. The smell out of the tin matches perfect with the flavor you have when smoking. Just perfect.
I have to check in with you Nacho.
Had the Eileen's Dream this morning with my tea and it was great. It's right up there with Autumn Evening but I'll have to give the E.D. more time now the tin's open before a proper assessment.
What I really want to say is about the Butternut Burley. OMG dude, this stuff is amazing. Exactly what I like in a tobacco. Straight to the top of my "must have" list. Based on how long it took to get here I should order more right now because it isn't for sale in this country. Anyway, thx a bunch for the recommendation.
What i most like on ED , apart from its flavor profile, is the nicotine level. I think it has cigar leaf in it so the body is robust.
And yes, the butternut burley is outstanding, i lack english to describe how i like this one!
Well your English is much better than my Portuguese or anything Hispanic so I think you're doing fine.
G&Hoggarth- American delight
and
W.O. Larsen No.50 Maple Mixture
these 2 are my Go tos when in Aro-mood!
I just got a tin of C&D Apricots & Cream. It's pretty... well, creamy and apricot-y. My preference runs to something more subtle like Boswell's Honey Roast or Piper's Pleasure. I even like Lane Limited 1Q.
The Apricots and Cream is just thick. A bit of an "off" taste every now and then, but it's definitely a super smooth and sweet smoke.
Thanks to all for the opinions and suggestions so far. The MacBaren Roll Cake is readily available around here so I think that's my next stop but I'm furiously writing down all the suggestions and will definitely give them a try if I can manage to run into any of them. Happy puffin'.
I'm not an aromatic smoker, mainly because I get tired of them quickly and because I'm very susceptible to tongue bite, but I always have Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream in my rotation.
A friend who is an aromatic lover really enjoys Captain Black Gold.
I´m not ashamed to say that i like all Captain Black i had before, the Original, the Royal, the Gold and the Cherry, all of them are good for me!
I forgot the classic Amphora Full Aroma. Very soft, doesn't bite at all, nice room note. It's always in my rotation.
After talking to a few more people they've convinced me that I should be able to buy a certain amount of out-of-country tobacco so I bit the bullet and made a purchase. Nacho, there's some Eileen's Dream and Butternut Burley in the order. G&H Rum Flake was out of stock so Sutliff's Buttered Rum it is. Trying to find Patience of Dr.Silence because Lee and Ted have said some good things about it. I expect to get raped by customs but that's part of the game I guess. I want to be excited but I'll hold off until it's at my door.
I´m sure you will be very happy when they arrive, Butternut Burley and Eileen Dream are outstanding!! This Sutliff Buttered Rum is new for me, I´ll search about because the flavor profile seems exactly what i like.
Not sure if I have to go straight to KBV for "Patience" or if it's available elsewhere.
For Virginias-
Van Gogh, exceptional.
Kraken Bar, A take on a navy blend (Rum)
Others-
Dark Fired Cherry (a dark fired, what I might call a semi-aromatic, NOT a common cherry blend, bears no relation, totally unique and really fun)
The Oriental Affair, if you like Orientals, plays on their floral characteristics.
I highly doubt that you’ll be disappointed with anything available that you pick that sounds good to you. All of the tobaccos they produce are really top notch.
I would also add that I know people who smoke his aromatics, (burley & burley/VA blends) which I haven’t tried, I don’t generally smoke that genre. They have said they don’t get any better. I wouldn’t doubt that at all.
Obviously I didn’t repeat The Patience of Doctor Silence, which you already know I highly recommend 🙂.
Here's a few more renowned aromatics you might like. They are generally highly rated across the board and not chemically tasting (which I hate).
The Country Squire - Tombigbee (formerly known as Old Toby) - it's outstanding and the flavors are something I haven't found in any other aromatic (you'll also find other great aromatics from the Country Squire, especially in the fantasy series line which formerly was a LOTR inspired line of blends)
Cult - Blood Red Moon - arguably the best cherry flavored tobacco where you can taste both a very natural cherry flavor and the tobacco, highly recommend
Mac Baren - Mixture: Scottish Blend - over 35 different tobacco types with just a sweet topping, very nuanced and Mac Baren's most sold aromatic
Mac Baren - Dark Twist Roll Cake - very natural tasting tobacco with just a tad of maple topping, very pleasant and an amazing presentation of the rolled coins
Sutliff - Eastfarthing - if you're looking for something with Latakia with a touch of Vanilla, this is a great blend to try
A few memorable notes: Eileen's Dream is amazing, but if you puff too quickly it can taste chemically. Lot's of people like Country Squire Riverboatqueen (used to be Rivendell) which is chocolatey. And Autumn Evening for sure is an amazing blend as well, great choice!
I've got the Scottish Mixture here and the rest sound tasty and well worth trying. They're going on my list. Thx.
I suppose I smoke a few aros without really thinking of them as aros. Such as: “Patience”, Scottish Mixture, Dark Twist and others, I’m sure. I tend to think of aros as tobaccos with flavouring so obvious that it hides the taste of the tobacco. I also think of cherry, vanilla and chocolate. But, there’s obviously more to them than that.
Are blends like Black Frigate, with its rum casing/topping, also classed as aros? If so, every blend has a topping/casing of some sort, (sugar, honey, liquorice, etc.) So, how are aros defined so as to differentiate them from non-aros?
All points that frustrate me in discussion about pipe tobacco. So many words used aren’t really codified, just general slang that means different things to different people. We need a Daniel Webster type to create an authoritative dictionary, which at least half of the people will criticize no matter what 😃.
Ya, I've never really looked at Scottish Mix as a true aro either but I guess technically it is. When talking about them I tend to differentiate between true aros and what I call light aros.
So many blends out there I guess there are some I haven't looked too closely at yet. Didn't know Dark Twist had maple added......now I'm interested.
Almost all classic blend Mac Baren tobaccos have a base of maple syrup (real, not the fake flavored stuff) All Mac Baren blends have added flavors with the exception of the HH series, which still do, but they are extremely light. 98% of all commercially produced tobaccos have added flavors, regardless of the manufacturer.
Ya, it would be the difference between an up front taste or a subtlety in the background, which my taste buds aren't good at detecting. I tend to need big flavours.
I cannot get any topping/casing flavor in the Scottish Mixture, only tobacco. I love this blend by the way.
Don't know what to do about the cherry stuff. I'm a bit gun shy.
When I first dabbled in pipes 40 some years ago I tried one, Borkum Riff I believe. I like cherries and I certainly like tobacco but together I just found it weird. Kind of like peanut butter and steak. Both great but not together.
Now Borkum Riff would be far from the best example I imagine so there may be some out there that are quite good. The Dark Fired Cherry Ted mentioned might do the trick.
Just don't want to have to figure out what to do with the rest of it after 1 bowl.
All I can say is take the chance on the Dark Fired Cherry! I believe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
At this point it's probably the only one that I would take a chance on because it sounds a little different than the others. Kinda like a dark chocolate cherry bomb I'm guessing.
I know a lot of people love the Cult blood red moon but it didn't seem as different as the Dark Fired. What does Ted think about Cult?
No, no chocolate, the dark fired is dark fired Kentucky. The flavors, as best as I can pick them out are nougat, coffee and a light cherry flavor.
Nothing at all like Blood Red Moon, which is basically a better quality, but common style cherry tobacco.
😮 Guess I should have looked harder at that one. It still sounds interesting and different enough.
I’ve discovered I’m not an aromatic smoker, for the most part. As far as flavored tobaccos go, or the ones sometimes called semi aromatic, there are a few that I do enjoy. I like it when high quality tobacco flavors mingle with a discernible note of an appropriate flavor.
Most aromatics taste nothing like they smell. On the other hand, Cult Blood Red Moon and the flavored offerings from CAO really do taste and smell great. Although, I wasn’t a fan of Eileen’s Dream. It was a little too soft for me. Moontrance is delicious, though — stone fruit and bourbon vanilla. Tasty and close enough to medium to satisfy my tastes. Likewise, Peterson University Flake. I get some dried apricot flavors in that one.
Currently (presently) smoking Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake so you know where my tastes are. Love me some Virginia and Va-Per.
What if I told you Luxury Navy Flake is an aromatic? 😂
Referring to the blog Ted just posted.
Certainly, I’d believe it. There’s definitely some kind of dope in it. It tastes great!
…but also doesn’t stink up the room like Captain Black. It stinks up the room like some tasty tobacco!
Maybe there are aromatics, and then there are aromatics, if you follow….
I must say, my shopping list is getting pretty damn bug these days.
I generally dislike aromatics and find them uninteresting at best, and I am unsure as to whether you would even call this an "aromatic" or not. But I smoked my first bowl of "Wallace Flake" last night and I really liked it. It has a subtle but noticeable plum flavouring which tastes natural and sweet and pleasant, but is only slightly perceptible. It still tastes like tobacco and has a variety of rich and interesting natural tobacco flavours.
Please note that my personal opinion on aromatics is in absolutely no way at all any kind of judgement on you or your taste or anyone else that enjoys aromatics. These things are entirely subjective and I find it absurd to be judging or deriding another person for a personal taste that they totally harmlessly enjoy for themselves. I just wanted to give background into my own personal taste so you could judge whether it's something you might be interested in or not.
I would hope there's no deriding of anyone on here, especially over personal tastes. One of the discussions on here pointed out that just about everything is an aromatic at some level on paper at least. Just not always so detectable. I will happily put Wallace Flake on my list of things to look for.
Happy puffin!
Yeah exactly. It's all a matter of degree really. 🙂 Happy puffin' to you too mate.
I put the disclaimer in because I realize some folk can be snootish about this type of stuff and I didn't want anyone to think I was one of 'em.
Just another heads up for you aro lovers. One of my recent acquisitions is Evening Cordial from 4 Noggins.
Another great blend. A full sweet aro (chocolate/cherry), cavendished, almost black, creamy smoke. Stayed lit. Only a couple of relights near the end. Highly recommend.
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