Types
Flue-cured
(40% of world
tobacco production)
Flue-cured
is also known as "Bright" and "Virginia" by
the world trade. It is used almost entirely in cigarette blends.
Some of the heavier leaves may be used in mixtures for pipe smoking.
Some English cigarettes are 100% flue-cured.
Flue-cured
leaf is characterized by a high sugar: nitrogen ratio. This ratio
is enhanced by the picking of the leaf in an advanced stage of
ripeness, and by the unique curing process which allows certain
chemical changes to occur in the leaf.
Cured leaves
vary from lemon to orange to mahogany in color. The leaves are
relatively large with the largest at midstalk. A well grown plant
will be topped at a height of 39 to 51 inches with 18-22 harvestable
leaves. Yields average around 2200 lbs/A with some in excess of
3000 lbs/A. The leaves are harvested as they mature from the ground
up.
Flue-cured
tobacco is grown in approximately 75 countries from New Zealand
to Germany. Major producers in the world are: China, USA, Brazil,
India and Zimbabwe. The major exporters are the U.S., Brazil,
India and Zimbabwe.
Flue-cured
is grown in six states in the U.S. - Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. A very small amount is in
Alabama.
Burley
(11% of world
production)
Burley is
light air-cured type derived from the White Burley which arose
as a mutant on a farm in Ohio in 1864. Burley is used primarily
in cigarette blends. Some of the heavier leaf is sued in pipe
blends and also for chewing.
Cured burley
leaf is characterized by low sugar content and a very low sugar
to nitrogen ratio (high nicotine). This is enhanced by high N.
fertilizer, harvesting at an early stage of senescence, and the
air curing process which allows oxidation of any sugars which
may have occurred. Burley has a tremendous capacity to absorb
flavorings (25% of its own weight vs. 7-8% for flue-cured).
Cured leaves
vary in color from light tan to reddish and brown. The leaf should
be without yellow patches or fringes.
Crops in the
field are light green in color. This is particularly true for
the midrib and stalk which are creamy- white. The leaves are slightly
larger than flue-cured and the plants are generally taller. A
typical plant is topped at 20-30 leaves. Average yields are 2500-3000
lbs/A and the plants are stalk cut. The leaves are stripped after
curing.
Burley is
produced in around 55 countries but only a small amounts in over
1/2 of these. The main producers and trades are the U.S., Italy,
Korea, Brazil, and Mexico. In the U.S. production is in Kentucky,
Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Missouri.
Maryland
Maryland is
another light air-cured type. It is used to some extent in American
blended cigarettes and to a greater extent in certain Swiss cigarette
blends.
Maryland tobacco
is extremely fluffy, has good burning properties, low nicotine,
and neutral aroma. An example of this lightness: a hoghead of
redried burley or flue-cured may weigh 800 lobs but the same hoghead
will only contain 600 lbs of Maryland.
Maryland tobacco
is upright and large leaved like burley but is darker green without
the creamy midveins. Yields are slightly less than flue-cured.
The tobacco is stalk cut and air-cured like burley. The cured
leaf is various shades of brown with yellow and green colors being
highly undesirable.
Total world
production is small and is confined to the U.S. and Italy; and
is generally declining.
In the U.S.,
production is in five Maryland counties around Washington, D.C.
Dark air-cured
(20% of world
production)
The dark air-cured
term encompasses a number of types used mainly for chewing, snuff,
cigar, and pipe blends. Most of the world production is confined
to the tropics.
In the U.S.
dark air-cured tobacco is produced in Kentucky, Tennessee and
Virginia: three types are one-sucker, Green River and Virginia
sun-cured.
These are
heavy type leaves, highly fertilized and topped low to around
10-12 leaves. Dark air-cured leaf is high in nicotine and used
in chewing and snuff and some pipe mixtures. The plants are stalk
cut.
Cigar wrapper,
binder and filler are also considered dark air types.
Cigar wrapper
Connecticut
valley today, used to be grown in Florida. (Shade tobacco) hand
primed very labor intensive to prevent holes in leaves. Only the
finest cigars are hand rolled with wrapper leaf. High production
costs and development of homogenized leaf has lend to downfall
of production. $4-6.00/lb in 1975
Cigar binder
- Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin
Cigar filler
- Pennsylvania, Ohio and Puerto Rico
Tobacco which
doesn't meet wrapper standards becomes cigar binder (75 cents/lb
in 1975) and cigar filler (57 cents/lb in 1975). Cigar filler
is heavy bodied and is used to make the case of a cigar. Binder
was used as an inner wrapping to form the shape. Like the wrapper,
binder has generally been replaced by cheaper homogenized leaf.
Oriental
(16% of total
production)
Oriental tobacco
gives a mild smoke with very characteristic aroma. Resins, waxes
and gum exuded by glandular hairs (trichomes) furnish the aroma.
Nicotine is low averaging around 1.0%.
Oriental leaf
is characterized by its small size, leaf length is 3-10 inches
and is 2-3 times the width. Average plant heights are 3-5 ft.
The leaves are hand primed, normally sewn on a string, and are
dull yellow to rich brown in color. The leaves are sun-cured.
Production
is centered in the USSR, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia,
Romania and Italy.
Largest importers
are the U.S., Japan and Germany.
Dark-fired
(1% of World)
The main use
for dark-fired tobacco is in the production of snuff, chewing
tobacco, and pipe blends. Dark-fired leaves are subjected to smoke
from smoldering wood during the early stage of curing. The type
of wood used is very important in determining taste and grown.
Cured leaves are very dark in color and are long and heavy bodied.
The plants are topped very low 12-14 leaves, and are stalk cut.
The only significant
world producers are the U.S., Poland, Malawi, Italy and Tanzania.
In the U.S., production is in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Perique
Perique is
produced in St. James Parrish in South Louisiana. Curing consists
of a period of moisture loss in the open, followed by successive
periods of high pressure treatment in barrels. The final product
is very black with a characteristic odor almost like perfume.
It is used in a few specialized pipe mixtures. Perique is produced
in St. James Parrish in South Louisiana. Curing consists of a
period of moisture loss in the open, followed by successive periods
of high pressure treatment in barrels. The final product is very
black with a characteristic odor almost like perfume. It is used
in a few specialized pipe mixtures.
Rustica
When settlers
first reached Jamestown they found the Indians smoking Nicotiana
rustica which contains about 10% nicotine. In the next 300 years
rustica has lost a lot of ground to N. tabacum. At present rustica
is grown and used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, USSR, Indonesia,
Afghanistan, Burma, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, parts of Africa and South
America. Rustica is smoked primarily in water pipes but is occasionally
smoked as cigarettes or chewed.
N. rustica
is grown in small fields on heavy and manured soils often under
irrigation. The tobacco is stalk cut. Curing usually accomplished
by the sun in the field.
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