Daily Aromatic Smokers Corner

Wolf41035

I didn't want to do this but since there is NO Edit button and I could not change the title of Aromatic Smoker only I felt this was going to have to happen. 
So I guess we move our Daily Aromatics to this post.
 
So what Aromatic are you smoking today?

Wolf41035

OK Here we go.
 
Today - CAO Eileen's Dream Thinking of using my Meerschaum today.

cwpipes9

Been smoking Dan Tobacco's Devil's Holiday. Delicious black cav and a nice blue berry taste (to me at least). Smoking pipes says the flavor is wild forest berry. 

PhilosoPiper

I don't often smoke Aromatics, and I am not 100% positive this is technically an aro... That being said, today I smoked a bowl of Esoterica's Woodbridge. It is a heck of a smoke, requires a little drying time, other than that I find it to be one of Esoterica's more underrated blends.

motie2

Another day of rain and skeeters. I'm gonna get to that Officer's Club blend sooner or later.

motie2

@PhiolosoPiper -- Esoterica Woodbridge is the kind of tobacco that puzzles me.

At https://www.pipesandcigars.com/p/esoterica-woodbridge-pipe-tobacco/1472748/  P&C describes it thusly: <<Woodbridge is a mixture of twelve distinctly different Virginias, including a number that have been hot-pressed and tumbled out. The blend is then treated with a singular, fruity top-dressing which adds a subtle hint of flavor and a very pleasant room note.>> [italics are mine]

Yet, P&C describes it as a non-aromatic.

Strength: Medium-Full

Tobacco: Virginia

Style: Non-Aromatic

Room Note: 3 - Balanced

Cut: Flake

Flavor Intensity: 1 - Low

What gives?  

@PappyJoe -- any ideas how this can be?

ghostsofpompeii

I started the day with India Trading Company "Cellar Reserve" and just a bit ago finished a bowl of Out Of Office - "Gone Fishing".

PappyJoe

@motie2 - Bad editing from P&C?

tobaccoreviews.com says differently - http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/504/esoterica-tobacciana-woodbridge

They have it as an aromatic.

motie2

Yeah, I said it puzzled me...... Of course, I'm old and easy to puzzle.

Wolf41035

A lot of Tobaccos listed as Non-Aromatic are in deed an Aromatic.  Some just don't want to call them that.  lol

Woodsman

Peterson 3P's plug has a fruit topping and also listed as a non aromatic. I'll receive some soon and let you know.

motie2

East India Trading Co's. "Officer’s Club," one of their three advertised rum blends.

I can't write cool literate reviews like my mentor @ghostsofpompeii, but here are my clumsy impressions.....

Lit easily after a charring light. Smoked nice right from the newly opened tin, although the tobacco was very wet/sticky. Not as goopy as Molto Dolce, but much more so than the Sutliff aros I’ve been enjoying in tin and bulk. Stayed lit all the way to the dottle, which was very wet. Yet, no tongue bite. Thick rich smoke with a very mild and unremarkable taste; nothing to really recommend it -- nothing special -- didn't suck. I could not single out or really taste the advertised flavorings. Did I taste rum, spices, and vanilla? No, I could not pick out anything specific, but again, I found it a very pleasant smoke. The same flavor was present from top to bottom. It was perhaps the most tobacco flavored aromatic I've enjoyed since switching from House English and House Va/Per to House Aromatic for my second pipe life. 

Note: Officer’s Club left less aftertaste and a less “coated” mouth feel than other Burley/Virginia/Cavendish aromatic blends I enjoy. 

I’d give it three out of four stars. However, when it’s gone, I won’t buy it again. If I want a rum blend, I’ll stick with my beloved Barbados Plantation, and if I want vanilla, I’ll smoke Vanilla Custard (Both are Sutliff blends.) If I want both at the same time, I’ll mix ‘em.

Maybe I’ll get around to mixing Officer’s Club with other aromatics, but I'm not sure what that would accomplish.....

ghostsofpompeii

@motie2 Sorry I steered you wrong, my friend. I really enjoy it and find both the tin note, room note, and flavor pretty intoxicating. As a matter of fact I just order an additional three tins today. Usually we have a similar taste in aromatic pipe tobacco - but I guess in this one instance ... not so much. Actually your review would be more the way I might describe the other two blends from India Trading Company "Cellar Reserve" and "Royal Challenge". I found "Officer's Club" to sweetest and most flavorful ... "Royal Challenge" has the additional flavor of nutmeg and cinnamon which actually has grown on me and I find myself reaching for it with more regularity ... and "Cellar Reserve" is the blend with a touch of Perique adding a peppery flavor to the back end of the smoke. It's probably my least favorite ... but as with many Perique blends it really brings on the white smoke.  

motie2

I guess I'm the same way with rum blends that I am with rum: there can be only one.

Come to think of it, I'm like that with beer, too -- only one brand; they ain't got it, I don't drink.

No harm and I'll be sending you a can of Officer's Club, with only two bowls' worth missing!!!!

Jaynaff

I try a lot of tobacco's, like every pipe smoker, I imagine. I go back and forth between English and Aromatic blends. However, no matter what I'm trying, I always come back to Shortcut to Mushrooms as my favorite. It's sort of a hybrid, but mostly aromatic, in my humble opinion.

Jaynaff

an edit button would be nice....

motie2

@Jaynaff -- I looked up Shortcut to Mushrooms on http://www.tobaccoreviews.com

It sounds really interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

motie2

Notwithstanding my curiosity about Shortcut to Mushrooms (above), I think I'm about to stop trying to find new aromatic blends to enjoy. Nothing I've tried has been as satisfying as Barbados Plantation and I've tried several other rum flavored brands -- they just don't measure up -- and that includes Officer's Club ('rum custard flavor'), which came highly recommended, but proved disappointing, de gustibus, and all that ..... So it goes.

One cannot surpass Vanilla Custard for a mild vanilla smoke. It's excellent by itself, and it plays well with others -- I've used it to sweeten up several other blends, including Russ' Warm-Up, and, from time to time, even the Barbados Plantation. 

And for a special treat, I'll break out a bowl of @ghostsofpompeii's phenomenal "Mrs. Hudson's 221B Bakery Street" blend. (Recipe on request from me or Ghost)

Wolf41035

I will try almost all Pipe tobacco but I lean towards Aromatics for a relaxing enjoyable smoke.  If I want stout I smoke Cigars.  lol

motie2

I don't know anyone else who smokes a pipe except you all. Not much, "Hey, try some of this," goes on. 

But folks on here have pointed me in good directions, but it gets expensive unless you can buy a particular blend by the ounce. 

And even then, with shipping, it gets pricey, especially if you have one bowl of a blend and go, "Nope!"

ghostsofpompeii

I usually make a list of what people recommend who has a similar taste as I ... you know who you aromatic smokers are ... then wait until I have a large enough order to get the free shipping. Which means some special occasion is coming up and I can convince my wife that this $100.00 tobacco order is my present for what-ever occasion that might be. Make sure it's a biggie like a birthday, Father's Day, anniversary, Valentines Day, Christmas ... something like that. Columbus Day or President's Day won't cut the mustard. That way I can save a little each month for any extravagant order I might put in. And let me tell you ... it's getting harder and harder to justify another tobacco order.

motie2

<<....it's getting harder and harder to justify another tobacco order.>>   Amen, brother.

mseddon

I've been enjoying the various Country Squire aromatics. Parson's Blend is very nice, not overly sweet, I like it a lot and not just because I'm a parson. Second Breakfast (maple) makes for a nice late morning smoke. County Seat (apple) is pleasant though I don't pick up much of an apple flavor. Their new blend, White Rose, is very nice. There is definitely a honey note to it, but it is a bit spicy and it has really grown on me.

motie2

@mseddon -- I'm a 4 years retired parson of sorts (as parson is not really an appropriate descriptive amongst my people.) 

Pleased to make your acquaintance on another level.....

mseddon

@motie2, that's great to know, and congratulations on your retirement! We also don't really use the term parson. I have a retired priest who helps me out and we call each other parson as a joke. In Spanish, to retire is jubilarse. It's reflexive, as in to retire yourself. I love the "jubilar" root, which sounds like joyful, or to joyful yourself. I hope your service was joyful and your retirement is as well!

Wolf41035

@Motie2 well when you do end up getting something you don't like just list it in the trade post and see who has what to trade you.
I personally like a bunch of Aromatics that some of you other guys like so if I see you talking about one I write it down and try to get it when I order something else.....  I tend to save up and buy a few things at the same time or when I order Cigars I try to order one or two batches of some kind or Aromatic pipe tobacco.  I have no woman to answer to so the only thing keeping me from buying what I want when I want it is Money! 
 

motie2

 @Wolf41035 -- You write:<<....well when you do end up getting something you don't like just list it in the trade post and see who has what to trade you. >>

Oh, I certainly would, but I am currently indebted to the kindnesses of a couple of our members, so if I have something I think they'll like, I kinda want to just gift it to them.

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motie2

Heh, more formatting garbage.

Anyway.....

Just FYI -- Barbados Plantation, the finest rum blend and the best commercially available aromatic I've ever smoked, is out of stock at P&C, but is available for $6.70 a tin at http://www.smokingpipes.com  It's my go to blend and I stocked up.

Others have described BP in a variety of reviews far better than I can:

<<I have had trouble tasting some of the flavors in other aromatics. Not this one. I tasted everything. There is first and foremost fine Barbados rum, sweet and wonderful. Underneath that is a subtle hint of vanilla from the Cavendish .... I am as picky as aromatic smokers come. I need for an aromatic to deliver beyond just a nice tin note. I need to smell it, taste it, and share the aroma around the room .... Barbados Plantation has become a very consistent go-to aromatic for me. The flavor is simply fantastic. The rum overtone is nice and mellow, with a sweet flavorful base providing just a delightful experience, every single time .... I've lost the taste for other aromatics with this one -- it's THAT GOOD .... The aromatics in no way overwhelm, but rather are in perfect balance with the Burley, Virginia, and Black Cavendish in this blend .... No one component dominates in any way>>

PappyJoe

Was in Baton Rouge yesterday to see the oldest son and also take the opportunity to visit Bayou Tobacco and see what she had new. She was unpacking boxes and putting prices on new tins so I left with a tin of C&D Ephiphany and MacBaren Cherry Ambrosia (and a new MM Diplomat). Several hours later I cracked open the Cherry Ambrosia and loaded it into the new cob.

The first bowl was not the best cherry tobacco I've smoked. It was also far from the worst. Yes, the tin note smelled pretty good but it wasn't as in-your-face as I expected it to be. I personally didn't smell a bouquet of cherries while smoking it though I did pick up a little sweetness.

After smoking it I decided to look up the reviews online. I was really surprised at all the negative reviews on tobaccoreviews.com as it just didn't bite when I smoked it. It also didn't leave a cherry cough syrup taste in my mouth or a soapy Lakeland aftertaste. The average rating online is 2.2 stars. After just one bowl, I would say its closer to 2.8 stars. 

 

Wolf41035

@Motie2 Nothing wrong with gifting some of it.  I have given away a bunch to friends but I always try to keep a little for trades so I can try something different without going broke.  lol

motie2

@PappyJoe -- Have ye an opinion about Cult Blood Red Moon? I've read some good reviews --- http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/7852/cult-blood-red-moon and the reviews at https://www.pipesandcigars.com/p/cult-blood-red-moon-pipe-tobacco/1478834/#p-136875 --- but I'd value your more experienced POV with cherry blends. 

Early on, in my first pipe life, in the 1960's/early '70's, the only cherry blends I ran into before switching to English and VaPers were Middleton's and Paladin.