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Bolivian Black Criollo

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DonH

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I also tested some of the Bolivian Black yesterday. Really interesting flavor. On the dark side but it had some nice light overtones as well, and tastes like it would be good in a cigarette blend. It's a keeper.
 

skychaser

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Good to hear. I haven't tried any yet but I can tell you it colors very easily and quickly. And that the plants are heavy producers. The leaves are very similar to Silver River in their size, shape and stickiness, but it matures a good 3 week earlier that Silver River. My first strings turned a deep cocoa brown in only 10 days. I'll be picking a whole bunch more of it tomorrow.
 

BarG

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My silver river still hasn't bloomed. They go on and on. Maybe next week they will, it makes it hard to be able to top them.
 

DGBAMA

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My silver river still hasn't bloomed. They go on and on. Maybe next week they will, it makes it hard to be able to top them.

Same here. Stepladder required. Do get to bag one today. Hope there is time..

Criollo black will definitely be on my w wish list for next year.
 

deluxestogie

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The Bolivia Criollo Black (mine reached over 8') yellows remarkably quickly and uniformly after priming. As expected, the lower leaf cures lighter than the upper leaf.

Air-cured and aged for a few months, it makes a nice straight pipe tobacco, without kilning. Flue-cured, it seems mild and dry (not very sweet), but smokes nicely. Kilned, it is useful as a cigar filler blend component, though it needs some heavier variety to balance the cigar blend.

I'm also using it in my Perique press.

In my garden, it's been the most productive variety that I have grown. Curiously, once the bare stalks were cut and laid on the ground, they turned a light yellow within a few days, similar in that property to white-stem burley.

Although it does not have the aroma of menthol, it does have some chemical that generates a similar sensation on mucous membranes. I have no clue what that might be.

Bob
 

Aaron

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I had another year of many failures with my plants. A lot of them were stunted and grew very slowly. 4 of my 6 Bolivia Blacks survived but are still only 4 foot tall and no sign of flowering. I've primed them once so far and those leaves cured extremely fast also but ended up a very light brown. If things go as planned I will to be living in Alabama next year and hope to be able to grow this plant to maturity.
 

DGBAMA

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I had another year of many failures with my plants. A lot of them were stunted and grew very slowly. 4 of my 6 Bolivia Blacks survived but are still only 4 foot tall and no sign of flowering. I've primed them once so far and those leaves cured extremely fast also but ended up a very light brown. If things go as planned I will to be living in Alabama next year and hope to be able to grow this plant to maturity.
What part of Al?
 

Aaron

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We're not entirely sure yet. My In-laws live in the McCalla area and we may end up there to start. We are planning on making a trip down there this coming January or February and look at a few properties to see if we can find something that will work for me. If things work out I hope to get moved sometime in March or April.
 

DGBAMA

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We're not entirely sure yet. My In-laws live in the McCalla area and we may end up there to start. We are planning on making a trip down there this coming January or February and look at a few properties to see if we can find something that will work for me. If things work out I hope to get moved sometime in March or April.

That would be about an hour &20 mins west of me
 

POGreen

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I can just agree with you skychaser , mine got to be something around 7 '' tall and leaves like a feet and half long
Pretty heavy producer and colours quick and easy.
Got the same seeds as you guys , they're from eBay and I got them late last year.006.jpg
I will probably never get the chance to feel what it really tastes like since I got 24 more varieties in my snus.
But I'm glad you seem to like this strain , pic is from mid July just before kickn' off to the sky.....
 

Aaron

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Be very careful... There's a lot of KNUCKLEHEADS that live down there...:rolleyes:

No worries there, I'll fit right in. I spent several of my younger years down there. I always liked Bama folks but being a dry-land mountain man the humidity is my enemy but I think I'll manage.
 

DonH

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I just tasted some unaged Bolivian Black Criollo again. I finally figured out what it tastes like: coffee. Should be good as a cigar filler and in pipe blends. Also to make dark cigarettes. Definitely needs kilning. Can't wait to get some kilned. It should darken up nicely. It's also really high in nicotine. Had to stop halfway through a roll up.
 

deluxestogie

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My experience with the Bolivia Criollo Black has been different. I find that the air-cured leaf (2013) is fairly mild. Since the fat, succulent stem cures so much slower than the lamina, after stemming a leaf, I carefully trim away any stem shreds and the thickest 1/8" of the veins before using it.

Unkilned, it is smooth. But it does not have much of a cigar filler taste. Since I have a great overabundance of viso and ligero of various cigar leaf--stuff that is way too strong to smoke straight, I use the Bolivia as a main blending element, spiced up with the stronger viso or ligero. The unkilned Bolivia is also great for pipe blending or straight.

It does lose its rough edge with kilning, and is more suitable for cigarette blending when flue-cured.

Bob
 

webmost

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I won a box of Fratello cigars in a contest. Watched an interview of the blender on the net. He brags on a the effect of a bit of Peruvian black filler in the middle third of his cigar. And you can taste it. Round the middle third you get a taste like tequila. Not strong; but different. Sweet. Dunno how the Peruvian differs from the Bolivian. Same highlands.
 

tekwyzrd

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My crop this year was a small fraction of what I normally grow due to family problems (my grandmother's dementia got bad, she had to be put in a nursing home, the died due to a mrsa infection at the age of 93) and re-allocation of space normally used for tobacco to growing hops. Last year was 230 plants, this year it was 18. Even so, I planted six each of virginia bright leaf, white gold, and bolivian black criollo (two of which survived to produce some nice leaves which are currently coloring and drying). The largest leaves were 30 to 32 inches long and even now in early November here in northern Ohio the plants are still doing well. They were grown from seeds purchased on ebay from a seller in Bolivia. I am looking forward to tasting this strain on it's own and as a wrapper.
 

Hasse SWE

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Fun to hear.It also makes a good Swedish snus. Small stalk black mammoth is still the kind with me which makes it best. But when you mix different varieties of snus will be very good.

S
 
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