These are super nice large, flat, thin leaves, easiest to remove stems, a pleasure to work with. My first impression of this was that it was harsh on my throat, so it got sidelined a long while. Have recently made several batches "toasted" at 250 F for 1 hr (tried less time, harshness did not improve much at all). It is now a new favorite blender. It has a very nice "toasty" taste that I think pairs better with flue cured. Where the Burley overpowers the flue cured, the Maryland compliments it. While suppose to be lowish in nicotine, I think it has more than most. It burns great and adds volumes of smoke to the blend. Does not require any casing or topping imo, easiest to work with in general, a real time and labor saver over the Burley. Sufficiently toasted, fantastic stuff. Will be buying more.