Orange is the New ... What?

[rmpeeps]

Considering Orange Virginias were represented so well in the McClelland line, what might become of those crops?

They were in 8-10 of the Christmas Cheers, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025, #22, #24, #27, Oriental #6, and no telling how many more.

It seems everybody lists reds, lemons, and Bright VAs.

But the Oranges seemed to be a McClelland staple, and my personal favorite.

While the McC processing techniques will not be used, it’s no doubt those are some incredible leafs.

Who’s going to grab them up to incorporate in their blends?

It’s gonna be interesting to see who takes up that marketing segment.

 

[cortezattic]

It doesn't seem likely that anything new will be developed to take advantage of that surplus.

 

[rmpeeps]

Maybe a percentage will turn up in C&Ds Red VA. Could be an improvement!

 

[blendtobac]

Maybe a percentage will turn up in C&Ds Red VA. Could be an improvement!

If they did that, it would constitute a new blend which is forbidden by the FDA deeming regulations. That's why Cortez said that it's unlikely.
Russ

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hasn't C&D been releasing new blends left and right anyways?

The Virginia market is also shared by the cigarette industry, and what makes a yellow, orange, or red Virginia is merely the curing process, all from the same seedstock. Given that the pipe industry is merely a mite speck on the back of a flea on the back of an elephant called "Cigarette Industry," it is not likely that one company going tits up would make a difference for any growers or processors. The whole of McClellands crop purchases would merely be one days worth of cigarettes sold at a single convenience store in a world with billions of convenience stores.
Sometimes we just don't realize how tiny this fly speck of a hobby is in the world.
Let this sink in, at LA Poche, where Mark Ryan makes the world famous Perique, I could fit the entire world's supply of St James perique into my garage. And, I might even still have room for my lawnmower and weedeater. Maybe even a moped.

 

[rmpeeps]

One point I tried to make was about the marketing aspect. I see descriptions of reds, of brights, of special leaf.

Based on the past McC lines there are plenty of smokers who enjoyed orange leaf. Surely McC was not the only one

capable of processing for an Orange virginia result. Some can taste the difference, some don’t care.

Personally I like it, and would be more likely to investigate a blend with that descriptor.
As to the C&D Red Va, I’ll suspend my opinion until a current sample arrives. My previous comment was based on samples 15 & 2 years old.

As to LAPoche, that’s not surprising news. I’m not even gonna ask how big your garage is. ;^}

I do know that my whole supply of ‘99 Percy Martin St. James Perique barely fits in 2 quart jars. Potent as it is, it sure doesn’t take much to forever modify a blend.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

As per my own exploits into flue curing and color curing, there is no terminology for these colors in tobacco farming. This is all commercial terms used mainly by the cigarette industry. All commercial Virginias come from one seed stock called Virginia Gold, but straight flue curing makes a yellowish Virginia, then that is further treated as cigar leaf is treated in a fermentation process called color curing. Whether it comes out orange or red depends on variables like temperature and humidity. All blenders use a variety of reds, Browns, oranges, and yellows to make their Virginia offerings.

My guess is that the batches that McClelland would have used would most likely just be absorbed by the cigarette industry, which isn’t a whole lot, comparatively speaking. I think Brian Levine was the one who said that you have to think of the whole cigarette industry as a huge factory complex, then think of cigars as being the lawn mower storage shed in that factory, and the pipe tobacco industry as the glove compartment in one of the tractors. It’s all run by a handful of people with ancient equipment, and ma and pa businesses. There’s not going to be a huge hole left in anything.
Yes, it sucks that McClellands couldn’t hold out to see if the FDA was going to waiver, or if the politics would clear up any. They had said that they were having issues getting the leaf they were using anyways. So my guess is that there isn’t huge crop for other companies to pick up and run with anyways. However, this has led me to upgrade my own efforts to grow and cure my own Virginias. I know that this isn’t feasible for everyone, but if someone had a row that they could dedicate in their garden for growing some tobacco, it would be worth the efforts to give it a shot.

 

[snagstangl]

My thought was that C&D is just renaming some of the blends they have always produced. I think if you change the name/label only, it is not considered a new product. But if you change the recipe then, bam, new product.

 

[mso489]

Since every change in sourcing of tobaccos for all blends, including those going back before 2007, and back into history, there will perhaps be debates about how much of a change constitutes a new blend. It seems as if latitude would be required, or all blends would be "new" every time tobacco has to be harvested from a different area, or a slightly different varietal has to be used. I dread to think how those discussions will go.