AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I have several tobaccos in my array which are in that crossover zone between aro and non-aro.
To me, it comes down to what is the dominant flavour. If the tobacco is lurking in the background, it gets smoked in my aro pipes, and if it's tobacco with a hint of X, then it doesn't. For example, I would smoke Louisiana Flake in a Perique pipe, despite the hint of chocolate, and despite Bob's Choc Flate having a slight Lakeland edge, that blend still goes in the Burley/Misc pipes. Condor is too aromatic for the Virginia pipes though, so that and Ennerdale need to be in a pipe dedicated to that floral topping. Gawith RED, Celtic Talisman, American Delite etc, also have way too much fruitiness going off for general pipes, and need Aro pipes in my opinion.
There are exceptions though. New Prince is a maple topped Virginia/Burley blend, that's light enough to smoke in a straight Virginia pipe. Germain's Medium Flake is at the point where it really ought to be smoked in an aromatic pipe, but is so delicate a smoke, that whatever ghosts are in the aro pipe might overwhelm it. As such, it goes in the Virginia pipe, and I'll run the risk of a light ghosting. Coniston Cut Plug Unscented, should really be called Ghosted rather than Unscented, as it carries a light Lakeland scent that probably wasn't really intended to be there. However, because it's a heavy enough tobaccos blend to carry that light ghosting, I smoke that in the Lakeland pipe, and let the pipe ghosts add to whatever ghosts are already floating around in the blend.
I know these are probably all blends that you're unfamiliar with, but hopefully the points carry across anyway.
To me, it comes down to what is the dominant flavour. If the tobacco is lurking in the background, it gets smoked in my aro pipes, and if it's tobacco with a hint of X, then it doesn't. For example, I would smoke Louisiana Flake in a Perique pipe, despite the hint of chocolate, and despite Bob's Choc Flate having a slight Lakeland edge, that blend still goes in the Burley/Misc pipes. Condor is too aromatic for the Virginia pipes though, so that and Ennerdale need to be in a pipe dedicated to that floral topping. Gawith RED, Celtic Talisman, American Delite etc, also have way too much fruitiness going off for general pipes, and need Aro pipes in my opinion.
There are exceptions though. New Prince is a maple topped Virginia/Burley blend, that's light enough to smoke in a straight Virginia pipe. Germain's Medium Flake is at the point where it really ought to be smoked in an aromatic pipe, but is so delicate a smoke, that whatever ghosts are in the aro pipe might overwhelm it. As such, it goes in the Virginia pipe, and I'll run the risk of a light ghosting. Coniston Cut Plug Unscented, should really be called Ghosted rather than Unscented, as it carries a light Lakeland scent that probably wasn't really intended to be there. However, because it's a heavy enough tobaccos blend to carry that light ghosting, I smoke that in the Lakeland pipe, and let the pipe ghosts add to whatever ghosts are already floating around in the blend.
I know these are probably all blends that you're unfamiliar with, but hopefully the points carry across anyway.