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PT. NEI’s “Liquid Tobacco Leaf” essence could potentially change the flavor experience with vapes and HTP. Photo credit: PT. NEI
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Lorna Lopez, sales director, FLAVORIQ. Photo credit: FLAVORIQ
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Jay Zhang, vice general manager. PT. Natural Essence Indonesia. Photo credit: PT. NEI
Will “liquid tobacco” be able to tackle the Achilles heel of vapes and HTP in the sensory compartment?
The issue is well known: vapes or heated tobacco products (HTP) simply do not deliver the same taste and mouthfeel as conventional combustibles. This may be less of a problem for younger generation users who have never touched a cigarette in their lives but moved straight into vaping. But, it is often an aspect for consumers who switched from combustibles to vapes or HTP, only to discover that it doesn’t give them the same level of satisfaction they’re used to. The result is that many of those consumers remigrate to combustibles after a while.
Combustion vs. vaporization
But is there a remedy? Lorna Lopez, sales director of FLAVORIQ, a member of Germany’s Arethia Group, says there isn’t … at least not at this moment. And it is all down to how vapes and HTP work. “There’re two main reasons [why vapes/HTP fail to deliver the same taste sensation as combustibles], the first one being combustion versus vaporization,” Lopez said. “In cigarettes, the tobacco is burned, i.e. combusted, which produces thousands of chemical compounds, whereas vaping devices vaporize a liquid mixture, a process which lacks the complexity of combustion that contributes to that rich, smoky taste of tobacco smoke.” Tobacco flavors in e-liquids merely imitate real tobacco. Lopez also pointed out that this goes for pretty much every other flavor, too. For instance, a strawberry flavor in an e-liquid is “completely different from that of a physical strawberry that you eat,” according to her.
The mouthfeel just isn’t right
Secondly, there is the mouthfeel. Lopez explained that traditional cigarette smoke contains solid and semisolid particles that create a distinct mouthfeel during smoking ― a dry, robust sensation in the throat. On the other hand, vapor consists of liquid droplets suspended in air, also known as an aerosol.
“The mouthfeel is, therefore, completely the opposite [to smoke]. It’s quite smooth, lacking the ‘throat scratchiness’ of real tobacco smoke” explained Lopez. “E-liquids are a completely different product [to tobacco combustibles] and they’re never going to get to that [authentic] flavor because they are simply another technology with no actual tobacco in e-liquids. Although e-liquids are heated, they don’t reach high enough temperatures to produce the reactions [that occur during tobacco combustion], which leads to a cleaner, often sweeter taste.”
HTP fare a little better than vapes
The issue is different when it comes to HTP, which actually do contain real tobacco (as recon or in granulated form) in their “heat sticks”. But again, it is the heating method – or rather, the lack of combustion – that makes the distinction. “HTP devices rely on lower temperatures and slowly heat the tobacco but without burning it in the traditional sense of the word,” Lopez said. That in turn prevents the creation of the complex chemical mix so characteristic of cigarette smoke. “Other chemicals are produced, but it is not the same composition that one would find in cigarettes,” Lopez pointed out. In addition, the slow heating process also does not produce smoke as a cigarette would. However, when compared to vapes, HTP fare better in Lopez’s book. “Although HTP definitely come closer to regular conventional cigarettes [in terms of taste and mouthfeel], they are not quite there yet.”
Could “liquid tobacco” be the solution?
But, could a flavor agent that is quintessentially a liquid extract of real tobacco leaves offer a solution to the conundrum? As we have learnt, most e-liquids use – for lack of a better term – “artificial tobacco flavor”,… with all its shortcomings. Yet in practice, even where traditional “real” tobacco extracts are used, they also fail to address the deficiency of authentic tobacco flavor in new tobacco products. Conventional cigarettes are made using solid tobacco leaves, the heat from combustion volatilizing flavor compounds and allowing consumers to perceive flavor and receive nicotine. Under these considerations, is it possible, then, to convert solid tobacco leaves into a liquid form that retains most of the flavor to adapt it to new formats such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products and overcoming the hitherto sensory shortcomings?
Enter PT. Natural Essence Indonesia (NEI), a technology-driven innovative enterprise located on Bintan Island in Indonesia, only about 20 kilometers off the southern tip of Singapore. Founded only in 2023, the company has achieved mass production of what it has named “liquid tobacco leaf,” a liquid tobacco product made from natural tobacco. “Our production process is proprietary and we have independently developed an innovative extraction technology that sets our liquid tobacco leaf apart [from other tobacco extracts],” confirmed NEI’s vice general manager, Jay Zhang, to Tobacco Asia.
Removal of macromolecules and sugars
The technology mentioned by Zhang involves an advanced process that removes non-aromatic macromolecules, including cellulose, starch, proteins, solanesol, sugars, etc., while preserving the natural tobacco essence, resulting in a purer and more refined aroma and flavor. Why is the removal of these substances so important? Explains Zhang: “Non-aromatic macromolecules and sugars do not contribute to tobacco aroma. Instead, they interfere with the expression of the product’s authentic tobacco flavor. By preserving only key aromatic compounds, liquid tobacco leaf delivers a cleaner, more refined aroma and a well-balanced, natural tobacco taste.” Moreover, it is exactly these macromolecules which produce harmful tar when combusted in conventional cigarettes. So their removal can only be a good thing.
Now, as mentioned earlier, the use of tobacco extracts in e-liquids or HTP is nothing new, really. Some brands have done that. However, these extracts still contain those macromolecules that NEI’s liquid tobacco leaf removes. And that seems to make all the difference, according to Zhang. “Compared to traditional tobacco extracts, our innovative manufacturing technology retains only the liquid aromatic flavor components, eliminating non-atomizable solid components and unnecessary impurities, thereby ensuring the purity and stability of the tobacco essence,” he reiterated, “This characteristic makes our product truly a “liquid tobacco leaf.”
Liquid “blends”
The company also claimed that it had “mastered multiple processing techniques that enable the stable production of liquid tobacco leaf from different types of raw tobacco leaves, basically creating “blends” of tobacco varieties such as FCV, burley, oriental, and so on. The product line was officially launched in July 2024, with production using high quality tobacco sourced from around the world to achieve diversified flavor profiles. Zhang pointed out that, “thanks to the research on liquid tobacco leaf, the company has completed the development and testing of heated tobacco products using our own tobacco strands, and we plan to launch mass production in the second half of 2025.”
Special formulation also works at lower temperatures
As we have already explored, the key difference between combustibles, HTP, and e-cigarettes lies in the temperature required for aroma release. Traditional cigarettes burn at over 800°C, where large molecular compounds and long-chain aromatic precursors break down into smaller volatile aroma compounds through complex chemical reactions. In contrast, e-cigarettes and HTP operate at much lower temperatures, limiting the natural breakdown of these compounds. To address this, liquid tobacco leaf is formulated to release key aroma compounds at lower temperatures, ensuring a more authentic tobacco flavor experience.
All of that sounds very promising, providing it works as claimed. In any case, liquid tobacco leaf could be a step into the right direction to close the flavor gap between vapes/HTPs on the one side and combustibles on the other. But, some caution may still be advised, at least for manufacturers located in – or supplying to - certain markets. Liquid tobacco leaf is produced from genuine tobacco after all. “We recommend not using tobacco extracts due to legislations and compliance reasons in markets where such extracts may be restricted,” said Lopez. But even she conceded that a product such as liquid tobacco leaf “contains all the extras there” for being “a big step forward,” at least in the HTP sector.
Disclaimer: The two interviews for this article were conducted separately from one another. FLAVORIQ neither endorses nor advocates for the use of “Liquid Tobacco Leaf” or any other tobacco extracts in vaping, heated tobacco, or conventional tobacco products.