Welcome back to Smokingpipes University. Today I'm going back-to-basics to discuss the overarching genres, or families, of pipe-tobacco blends. I think this will be useful, especially for people first starting out. Even for you veteran pipe smokers out there, I hope that you'll find something useful here or at least be able to join in the conversation and leave some of your thoughts in the comments.

Virginia

The first family I wanted to talk about is Virginia. As a disclaimer, some of the family designations are subjective but the way that we typically classify Virginia blends is when flue-cured, or Virginia tobaccos, are the primary component or flavor note in a blend. Manufacturers can sometimes add flavorings or casings into the production process. This is never really a top note though. These are always earlier on in the actual processing phases of productions, and really what those casings do is bring out the natural tobacco flavors a little bit more. You're still getting mostly that pure-tobacco experience from the flue-cured leaf itself but of course there can be other components in there as well.

Virginias don't have to be straight Virginia blends. You can have a little bit of Perique in there, Dark-Fired Kentucky, and a little bit of Oriental, but only if they're used as a condiment to the foundation of flue-cured leaf.

Some examples of Virginia blends would be blends like Orlik Golden Sliced. I would even consider Escudo to be a Virginia, even though it has a little bit more of a prominent Perique presence. Also C&D's Bayou Morning or Derringer.

If you dive into this genre, I think you'll find a lot of different expressions of flue-cured leaf and how other components can really help elevate some of that natural sweetness, some of those brighter hay-like notes, grounded with some of the earthier, spicier tones of Dark-Fired or some of that piquant, stone fruit-like spice of Perique. It's really interesting to see how different blending houses and manufacturers can create a really awesome Virginia blend using a variety of different components, as long as the Virginia component is the forerunner in the blend.

Aromatic

The next family I want to talk about is one that can be polarizing, and that is Aromatics. A lot of folks love them. Some folks, not so much. I, myself, have several Aromatic blends in my cellar. Not quite as many as I do Virginias but it is a nice change in my rotation, particularly as the months draw colder, the nights get longer, and you just want something that's a bit nicer to smoke indoors or in the garage.

What makes something an Aromatic? Essentially, per our classifications, an Aromatic is a blend that has a top note; A blend that does have some sort of non-tobacco flavoring or character applied in one of the last steps of the blending process.

We talked a little bit about casings and toppings but really how we define Aromatics is that it can basically have whatever components. You'll find a lot of Aromatic blends do have a high percentage of Cavendish leaf, mainly Burley-based Cavendish, and this is really good for Aromatics, specifically, because Cavendish can absorb a lot of the flavors that are put on it. They don't have a super distinct note of their own. The exception there, I think, is C&D's Dominican Cavendish; the unsweetened variety has a really cool, almost spicy character and it's a little more dry than you would expect. Most folks do use a Burley-based Cavendish, which doesn't have a whole lot of nicotine after it goes through the cooking process. It also absorbs all the top notes.

One of the final processes to create an Aromatic blend is to apply that top dressing. Unlike casings, which are applied during the processing stages of individual components before they're blended, Aromatics are typically topped with some sort of flavoring or mix of flavorings. We think about blends like C&D's Autumn Evening with those very iconic pancake, maple syrup, autumnal room notes and flavor profile. There are some manufacturers that do add flavoring in multiple steps of the process and that can yield some really interesting results. It just depends on the manufacturer.

English

Next up is the English pipe-tobacco family. We call it English, though that actual classification is apocryphal. There are some folks in the hobby who consider any non-flavored tobacco — any tobacco that doesn't have a casing or a top note — an English blend. This goes back to some of the purity laws in England, particularly around the manufacturing of consumable goods. There's a lot of rules around what you can and can't put on pipe tobacco, so there is some definition around that.

How we think about English here at Smokingpipes, though, is really the presence of Latakia. Latakia is a very recognizable and distinctive pipe-tobacco component. The actual tobaccos are typically small-leaf Orientals that are then smoked for an extended period, over months, which caramelizes the leaves. It gets rid of some of the nicotine and imparts this really unique campfire, peaty character to it. You can think about Latakia or English blends, in general, the way you would think about a peated scotch. It might not be for everybody but it is a really cool, unique experience that you should definitely try if you're just starting out on your pipe-smoking journey.

I think English blends are also really good recommendations for new pipe smokers. A lot of times, when people are just picking up the pipe, they'll want to start with Virginias or Burleys or something else that's been recommended on the forums. But I've found that, when you're just getting into it, sometimes your palate's not developed enough to pick up on some of the nuanced flavors that you get from those other classifications. Latakia can impart this really distinctive, unique character across the English blends, one that you could pick up, whether you're a cigar smoker or you've never smoked anything else before. It's gonna be a different and unique experience that you'll probably want to have a couple times a week.

Of course, English blends aren't fully Latakia. An entire blend of Latakia would be very strong in terms of flavor. Oftentimes, most manufacturers will use Latakia as a component leaf, or as a condimental leaf. Typically they'll start with a foundation of Virginias, maybe a little Burley, sometimes some Orientals, and then Latakia is always a secondary or complementary component. Latakia is so distinctive and so prominent, it's hard not to experience it. Here at Smokingpipes, we tend to put any blend that has a noticeable quantity of Latakia in it into its own category, which we call English. Some example blends that you should try are G.L. Pease's Quiet Nights, which is an excellent blend, Rattray's Black Mallory, and then, of course, Peterson's Early Morning Pipe, which is a staple. All of these have different expressions of Latakia and use different types of Latakia.

Burley

The last family I'll discuss today is Burley. Burley is also like Virginia in the sense that you can have Burley in any tobacco family. We see White Burley used a lot to add strength in terms of nicotine and body to really any pipe-tobacco family; English blends, Virginia/Perique, and English Aromatics, for example. It's not super specific to the actual use of Burley the way that Latakia is for English blends.

For us, a Burley is any blend in which the primary note or component of a blend is air-cured leaf. Air-cured leaf, also known as Burley, is among some of the most high nicotine of pipe-tobacco varietals. It's typically low on sugar and high on nicotine. The leaves are pretty big and they're used for a lot of things. You could Cavendish Burley, which would allow you to add top flavors but you can also have a standard Burley blend with a large percentage of Dark Burley, White Burley, and sometimes a mix of Burley varietals.

It's a really cool experience because Burleys, in a certain percentage, can really add a different type of flavor or nuance to a blend. There is a little bit of peppery spice and more of that chocolatey, nutty quality, with a good bit of oomph.

When I think of Burley blends, there's a lot of manufacturers that come to mind. Samuel Gawith 1792 is a very iconic and must-try blend if you're looking to experience the stronger presence of Burley. There's also Solani Aged Burley Flake, which is incredible. That's a different expression; it's made by a German manufacturer, so there's a whole different blending ethos.

Cornell & Diehl's Burley blends, I think, are a bit more rustic. You get more of that chocolatey, nutty character and oomph. I find that C&D's Burley blends do have a good bit of nicotine, which I personally enjoy; I'm a nicotine fiend. But examples come to mind like Haunted Bookshop and Haunted Bookshop Cake. C&D uses a lot of White Burley and Dark Burley across their entire portfolio, even in blends that I wouldn't consider Burleys. It's one of the things that I think gives C&D its unique character. The blends themselves are a bit stronger than you would expect from other manufacturers. I find that they're really great in the mornings to wake you up or even as an after-dinner smoke. Another one that comes to mind is Redburn, which I absolutely love. It's really smooth. You get a little bit of that nutty character but also a good bit of sweetness. I think the actual pressing helps with that as well.

Tobacco Families

There you have it. Those are the four overarching tobacco families that you typically find in pipe tobacco. Of course, there are many other sub genres and subfields. Typically, if there's a blend that has Virginia and Perique, we classify it as a Virginia/Perique. There's English Aromatics, which are, of course, blends that have Latakia but also have a top note. There's cigar-leaf blends like Warped's The Haunting Cake, and a bunch of other blends in their portfolio.

There's lots of different options out there and we'll probably circle back around and do another video later diving into some of those more niche blend families. I hope this has been a nice overview of the top-level categories for pipe tobacco. If you're just starting out, I hope this has helped guide some of your preferences and narrow down some options for your first blend. Feel free to drop us a comment on YouTube or on our Daily Reader. We're always happy to jump in and give you recommendations or answer any questions you might have. Thanks for sticking with us and thanks for watching this video. We'll see you next time.