Little Dutch & Ohio Dutch

[skychaser]

Little Dutch & Ohio Dutch

Little Dutch is an heirloom variety dating back to the 1880's. It is sweet aromatic tobacco with a rich woody flavor used in pipe blends and as a cigar filler. It grows to around 3' in height with leaves 6" wide growing up to 30" long. The long narrow leaves can also make an excellent cigar wrapper. It matures in only 45 days and is a good choice for container growing. http://nwtseeds.com/Little_Dutch.jpg

Ohio Dutch is classified as a cigar filler but also makes an excellent pipe tobacco. It is very aromatic with a similar sweet woody flavor of Little Dutch, but is much milder. It grows to a height of 4-5 feet with long narrow pointed leaves reaching 30 inches in length and 12 inches in width. It matures in 50-55 days. http://nwtseeds.com/Img_1502_copy.jpg

We did a side by side comparison this week between the two by rolling a few cigs of each. Both are very aromatic and the smoke smelled pretty much the same to us. The flavor of each is very similar and quite unique, unlike any other tobaccos we have tried. Little Dutch is definitely the stronger of the two with a very rich woody taste to it. Ohio Dutch is like a lighter version of Little Dutch. The nicotine level seems to be pretty high. My wife said she could really feel it with the Ohio Dutch. I found it to be very satisifying. Her usual blend is lighter than mine and usually consists of Bright Leafs and Turkish Izmir, while mine is Bright Leafs, Burley and often Aztec Rustica tossed in for some extra kick. Both burned well with a slow even rate. I tossed the last little bit of Ohio Dutch we had left over into my bag of mix. The small amount I put in only amounted to 1-2% of the total but I can still easily taste it. Very little is needed to add it's unique flavor to a blend.

All in all, we liked them both. My wife preferred the milder Ohio Dutch while I liked the stronger Little Dutch the best. Both are classified as cigar fillers but make a great pipe tobacco as well. I have always like Little Dutch in my pipe. But we found them both to be very good in a cigarette as well. Probably not going to become my every day tobacco but definitely a keeper for special occasions.

 

[istanbulin]

I'm really curious about the taste of Little Dutch. Actually I'm a little crossed that you found its taste woody (I don't like woody flavors). But Little Dutch is growing really fast and the yield is good. If I like the taste it's one of my candidates to be a staple variety.

 

[deluxestogie]

A curiosity about Little Dutch is that it makes a tasty cigar filler component after only color-curing. With kilning, it develops a deeper, sweeter taste and aroma. Little Dutch top leaf kilns to a leathery thick, dark chocolate brown, with a stiff dose of nicotine, but uniquely aromatic. (Kilned Little Dutch blossoms are about the nicest of the 16 varieties of blossoms that I kilned.)

I've grown it for a number of years now, and always regret that I didn't grow more. At this point in time, my remaining 2012 Little Dutch is solely the tips. One narrow strip reinvents a cigar blend.

Contrary to the bogus comments in many historic tobacco narratives ("like a field of Cuban Yara tobacco"), the blossoms of Little Dutch in the field smell to me like any other tobacco blossom. Since, to my knowledge, Yara no longer exists, I guess we'll never know.

Bob

 

[skychaser]

I am probably the worst person you could ask to describe a flavor. But I think it does have a bit of a smoke house or campfire flavor to it. My wife described it that way, and for once I agreed.

 

[marksctm]

Thanks Paul,
I just topped , and bagged the Little Dutch today.
Both Ohio Dutch, and the little Dutch were started and planted at the same time.
Both have been in the ground 41 days.
Ohio Dutch show no sign of bud yet, and should in 10 to 15 days from today.
Both are great little growing tobaccos.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I'm glad you noted the high nicotine content. I grew this for several reasons. It was supossed to make a really tasty filler (it does) and it is supossed to have the lowest nicotine content of all the tobaccos that Killebrew described in his 1880's book "Tobacco Leaf". I found the nicotine content to be high which was a little dissapointing since I am a nicotine wimp and like low nicotine tobaccos. It is a very tasty tobacco though.

 

[deluxestogie]

JBD,
If you give Little Dutch full traditional spacing, the nicotine will be higher. I've always grown it at only 2.5 sq. ft. per plant, and found the nicotine high only in the tips, but fairly moderate in the mid-leaf.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I spaced mine 3 feet apart in rows 4 feet wide. Maybe that's my problem. I also fertilized my garden for the first time in about 10 years. I brought my "N" level up to 80 lbs/acre. Evidently I like my soil with a lower than 80 lbs/acre Nitrogen level. I'll be growing more next year. I'll plant them closer and see what happens. They leaves were at least 3 ft long so it'll be interesting to see them with a closer spacing.

 

[BigMikeChevy]

so plant it like a hedge or corn. is there any other plants that react the same way to incorrect spacing?

 

[marksctm]

JBD,
If you give Little Dutch full traditional spacing, the nicotine will be higher. I've always grown it at only 2.5 sq. ft. per plant, and found the nicotine high only in the tips, but fairly moderate in the mid-leaf.

Bob

Bob,
I planted mine at 2 feet spacing only because of reading of their smaller size.
I had no idea it could, or would effect nicotine content.
I would like to know how and why this is.
Did you discover this through all of your grows.
Or is there a link, or post you could point me to.
I find these kind of things so intriguing, and wish like hell you sold sets of Deluxestogies encyclopedias.
I'd be the first in line to buy a set. (Autographed please)

Thanks

 

[skychaser]

Bob,
I planted mine at 2 feet spacing only because of reading of their smaller size.
I had no idea it could, or would effect nicotine content.
I would like to know how and why this is.

Me too. I've never heard of spacing affecting the nicotine content. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I do not have any references available without spending hours digging for them but I'm pretty sure I've read that closer spacing does indeed lower nicotine content as well as a lot of other chemicals. Since nicotine is derived from the nitrogen that is available to the plant it would stand to reason that planting tobacco close together would limit nutrient uptake due to root competition.

 

[istanbulin]

I spaced mine 3 feet apart in rows 4 feet wide. Maybe that's my problem. I also fertilized my garden for the first time in about 10 years. I brought my "N" level up to 80 lbs/acre. Evidently I like my soil with a lower than 80 lbs/acre Nitrogen level. I'll be growing more next year. I'll plant them closer and see what happens. They leaves were at least 3 ft long so it'll be interesting to see them with a closer spacing.

3 ft long leaves ! Actually you planted them more wide spaced than the traditional way. As I know, traditional spacing of it is, 3 feet between rows and 2 feet between the plants (in the same row). I used 50x50 cm (approx. 2.7 ft[SUP]2 [/SUP]per plant) spacing and leaf size is half of your leaves.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I knew the leaves would be about 3 feet long so I wanted enough room between plants so they wouldn't crowd each other.

 

[workhorse_01]

I try to plant all mine 3' apart to allow good nutrients for roots, and walk through when full grown

 

[DonH]

I try to plant all mine 3' apart to allow good nutrients for roots, and walk through when full grown

Me too. And I leave 4ft between rows so I can get between the plants to work on them. I think the traditional spacing is for commercial farming where you are trying to maximize yield and which is mechanized. On a 40 acre farm you're not going to be picking suckers by hand and manually squishing hornworms.

 

[workhorse_01]

Last year my dad walked through my second patch, which was about 2' apart and started in on me about how close they were so always now it's 3'. Dad says more nutrients more growth. They come from a time when their parents gave them a cup of kerosene and sent them in the field to pick hornworms. They couldn't come back until the cup was full.

Me too. And I leave 4ft between rows so I can get between the plants to work on them. I think the traditional spacing is for commercial farming where you are trying to maximize yield and which is mechanized. On a 40 acre farm you're not going to be picking suckers by hand and manually squishing hornworms.

 

[deluxestogie]

In planting Orientals, such as Samsun, I found that wider spacing naturally produces much taller plants, huge leaves and higher nicotine (and stronger tastes and aromas) than with closer spacing. Nicotine in particular is produced within the roots, and subsequently transported to the stalk, leaves and blossoms.

Commercial production of Oriental tobaccos in the US never really got anywhere, since even the folks at the experimental research stations recommended traditional US-style fertilizing and spacing, as well as topping, for grow trials of Oriental varieties.

For intentionally mild Orientals (actually most of them that I grow now) I use much denser plantings, and end up with smaller, milder leaf. Since topping the plants also increases the nicotine in the leaves, I do not top the Orientals.

So, for the smoothest, mildest Little Dutch, I would recommend closer spacing, and not topping. Quality over quantity.

Bob