What types of leaf used in cigars and cigarettes

[daimyo]

"Tobacco originated in South America in the mountainous Andes region of what is now Ecuador and Peru. Part of the Solanaceae family, which also includes eggplant, petunias, potatoes and tomatoes, scientists have specified 66 types of tobacco, only two of which are smokable. These types of tobacco have been cultivated since perhaps 5000 B.C.E. The two smokable types of tobacco were named by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1753 as Nicotiana rustica Linnaeus and Nicotiana tabacum Linnaeus. The Nicotiana tabacum type is the one we know today that is used for almost all smoking tobacco. Within the Nicotiana tabacum family, there are multiple sub-species, including blonde, burley and Oriental that are fire-cured or flue-cured and used for cigarettes and black, which is air-cured and used for cigars."
Steve Saka “Black Tobacco” Spring 2006, Cigar Magazine

 

[cobguy]

Nice work Daimyo! :clap:

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Tell me about it, jitterbug. I've always said that there is huge discord between how the pipe and cigar world talks about tobacco and how farmers/growers talk. The differences are that there are many plants that make up the selections available to farmers, but by the time it gets graded and hits auction, it becomes just a few categories to us. It's like the pipe world has this smaller world we talk about, which doesn't really exist to the farmer/grower. And, the farmers have tons more selections to grow than what we even know about.