Know Your Leaf; Burley

 By Mr. S. Griffith, Club Ambassador
Second Congress, July 2012
 
  What we know as Burley tobacco today is generally credited to a Mr. Webb of Higginsport, Ohio who, in the year of 1864 began growing some seed he had acquired from Bracken County, Kentucky. He found that the leaf both looked and cured differently then what he was accustomed to. Buyers took notice of the product and quickly snapped up the quality leaf for a premium. By the late 1800’s, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee were producing a great deal of this new leaf with the primary market being the venerable Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, roughly 70% of burley tobacco is grown in Kentucky.

By Mr. S. Griffith, Ambassador

  Modern burley is still produced much in the same traditional way as it has been in the past. It is distinctive for its “air curing” as it hangs in large barns, dark for eight or more weeks where it turns from green to yellow then brown. The U.S. Midwest’s natural climate promotes beneficial curing conditions that produce leaf that top tier buyers most desire.
  Burley contains very little sugar which gives it a dryer and more robust aroma than its Virginian brethren. Today, burley is very popular in aromatic blends thanks to its absorption properties and is often found in top shelf Danish blends for pipe smoking.