From MacBarens web page:
”Now, it sounds like we are only using one Virginia tobacco and nothing could be more wrong. In our warehouses we have over 100 different Virginia tobaccos, each with its own properties like nicotine content, sugar, thickness of the leaf, colour etc. All of the properties are in close connection with the region where it grew and the main condition for the tobacco are the soil, weather conditions, fertilizer and time of harvest.
As a farmer you have no influence over the first two because the soil is already there and the weather is what it is, never to predict. As for the time of harvest, the farmer has a large influence, and if he harvests just when the tobacco is ripe the tobacco will obtain a very light yellowish colour with a high content of natural sugar. This Virginia tobacco is weak in flavour and at Mac Baren we call it a filler Virginia.
If he waits to harvest until the leaf is overripe, he will end up with a darker leaf, more orange in colour and with less natural sugar. In this case the tobacco develops more flavour than the filler Virginia, which is the reason why at Mac Baren we call it a flavour Virginia. This kind of tobacco is, by many pipe smokers, referred to as Red Virginia.
So which of the two Flue-cured tobaccos are the best? Well, to come forward with an intelligent answer would be impossible, because it depends on which characteristic you want the blend to end up with. So, in short, we are using both filler and flavour Virginia with great enthusiasm.”
www.pipestud.com
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