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Can anyone explain to me tobacco class?

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OldDinosaurWesH

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The difference between Burley & Bright Leaf in particular, and the many other groups of tobaccos that are out there. I understand that as tobacco spread across the world, a lot of different regional groups have come into being. I'm particularly interested in the taxonomy of tobacco. How do these groups differ from one another, and what are their different traits and uses. (Compare & contrast)

Put on your nerd hats, and tell me all about it.

Wes H.
 

deluxestogie

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Re: Can anyone explain to me tobacco class

TILT! TILT! TILT! Unfair question.

Tobacco use classes were not based on taxonomy. They were marketing categories developed in the mid to late 1800 by the USDA. At that time, the Ottoman Empire controlled most of the Balkans and the Middle-East, so their tobacco was all classed as "Turkish," which is now called Oriental. Likewise, the Austro-Hungarian Empire controlled a major chunk of central Europe, hence "Hungarian" as a class of tobacco that was seldom if ever imported into the US.

I can make a (very) few generalizations:
  • flue-cure varieties are high in sugar
  • burley varieties are low in sugar
  • Orientals tend to be aromatic and low in nicotine (with some exceptions)
  • cigar varieties all seem to have a recognizable "cigar" aroma when finished
  • primitive varieties may be good for various uses, but their productivity tends to be lower than varieties that have undergone greater agronomic development
  • phylogenetic trees that have been constructed for tobacco are a mess, and don't follow the USDA's use classes
  • some of the ARS-GRIN classifications of tobacco varieties are incorrect (e.g. the Perique variety is simply not an Oriental)
  • I have no clue as to why Maryland became its own class of tobacco

So we pretend that there are distinct and unmistakable characteristics that allow categorization, whereas in reality it is mostly a continuum separated by arbitrary assignment.

From the FAQ:
Any variety of tobacco can be used for any purpose. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) classed tobacco into commercial classes, based on their common use.
  • 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

EDIT: An analogous "class" division of a living species is the AKC dog group classification:
  • Herding
  • Hound
  • Non-Sporting
  • Sporting
  • Terrier
  • Toy
  • Working
  • Miscellaneous
This grouping has very little to do with the biology of dogs, and maps poorly to the established phylogenetic tree of the dog.
 
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OldDinosaurWesH

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Bob:

Whoops! I didn't mean to make the machine go tilt. I don't think you can hear me from this far away, but I did get a good laugh from your initial response.

But, On a more serious note, your response was very useful. An analogous example would be wheat, a subject I know a lot about. Modern wheat's are all one species, just different (USDA) commodity classes based on their end uses. All (modern) wheat's have 21 chromosomes, and have been manipulated for their desirable traits by man. Interestingly, in more backward parts of the world, (read: Ukraine, Africa, the Middle East) they are still growing the old varieties of wheat that have only 14 chromosomes. These guys haven't updated their genetic stock since the first hexaploid wheat's became available in 1950's.

The reason I asked the question to begin with, was that I planted 13 different types this year, and based on their morphology, there didn't seem to be any rationality as to why they were classified the way that they were. Burley, Bright Leaf, cigar filler, cigar wrapper etc. etc. My response is: Huh? What? Your explanation made this situation a whole lot clearer. Leave it to Uncle Sam to confuse the issue. Many years ago, I used to know a good - ole boy from North Carolina, and he said down south they use the phrase "Uncle Sugar." I have to take his word for it.

One thing I was able to reason out was that when a certain unnamed cigarette maker calls their brand "Turkish" that doesn't mean that the tobacco originated in Turkey. Said tobacco may have had its original breeding from Turkey, but could have been grown in any number of places.

Thanks

Wes H.

Do you like my scan of my Aquamarine crystals. These little guys are from Idaho, and have significant, (but not large) value.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Re: Can anyone explain to me tobacco class

I was under the impression that whatever made Nicotiana tabacum var. macrophylla distinct was, perhaps coincidentally, the reason for categorizing Maryland as its own type of tobacco. Amersfoort too.
 

deluxestogie

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I've found it quite difficult to clarify the technical nomenclature of Nicotiana tabacum. According to GRIN, Nicotiana tabacum L. var macrophylla is a synonym for Nicotiana tabacum.
GRIN said:
Synonyms:

(=) Nicotiana chinensis Fisch. ex Lehm.
(=) Nicotiana tabacum var. macrophylla (Lehm.) Schrank
https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=25310
The naming conventions have changed repeatedly over the past 150 years or so. My understanding of the use of the term, macrophylla, is that it is in contrast to all the other species of Nicotiana, which tend to have smaller leaves. I'm not aware of any current reference source that separates varieties of Nicotiana tabacum by species "variant".

Bob
 

OldDinosaurWesH

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Bob:

I learned classical Linnaen taxonomy in college many years ago. Boy has that all changed! With modern genetic analysis, what used to be, is no longer. When discussing crop plants, we used to use Genus, Species, and Cultivar. (Cultivated variety) In that classification scheme, all the (I guess a couple of thousand) different varieties of tobacco are simply different cultivars. Your discussion on different commodity types re: tobacco was very instructive. Cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower are all "cultivars" of Brassica oleracea. A single species. But boy are each of these different in appearance! It used to be that Brassica (the mustard family) was a sub-family of the super-family Cruciferae. But that has all changed now. I'm getting to be too old a dinosaur to keep up!

T-O Patch.jpg

Thanks for the info and keep up the good work!

Wes H.

Included: Scan of an actual shoulder patch from the 90th Infantry Division. My dad's outfit during WWII.
 
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