Flue-cured cigar leaf

[tmbutler]

Has anybody ever tried flue-curing cigar leaf? I am not asking if anyone has tried flue-cured tobacco (as I have seen posted of already); but actually flue-curing cigar leaf ie dark air-cured varieties? Just a ponderance on this good ol’ Virginia weather this time of year; way less than ideal temps for air curing and sky-rocketing humidity at night…

 

[Alpine]

Probably yes… but the finished product may end up less than… hmmm… let’s say exciting. The purpose of flue curing is to fix sugar in the leaves. Burleys, Marylands, dark air and cigar strains have little to no sugars in the leaf to start with. So the end result (of flue curing those classes of tobacco) may well be disappointing, to say the least. If the weather in your area does not collaborate, you can try to yellow the leaves by piling them (and re arrange every day) then air cure in a “controlled” environment (a kitchen maybe?)
But, if you’re brave enough, just try! But be sure to post your results here, the whole community will benefit from it.

pier

 

[Radagast]

I did flue cure some early primings of little dutch. I have yet to be bothered testing them out but I will post my disappointing gross results here. I can't even remember why I thought that would be a thing to do other than thinking ld seems like a sugary leaf, and maybe descended from Orinoco, the original flue cured leaf. I had hoped that someone would dare me.

 

[deluxestogie]

An economics argument:
Flue-curing takes green leaf from the field, and allows it to be safely packed into bales (and sold) within a few weeks. If this were successful with cigar leaf, it would eliminate many of the risks (disease, pests, weather) to leaf that remains in the field to mature, and is then slowly color-cured in a barn, fermented and safely stored for aging. With such risks (i.e. money) at stake, all cigar leaf would be processed with flue-curing—if it didn't ruin the leaf.

Bob

 

[tmbutler]

An economics argument:
Flue-curing takes green leaf from the field, and allows it to be safely packed into bales (and sold) within a few weeks. If this were successful with cigar leaf, it would eliminate many of the risks (disease, pests, weather) to leaf that remains in the field to mature, and is then slowly color-cured in a barn, fermented and safely stored for aging. With such risks (i.e. money) at stake, all cigar leaf would be processed with flue-curing—if it didn't ruin the leaf.

Bob

Interesting argument. But maybe worthwhile to experiment with since I’m such an infantile stage?