From the FAQ for beginning growers. These are the classes used by the USDA:
Burley
This is a group of traditionally air-cured, flavorful tobaccos with relatively high nicotine. They tend to be fairly easy to air-cure. A common major ingredient in cigarettes, though it makes wonderful cigars and pipe tobacco.
Flue-cured
These varieties, often just called, "Virginias," grow well in sandy-loam, and are traditionally cured with heat. Used as a major ingredient in cigarettes, pipe blends. They can be successfully air-cured.
Dark/ air-cured
Producing large, dark green somewhat sticky leaves, these varieties are used in making chew and snuff.
Dark/fire-cured
Fire-cured varieties tend to produce dark, heavy, sometimes sticky leaves that can endure a multi-week exposure to both the heat and the smoke of open curing fires. The resulting leaf is tough, darkened, and gives off a distinct smoky aroma and taste. Traditionally used for chew, snuff, cigarette blending, and is blended in some Appalachian-style cigars and stogies. Sometimes used in pipe blending. It can be air-cured.
Maryland
These tobaccos resemble the large, seed-leaf varieties, from which they are derived, though they tend to be mild, with low nicotine. They are traditionally stalk-harvested and air cured, and often used to decrease the nicotine content of a blend. Used for pipe blending, cigarette blending. Can be used as mild cigar wrapper / binder / filler. They absorb sauces and flavorings well, and can also be used to make Black Cavendish pipe tobacco.
Cigar Filler
Since most tobaccos can be used as cigar filler, this formal class includes only those that found a major market as filler with cigar manufacturers, either in the U.S., or in its primary growing regions. Varieties that regularly produce leaves which are thick or corrugated or intensely rippled are unsuitable for use as wrapper or binder, since they can not be flattened. Some of these varieties are nearly identical to varieties classified as Cigar Binder. The cigar terms, "seco" and "ligero," refer to leaves from lower or higher on the plant, respectively.
Cigar Binder
Binder is a diverse class of tobacco varieties that tend to produce a leaf with sufficient elasticity to withstand the stress of compressing a bunch of cigar filler. Some of these varieties are nearly identical to varieties classified as Cigar Filler. Their flavors, aromas and burn qualities are not a consideration in classification.
Cigar Wrapper
Wrappers for cigars require a leaf (or portion of a leaf) that is without flaws, both for reasons of air flow as well as aesthetics. While some are preferred to be thin, such as Connecticut Shade leaf, others are noticeably thicker, such as Florida Sumatra, Connecticut Broadleaf, and most wrapper leaf that is grown in full sun. Traditionally shade-grown wrapper varieties can be successfully grown without shade.
Oriental
Also called "Turkish" tobacco. Today, these are frequently grown in Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and the Republic of Georgia. Oriental tobaccos have a reputation for being small-leafed, delicate, aromatic and low in nicotine. This is true of some, though not all. Oriental tobaccos are traditionally sun-cured, though they are successfully cured by any of the available curing methods. Latakia, grown in Syria and Cyprus, is an indeterminate Smyrna-like variety that is intensely fire-cured. Uses: Cigarette blending, pipe blending. The larger leaf Oriental varieties can be used as cigar wrapper / binder / filler.
Hungarian
This wide-ranging collection of tobaccos has its origins in the tobaccos grown within the many Eastern European member states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There is no distinctive characteristic of the class. Some are notoriously strong; others are mild.
Primitive
These are varieties that appear to be Nicotiana tabacum, but have been subjected to little or no agricultural improvement effort, in comparison to the "wild" type. Their splayed venation patterns may make it difficult to utilize as cigar wrapper or binder. Some have distinctive, sometimes odd, aromas and flavors. Some make excellent and rich cigar filler and cigarette blending leaf.
Bob
