As Lucky and others have rightly pointed out, there are 156 different grades of Flue Cured tobacco, what we refer to as Virginia and any one of those 156 grades could, in theory, come off the same plant. The farmer's decisions about cultivation, and timing, as well as weather and climate factors all play a role in how each priming (Lugs, Cutters, Leaf, Tips) turns out, as does the final curing method and approach.
The grades were established, by a coalition of tobacco farmers in the late 1800's, and were designed to be a detailed, regulated way of describing a particular lot of tobacco. The purpose of the grading system is twofold: Purpose #1is providing clear terms of communication between the grower and the buyer about what the end result should be of a particular crop and for what price. Purpose #2 is providing clear terms of communication between manufacturers and dealers about what style of tobacco is available that will best suit the manufacturer's needs. Grades establish crop year, stalk position, overall quality/ consistency and a color assessment.
Mahogany, Red, Red/ Orange, Orange, Lemon, Pale, Green are among the possible color portions of the grade but the color itself is not what is important and color alone is not the grade, it's only a part of the grade. Color is an indicator of other attributes. Think about buying produce in the grocery store. The color of a banana, a watermelon, a squash, or a grape tells you a lot of information about what to expect from it and whether you will like it for your intended use. What Red Virginia means is Virginia type tobacco, from the upper leaves of the stalk, mature, ripe, moderate sugar, moderate to high nicotine, balanced, lower acidity, heavy bodied leaf, oil present. This tobacco offers a full flavor, deep caramelized, earthy sweet taste, and strength.
Last year the US Flue Cured crop was 234.9 million pounds. Just Flue Cured. Not counting Burley, Dark Fired, Dark Air Cured, etc... each of which account for several tens of millions of pounds as well. 15% of the population of the US smokes / uses tobacco. That's about 49 million people. 97% of that group smoke cigarettes. The vast majority of the remaining 3% of the tobacco users chew or dip or smoke machine made cigars. On a pie chart of tobacco use for the US population, pipe smoking is not even visible. All tobacco, including Red VA styles and grades get used in all sorts of products outside of pipe tobacco. If that weren't the case, they wouldn't be available at all.
