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Pennsylvania Tobaccos

TigerTom

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Hello, all.

The other night I smoked a Cornelius & Anthony "The Mistress" robusto and it just about knocked me on my @$$. I decided to try it because it is made with US binder and all Pennsylvania filler. I figured it would be a good way to get an idea of the taste PA tobaccos. Little did I know this blendnis the strongest in the C&A lineup. I lit the cigar and it proceeded to smoke me. An inch into it all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

So, is this something common to PA tobaccos? I ask because I have PA Red and PA Broadleaf on next year's grow list, and I'm not sure I want to grow something that threatens to knock me out whenever I smoke it.

Thanks.

-Tom
 

deluxestogie

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Every tobacco variety on the planet produces milder leaves at the bottom of the stalk, and progressively stronger leaves as you go up the stalk. It sounds like this ill-formulated cigar used entirely upper leaf -- all ligero, if you will.

The PA leaf that they used in "the Mistress" is almost certainly a PA Broadleaf or PA Seedleaf variety. That's what is sometimes available on WLT, and is often used in pipe blends that feature a "sweet cigar leaf" ingredient.

I personally don't like the generally stronger and stronger cigars on today's commercial market. (I suppose they have their place, if a single cigar is priced so high that the average consumer can only afford one a week.) But I have grown PA Broadleaf (e.g. Glessnor, Swarr and Swarr-Hibshman) and PA Seedleaf varieties (e.g. Lancaster Seedleaf and Wisconsin Seedleaf) a number of times, and always enjoy them. The top leaf is, of course, strong. The lower leaf is mild. I blend them. Both categories make a high percentage of excellent wrappers/binders as well.

PA Red, Long Red, Dutch (Ohio) and Little Dutch are not broadleaf or seedleaf varieties. They have longer, narrower leaves, with a steeper vein angle. I absolutely love them for their unique flavors. I have grown one or the other of these nearly every year. Their narrow leaves and steeper vein angle relegates their use as wrappers or binders to longer and thinner (under 48 ring) cigars. I suspect you will have no regrets with them. They also tend to cure quite easily.

Bob
 

TigerTom

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Every tobacco variety on the planet produces milder leaves at the bottom of the stalk, and progressively stronger leaves as you go up the stalk. It sounds like this ill-formulated cigar used entirely upper leaf -- all ligero, if you will.

The PA leaf that they used in "the Mistress" is almost certainly a PA Broadleaf or PA Seedleaf variety. That's what is sometimes available on WLT, and is often used in pipe blends that feature a "sweet cigar leaf" ingredient.

I personally don't like the generally stronger and stronger cigars on today's commercial market. (I suppose they have their place, if a single cigar is priced so high that the average consumer can only afford one a week.) But I have grown PA Broadleaf (e.g. Glessnor, Swarr and Swarr-Hibshman) and PA Seedleaf varieties (e.g. Lancaster Seedleaf and Wisconsin Seedleaf) a number of times, and always enjoy them. The top leaf is, of course, strong. The lower leaf is mild. I blend them. Both categories make a high percentage of excellent wrappers/binders as well.

PA Red, Long Red, Dutch (Ohio) and Little Dutch are not broadleaf or seedleaf varieties. They have longer, narrower leaves, with a steeper vein angle. I absolutely love them for their unique flavors. I have grown one or the other of these nearly every year. Their narrow leaves and steeper vein angle relegates their use as wrappers or binders to longer and thinner (under 48 ring) cigars. I suspect you will have no regrets with them. They also tend to cure quite easily.

Bob

Wow, thank you for all that.

I feel the same. I don't want a ton of nicotine from my cigars, just a lot of flavor and enjoyment. I've never been a cigarette smoker, so I've never been one for any sort of buzz. I sort of view tobacco like coffee: I want a smooth, rich flavor but nothing over the top. A strong nic content is a turn-off for me.

In all fairness, the Mistress didn't have a stupidly strong flavor that was unmanageable and actually tasted not quite as full as the Oliva Cain series, which are something like 87% ligero. That said, the nicotine was stronger.

To use an old cliché, every time you post about various varieties they sound like the best thing since sliced bread.

I have Pennsylvania Broadleaf, ordered from Victory Seeds. I also have seeds for PA Red and Long Red, gotten from skychaser.

I became interested in American cigar types after reading this thread:


And that interest is what led me to try the Mistress. I'm glad it isn't something to worry about.

Compared to Cuban Criollo and Dominican Olor, PA Red cures very easily, in my limited experience.
Also the colour cured leaves smell really inviting in comparison.

This made me smile. :cool:
 

deluxestogie

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There are very few varieties of tobacco that, in themselves, are not so great. I taste a particular kind of terpine compound that other members don't seem to mind, but that I find always noticeable and always unpleasant. It occurs in Bolivia Criollo Black, Guácharo, "Silver River", and a few other "native," long-narrow-leaf varieties that seem to be genetically related, coming from far southern Venezuelan highlands, and down to the high plateau of the Bolivia-Paraguay border region. I don't taste it in the tobaccos of Peru (which are almost certainly Habano derived). Some folks notice a "sort of" menthol taste to "Silver River"--a name given relatively recently to an unknown variety.

Some "primitive" cigar varieties (e.g. Chichicaste and Iztepeque) require multiple years of aging, before becoming friendly. That likely indicates that there was not much grower selection over the years and decades prior to their seed being collected by GRIN.

So, sliced bread is nice, but there are definite outliers.

Bob
 

Homegrowngoodnes

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Hello, all.

The other night I smoked a Cornelius & Anthony "The Mistress" robusto and it just about knocked me on my @$$. I decided to try it because it is made with US binder and all Pennsylvania filler. I figured it would be a good way to get an idea of the taste PA tobaccos. Little did I know this blendnis the strongest in the C&A lineup. I lit the cigar and it proceeded to smoke me. An inch into it all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

So, is this something common to PA tobaccos? I ask because I have PA Red and PA Broadleaf on next year's grow list, and I'm not sure I want to grow something that threatens to knock me out whenever I smoke it.

Thanks.

-Tom
Perfect nightcap right? No more nyquil for u!
 
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