Talking About Burley

 

(Talking Tobacco) This is the first entry in a little series I’ll be writing abut the different strains of tobaccos commonly used in making pipe blends. Why am I starting with Burley? To start with, it’s used in just about every form of tobacco use – pipes, cigars, cigarettes, chew, snuff and snus. Moreover, from what I can glean, it’s the leaf from which all other strains of nicotiana tabacum arose. A form of Burley was exposed to heat during curing and, voila, Virginia was born. Burley seeds were planted in Greece and Turkey and now we have Orientals. Dark strains of Burley have a robust flavor and a spicy character, which makes it very similar to many cigar tobaccos, and in fact, they’re cured the same way – by air-curing. Continued