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Volado?

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First Warrior

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I have a newby question. I see Volado mentioned quite a bit. It seems to be used for combustion. I figured I might need some so I looked for some Volado. i saw Viso, Seco, Ligero, binder, and wrappers. No Volado. So is binder Volado?
 

FmGrowit

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Viso is Volado- the bottom 6 or so leaves of a plant. Seco- are the middle section of leaves and Ligero- the top part of the plant.

This is actually the second time I've heard this explanation of "volado", the first time was yesterday. I'm working with another new supplier who grows in Ecuador and Nicaragua. I asked if he had any volado and he told me the same thing Ben wrote. It appears the definition of volado changes, not only with what language the word is spoken in, but also with which country it is grown in or used in manufacture.
 

Gdaddy

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As Ben points out the bottom leaves are volado. Thin and easy to burn but not much flavor.

You could really use any leaf as binder but I prefer using thinner leaves as binder. Itt gives a better burn especially when using a thicker wrapper. A thick binder and a thick wrapper can cause tunneling. Like trying to burn a phone book.

download.jpg

If you go through your selection of seco you can select the thinnest leaves for volado.
 

Birage

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Which is it, according to Gdaddy's picture, and what I have always known, is that Viso was above seco, however, Ben Brand and FMGrowit are saying that viso is the bottom of the plant? I always thought going from bottom up that it is: volado, seco, viso, ligero. Seco is usually milder than viso, so it would make sense that it would be the leaves below viso.....
 

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For clarification...the following will be the official WLT definition of the various stalk positions for cigar tobaccos.

Volado, is the the first priming known as "mud lugs", "sand lugs" or "cutters" in English or in reference to traditional American growing techniques. The lowest 2 -3 sets of leaves on a tobacco plant. Due to the condition of the leaves, almost all Volado (mud lugs) goes into shredded cigar filler.

Seco, is the second priming of a five priming schedule or the first priming of a three priming schedule, i.e. Seco, Viso, Ligero.

Viso, The third priming of five primings or the second of three primings.

Ligero, Third priming of three of forth of five.

Corona, Fifth priming of five or forth of three. Most plants do not develop Corona leaves, but when there is a sufficient crop of Corona, these leaves will be harvested separately from the Ligero in a three and five priming schedule.

So, in summary, Volado is a garbage grade of leaf and is not available (by any reputable vendor) as long filler cigar tobacco.
 

Ben Brand

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Apologies, I got it wrong, according to Gdaddy`s picture, I should have stated Seco is Volado.
attachment.php
 

Birage

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Learn something everyday.....somehow I never heard of 'corona' (except referring to a cigar size). Would corona end up being stronger or pretty much the same as ligero? I guess if most plants don't develop those corona leaves, as stated, then that is why I never heard of them.
 

deluxestogie

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Corona leaf (I routinely call it "tip" leaf) always kilns dark and strong. The tip leaf of even the blandest of varieties, such as Besuki and Florida Sumatra, can serve as a potent condiment to a milder filler blend. Volado (i.e. mud lugs), on the other hand, even if fully intact and well kilned or aged, tastes like almost nothing, if smoked alone. It does burn well.

Bob
 

waikikigun

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Corona is currently used in Warped Skyflower.

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The definition given officially here notwithstanding (mud lugs, etc), it seems to be a nice tasty seco leaf that is used as and called volado by pros in many Cuban rolling videos.

So what might be officially in WLT called seco/viso/ligero might be called volado/seco/ligero in pro Cuban rolling vids.
 

DGBAMA

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Order Seco (second priming). Sort the leaves by thickness, the lightest/thinnest third or so can be considered Volado for rolling purposes.
 

deluxestogie

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I really don't want to get silly about this, but leaf stalk positions are formally (and governmentally) defined in great detail, and embodied in numerous tobacco trade regulations.

What can it mean that "pros" in a video incorrectly name an item? Volado is not an opinion. It is a leaf position on the stalk, and is a Spanish agricultural term that corresponds to the USDA category of "flyers and trash." If you grow tobacco, the volado leaf is really obvious. Occasionally volado might be tasty, but usually not.

I have no doubt that nicer looking volado is baled with seco, since the category of "seco" brings a much higher market price. Most volado looks really crappy, but some of it is occasionally as flawless and attractive as wrapper grade.

Bob
 

Smokin Harley

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As Ben points out the bottom leaves are volado. Thin and easy to burn but not much flavor.

You could really use any leaf as binder but I prefer using thinner leaves as binder. Itt gives a better burn especially when using a thicker wrapper. A thick binder and a thick wrapper can cause tunneling. Like trying to burn a phone book.

View attachment 17029

If you go through your selection of seco you can select the thinnest leaves for volado.

This is the leaf diagram I go by...Volado is bottom , viso is above seco. not sure how anyone could confuse those two . Corona is the leaf we doesn't normally see...only up to ligero. (note- NOT Ligerio nor Ligaro -when you change the spelling of a word in spanish , you change the entire meaning.)
 

Smokin Harley

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Learn something everyday.....somehow I never heard of 'corona' (except referring to a cigar size). Would corona end up being stronger or pretty much the same as ligero? I guess if most plants don't develop those corona leaves, as stated, then that is why I never heard of them.

I would guess that the corona leaf does not end up as a consistent "usable "size like the ligero ,so in that light the tobacco price would be spotty or inconsistent. If you top and de-sucker your plants in search of full sized leaf,you'll never have corona . If you let them grow and prime as you should ,you'll get a few nice handfuls of corona . I have a few that I left as a 3-4 leaf tip while harvesting. I have yet to get them to the kiln. Still working on the first big batch, and a long way to go.
 

waikikigun

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Its not silly but it's missing the point of why someone here, a beginning cigar roller trying to put together an order, would ask this question. He said he's a newbie looking for volado. What he needs is seco. So let's say he saw a video where the buncher says volado. That buncher was probably really using seco.

I really don't want to get silly about this, but leaf stalk positions are formally (and governmentally) defined in great detail, and embodied in numerous tobacco trade regulations.

What can it mean that "pros" in a video incorrectly name an item? Volado is not an opinion. It is a leaf position on the stalk, and is a Spanish agricultural term that corresponds to the USDA category of "flyers and trash." If you grow tobacco, the volado leaf is really obvious. Occasionally volado might be tasty, but usually not.

I have no doubt that nicer looking volado is baled with seco, since the category of "seco" brings a much higher market price. Most volado looks really crappy, but some of it is occasionally as flawless and attractive as wrapper grade.

Bob
 

Smokin Harley

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I guess we got off course of point here. Yes I agree hes probably looking for seco . Simple (newbie or not)blend- seco , viso , binder and wrapper.
 

First Warrior

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Not only has my question about Volado been answered in depth, the explaination of the different leaves on the stalk made things easy to understand. I now know I better start grading my leaves before bunching to get the best use of the leaves. Thanks for the education guys.
 
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