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Guide To Pipe Tobacco

Guide to Pipe Tobacco

Finding the right pipe tobacco for you can seem like a daunting task. There is such a wide variety of tobacco on the market today. In this guide we will break down the different types and hopefully give a helping hand as to where to start!

Virginia Tobacco

This is the most popular type of tobacco used for pipe smoking at the moment. Virginia is a mild blending tobacco and has the highest level of natural dextrose (sugar) giving it it’s light and sweet taste. Virginia is also a good burner and so aids in the burning of the blend.

Burley Tobacco

 Burley is the next most popular type of tobacco for blending. Unlike Virginia, this one contains almost no sugar giving your blend a dryer and fuller aroma. Burley is used in a lot of aromatic blends as it is good at absorbing flavours. It burns slowly and produces a cool smoke. The technical term for Burley is air-cured. The cooling f this tobacco is done in large barns, by the natural air flow over the course of a couple of months.

 

 

Oriental Tobacco

The best-known types of oriental tobacco are Izmir, Samsun, Yedidje, Cavella and Bursa. They are predominantly grown in Turkey, the Balkans and Russia. They tend to be dry, dusty and slightly sour in taste.

Latakia Tobacco

This type of tobacco is produced by curing the leaves over controlled fires of aromatic wood and fragrant herbs. The leaves are harvested, dried, then cured by this process in tightly closed barns. It is grown mostly in Cyprus and Northern Syria. Latakia has a very rich, heavy taste and a smoky aroma.

Perique Tobacco

Perique is a red burley type of tobacco known for its strong and powerful yet fruity aroma. This tobacco is grown and processed in Louisiana near New Orleans. Perique is a rare, slow burning and long-lasting tobacco. It isn’t produced in massive numbers which makes it a slightly more expensive tobacco. The curing process for Perique tobacco is similar to the Burley process but for a shorter time, the leaves are put into large oak barrels under pressure to squeeze some juice out and make them ferment. They are taken out every now and then for a short period then re-packed in and fermented again. This process can take over a year. Perique tobacco contains a very high level of nicotine and so is only usually used in blends (normally with Virginia), with around 5% being the maximum in the blend.

Kentucky Tobacco

Kentucky tobacco is a specially treated Burley, unlike Burley which is air cured, this is fire cured, and as the name suggests it is produced in Kentucky. It has a less strong aroma than Latakia but it is still very aromatic and unique. Again, the nicotine levels are high in Kentucky tobacco and so this is widely used in blends in limited amounts.

Cavendish

Cavendish tobacco is a method of treating tobacco rather than an actual type. It is mainly Virginia and Burley tobacco that is used. Original English Cavendish uses dark flue or fire cured Virginia which they steam and store under pressure to cure and ferment it over several days and weeks. This is slightly flavoured and heated by high pressure which gives it a dark, black colour. Modern Cavendish is much more flavoursome and the tobacco taste is practically non-existent. To give it this extra flavour, the tobacco is soaked in a fluid mixture of sugar, liquorice or similar aromas which produce the sweet and smooth taste. Modern Cavendish tobacco is available in a number of flavours including Cherry, Vanilla, Rum, Chocolate, Strawberry and Coconut to name a few.

 

CLASSIFICATIONS

Air Cured: Dried naturally, sheltered from sunlight in large barns. Drying is carried out on the whole plant, or individual leaves. Takes 3 months and sugar is produced as a by product in the process.

Dark Tobaccos: Very mature plants, the leaf is subject to a 2nd ferment and leaves are used to make cigars

Fired Cured: Similar to dark, dried by wood-fired fumigation (traditionally with oak)

Sun Cured: Oriental tobacco is sun cured in the countries with extreme warm climates such as Greece and Turkey.

 

TOBACCO CUTS

Flake: Tobacco is pressed and then sliced. The pressure aids in the maturing process and gives it a richer flavour.

Cubed: Tobacco is pressed and cut into fine or coarse cubed pieces. Most commonly Burley tobacco. These burn slowly which creates a cool smoke.

Rough Cut: Tobacco is pressed into larger flat pieces. It burns slowly and can be used to keep hotter tobacco from burning too fast.

Broad Cut: Wide Ribbons that burn average speed

Ribbon: Narrower than broad cut, burns readily and packs well (good for tobaccos that don’t burn easily)

Shag: Stringy ribbon cut tobacco, burns easily.

Twist, Roll Cut and Rope: These are rolled tobacco, twisted to create pressure and help mature. Sometimes Cased for flavour, and cut into coins then packed whole or rubbed. 

Written By - Hayley Hooker - 11/10/2019

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