Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia strains

[istanbulin]

Eastern Anatolia Region is located in the easternmost part of Turkey. It is bounded by Turkey's Central Anatolia Region on the west, its Black Sea Region on the north, its Southeast Anatolia Region and Iraq on the south, and with Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia on the east.

Southeastern Anatolia Region is bordered by the Mediterranean Region to the west, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the north, Syria to the south, and Iraq to the southeast.

This region (the combination of the two regions) is the second largest tobacco growing area in Turkey. Tobacco growing areas of Eastern Anatolia are mostly highland areas and climate is very harsh with longer winters.
Southeastern Anatolia is one of the Turkey’s most plain regions. In this region long summers are very hot and dry and winters are cold (not colder as Eastern Anatolia) and rainy.

Because of these different climate conditions, this region’s tobaccos have different characteristics than other three region’s (Aegean, Black Sea and Marmara).
First, there are a lot of strains some of them are small leaved with wide auricles and others are large leaved and narrow-auricled.
Ox-tongue (sığırdili) and similar leaf shapes are very common among these strains. This populations are very different (both physical and blending features) than other three region’s tobaccos. Such that some of them resemble Virginia tobaccos with their smoking and flavor cahracterictics, but growing and curing techniques are very different than American tobaccos. With a few exceptions, these are mostly semi-oriental strains.

According to their quality and blending features, most important strains are explained below.


Bitlis

Bitlis strain of tobaccos is growing in Bitlis growing area which is not far away from Lake Van, Muş and Şemdinli. Due to the mountainous topography, tobacco growing areas are quite limited.
Bitlis tobacco is medium-sized, wide-auricled and wide-eliptic shaped. Color of this tobaccos are generally straw-colored and bright, sometimes there are also bright red colors. Texture of Bitlis is thickish with a good elasticity.
Smoke of Bitlis is sweet and full flavored (stronger) and has a pleasing smell (it resembles new-mown grass smell).
This strain is added to blends to provide sweetness, flavor and a good color. It has an 25% reducing sugars which is the highest amount among the Turkish tobaccos. In point of smoking characteristic, Bitlis strains gives different smoking pleasure. Bitlis is one of the rare strain which provides a good smoking pleasure without blending.
Bitlis is suitable for all cigarette blend types, also it’s very favorable for pipe blends
Nicotine content of Bitlis tobacco is generally about 1.2 %.
Şemdinli and Muş sub-strains also have medium-sized leaves, wide auricled kabakulak leaves. These tobaccos ribs/veins are finer than Bitlis. Also with a unique flavor and nicotine content (1.5 to 2 %) they’re very satisfying.

Adıyaman

Leaves of this strain are medium and partly large-sized. Leaves are petiolated with wide auricles. This strain’s color is mostly yellow partly vary from light red to red. Especially yaka and yarı yaka grown tobaccos look very bright.
The texture of Adıyaman strain is moderetaly thick. While side ribs are fine mid-rib is wide and prominent.
Strain’s burning capability and hygroscopicity is high.
Smoking caharcteristics of Adıyaman is strong and sweet. This strain has a specific (resembles Virginia) pleasing smell.
Adıyaman is generally used in blends to bring them strongness, sweetness and flavor (smell).
(In my opinion blend of Adıyaman-Bitlis is quite satisfying and tasty)
Adıyaman tobaccos can be used in all blend types because of their excellent harmony. It’s still used in pipe blends in large quantities.
Nicotine content of Adıyaman is about 1.7 to 2.0 %. Total reducing sugar contant is 15 %. Nitrogen content (from proteins) of this strain is only 1 % which is the lowest amount among the Turkish tobaccos. This low nitrogen content gives Adıyaman a smooth smoke.
The most exclusive Adıyaman tobaccos are grown in Çelikhan (a district of Adıyaman). Because of this, Adıyaman tobaccos are generally called only “Çelikhan”.

Yayladağ

Yayladağ leaves are mostly medium sized, wide aurickled and bellied. This strain contains high amounts of resins. Their texture is medium thick. While midribs (primary) are wide side ribs (secondary) are finer. Leaf colors are yellow, light red and red.
These tobaccos’ taste is sweet and strong.
This strain is very favorable for cigarette and pipe blends. In “Yayladağ Pipo Tütünü” (Yayladağ Pipe Tobacco) – a commercial pipe tobacco brand – it’s used in a rate of over 50 %. It’s also favorable for chewing tobaccos.
Flavor of this tobacco is spicy.
Nicotine content of Yayladağ is around 1 %, reducing sugars are 15 % and nitrogen content is 1.2 %.

İskenderun

This strain’s growing areas are Mediterranean coasts of Iskenderun province.
İskenderun’s leaves are medium sized and hearth shaped (cordate) as Bursa but their texture is thicker and color is red and dark red.
These tobaccos have a tasty, satisfying and sweet smoke.
Because of the higher nicotine content (2 %), it’s stronger than Yayladağ.


Mardin

The amount of production of this strain is lower. Mardin has ox-tongue (sığırdili) shaped leaves. Texture of the leaves are quite thick. Leaf colors vary from light yellow to light red.
Mardin has a very strong smoke but it’s smell is very pleasant.
These tobaccos are favorable for cigar blends as well as cigarette blends.


Silvan

Laves of Silvan is medium to large sized. Form of the leaf is wide and oval. Leaf colors vary from yellow-red, light red to red. These tobaccos’ smoke is quite strong and sweet. It’s generally used in cigarette blends to give them strongness.

 

[leverhead]

This is a great post! Some of these I have never heard of. I got some seed for Bitlis to try this year from "The Nicotiana Project", it was classified as a Hungarian tobacco. Could that be a legitimate confusion? It will be interesting to see what the plant looks like.

 

[skychaser]

From what I understand, the defining characteristic of Hungarian tobacco is its dense flower head that remains below the upper most leaves. Of the 4 varieties I have grown, I would describe the flower head as being almost cauliflower like on 3 of them. Some are even quite showy looking, like Simox and Kumanovo, and would make a nice garden plants. Baiano is a heavy producer of large dark green heavy weight leaves. It also tolerates a lot of frost. Tekne grew very differently than the other 3 did. It was much taller, had an open flower head and looked almost identical to the Original Orinoco I have. I have hands of all 4 varieties hanging since last season, but I have yet to try any. I guess it's time I did.

I grew Çelikhan this season which I got from the nicotiana project.. My plants looked a little different that the ones in your photo. The leaves were spaced closer on the stalk and were narrower. They only grew to about 3 feet in height including the flower head, but produced a good number of leaves. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it Adıyaman rather than Celikhan. ?? The flowers were much denser that most tobaccos and were very similar to the Hungarians. I air cured the leaves and they came out a rich coco brown color. They look delicious. I took some picts and will try to find them and post them somewhere.

 

[leverhead]

From what I understand, the defining characteristic of Hungarian tobacco is its dense flower head that remains below the upper most leaves

Thank you! I'm learning a bunch of stuff today. He also sent along Erzegovina Lecce MI 411 and Haskowo, I've never heard of these either. I'm going to grow at least a few of each of those to see what they're like.

 

[istanbulin]

This is a great post! Some of these I have never heard of. I got some seed for Bitlis to try this year from "The Nicotiana Project", it was classified as a Hungarian tobacco. Could that be a legitimate confusion? It will be interesting to see what the plant looks like.

Bitlis strain of tobacco gets its name from the Bitlis province which is located eastern Turkey. Also it's one of the few oriental tobaccos in this region. It's a big fault to classify Bitlis as a Hungarian tobacco.

 

[istanbulin]

From what I understand, the defining characteristic of Hungarian tobacco is its dense flower head that remains below the upper most leaves.

Sky, it's not a determinative characteristic for a tobacco strain. Most of the oriental tobaccos have dense flower and seed heads. If you look at Izmir varieties flowers (and naturally seed pods) are nearly attached to the top leaves.

 

[skychaser]

"Sky, it's not a determinative characteristic for a tobacco strain."

That's how ars-grin has classified them, not me. The Izmir I have grown has a fairly dense seed head, but it's quite different than Simox or Biaino. Çelikhan come much closer to fitting their definition of a Hungarian than Izmir. I ain't saying it's right. But it's how the ars classified them.

 

[leverhead]

Either way, I have some seeds that I am going to plant and we'll see what they look like. If they look like the postman, it still might be OK.

 

[skychaser]

Here is the description of Hungarian tobacco from the ars-grin site.

Hungarian.-A type of oriental tobacco that contrasts with the Turkish type, Hungarian has a somewhat larger leaf and closer internodes. The outstanding feature of this type is the position of the flower head, which is recessed between the upper leaves and has a short stalk . Actually, the top leaves may appear to be above the seed head . All plants classified as Hungarian have this characteristic flower head .

 

[istanbulin]

It may be an indication of Hungarian tobaccos for ars-grin, also it's apparent that ars-grin is not the competent authority for classifying tobaccos. They also made mistakes about classifying oriental tobaccos. For example they classified Adıyaman, Mutki and Trabzon as an oriental but they're semi-oriental. Also ars-grin doesn't have a tobacco class of " semi-oriental " but they have an unsung tobacco class of " Hungarian ".
I saw some photos of other Hungarian strains like Baiano, Kumonovo, Simox and Tekne their leaves are bigger than Bitlis.
Think this, if it's an Hungarian strain why its name is Bitlis ? .

 

[skychaser]

It may be an indication of Hungarian tobaccos for ars-grin, also it's apparent that ars-grin is not the competent authority for classifying tobaccos.

I totally agree. Some of their classifications are based on nothing but a plants physical appearance.

 

[istanbulin]

I grew Çelikhan this season which I got from the nicotiana project.. My plants looked a little different that the ones in your photo. The leaves were spaced closer on the stalk and were narrower. They only grew to about 3 feet in height including the flower head, but produced a good number of leaves. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it Adıyaman rather than Celikhan. ??

Actually most of the tobacco experts evaluate Çelikhan as a sub-strain of Adıyaman (I think so too). Çelikhan tobaccos generally makes more money than regular Adıyaman tobaccos that's why they want to call them Çelikhan. But this is only a futile effort They have some little different characteristics as a plant. Although the distance between Adıyaman and Çelikhan is only about 35 miles, there is a wide mountain between them so geographical isolation of this populations might cause some differentiations.