The Adventure of the Connecticut Broadleaf Shortage [CONN]
Back in 2000, August rains deluged the Connecticut River Valley. This falling water came accompanied by falling temps and the two together created a perfect opportunity for blue mold. Tobacco growers faced that threat preemptively and quite well but then: brown spot. fin. Sounds at ::: very ::: least a little like 2019 and 2021's crop issues. But add to the acts of God, acts of men who buy up what remains of limited resources at such a prodigious clip as to sandbag. The little guys are left out in the cold. But weren't it always hard being plucky?
In short, while pimpin' might not be easy, tobacco farming and leaf procurement are quite more difficult. You know what's easy? Smoking. Let's take a moment to look at that as we catch our collective breath. Connecticut Broadleaf (CBL). Characteristics of this intensely flavorful varietal tend toward sweetness (chocolate-covered raisins) rooted in a compost-earthen base. Spices and leather could be expected, as well, all in a somewhat rugged manner of delivery. It's a punch in the mouth, really. Performace-wise, it's a slow-burning leaf, at times problematically-so. Cosmetically, think fugly. Inelegant thickness and veins oft akin to stems.
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Now, let's find out a tick or two more about this 'baccy, this time via a bit from my Unnamed Cigar Dictionary (UCD) in-progress project...
Connecticut Broadleaf A short, portly large-leafed varietal grown in the Connecticut River Valley and in the open sun. Their hefty leaves give them their apt name and tend to get quite dark via the fermentation process. Many a vaulted Maduro offering is cloaked in Connecticut broadleaf. [The plant is stalk cut, meaning the entire plant is harvested at once.]
Connecticut River Valley Stretching from Harford Connecticut to a bit over the Massachusetts border, this growing region is, well, a tobacco-growing region. That sentence just kinda fell off at the end. Oh well. I might as well add that the lower tip of Vermont also is included.
Historians say that tobacco has been grown there by those of European descent since the 1600s and by natives long-back before that, although that’s silly because no one listens to historians these days. Apparently, glaciers crept down from the Arctic because Al Gore wasn’t around then to stop global warming, this left the soils rather loamy, and with other descriptors of clay, sand, and silt. [Why yes, I will sacrifice sentence structure at the altar of a bad joke.]
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More on the leaf at hand. According to my research, some cite CBL amongst if not the first tobacco grown in the area. However long it's been, the road to its popularity has been slow and winding. Prior to its more recent wrapper usage days, it was typically employed as binder and/or filler almost exclusively. It also graced the likes of the near-graceless Backwoods Cigars. I mean, it becomes to take on a certain charm, doesn't it? The appeal of a local pug makes glitzy good. Nose to the grindstone, kid. Bootstraps!
So what's next for this leaf? Well, not all CBL (or otherwise) crops suck. Greedy hoarders reach their ends. I doubt its over-all popularity will wane much as it dips temporarily in availability, but ultimately all fads are cyclical. However, I do see San Andreas getting a boost as a viable more readily available option. Funny. A good way to ensure more leaf is obviously by growing it in more places. Nicaragua has been experimenting with growing CBL. I've seen some folks liken thoughts of Nica BL to a decade ago's SA. See, manufacturers of premium cigars back then tried their best to hide their use of stigmatized Mexican tobacco.
I don't get that happening here though--I don't see why it would be any sort of tarnish to say "Nicaraguan Broadleaf." People accept Nicaraguan and they accept broadleaf, each to the tune of jumping up and down and asking JUST ASKING practically demanding to have their monies taken. Although, the American farmer might have a thing or two to say about all this. That's right. Somebody go get John Cougar Mellencamp. Tell him to bring his guitar and a chili dog. We're headed to Pennsylvania and Maryland. There are other US spots but I figured hey, that's enough.
Lancaster County's New Providence, PA has been experimenting with growing CBL for a handful of years and as of the most recent news I can make myself privy to, has grown at least as much each year and in what is referred to as 'sizable' quantities. This, of course, alongside their usual Pennsylvania type 41 Broadleaf. To compare the two agriculturally, CBL weighs 1/2-1/3 what PA does, so that's nice for field workers and their backs. It's also ready for sale in the fall as opposed to PA's wintertime market trip, and getting paid sooner is always cool.
Wait... Maryland? I thought I saw myself typing that earlier. At around the same time as the previous paragraph's reporting took place (a few years back) but in Chaptico, Md, Connecticut Broadleaf is providing and provided with another option once again. Burley is typically grown in that neck of the woods, making CBL happening for farmers on no small learning curve. For one, apparently, burley can be harvested and left lying in the field a couple of days. You cannot do that and expect top-grade wrapper leaf. Our plant is seen as a quite lucrative yet equally risky endeavor in the land of Old Bay seasoning on everything.
Where does this avalanche of information, some of which is mildly dated, lazily researched, and maybe oddly presented leave us? I'm gonna go smoke a cigar, that's where. You do you.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
(quotes from Wikipedia)
Blue mold "... is a plant pathogen infecting tobacco that causes blue mold. It is an oomycete (a fungus-like organism) that is highly destructive toward seed plants. It is very prevalent in humid farming zones, like the southeastern and eastern U.S., Canada, and countries bordering the Caribbean. The disease was first identified in 1921 in Florida and Georgia." - Ivors, Kelly, and Asimina Mila. "Burley and Flue-cured Tobacco: Blue Mold." North American Plant Disease Center Forecast. 16 July 2007. Web. 3 March 2010.
Blue mold "... is a plant pathogen infecting tobacco that causes blue mold. It is an oomycete (a fungus-like organism) that is highly destructive toward seed plants. It is very prevalent in humid farming zones, like the southeastern and eastern U.S., Canada, and countries bordering the Caribbean. The disease was first identified in 1921 in Florida and Georgia." - Ivors, Kelly, and Asimina Mila. "Burley and Flue-cured Tobacco: Blue Mold." North American Plant Disease Center Forecast. 16 July 2007. Web. 3 March 2010.
Brown spot "is a fungus which has been recorded causing leaf spot and other diseases on over 380 host species of plant. It is an opportunistic pathogen on numerous hosts causing leaf spots, rots and blights on many plant parts."
RESEARCH SOURCES
(Spots I informed myself at)
American Farm Publications
Cigar Advisor
Cigar Aficionado
Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum
Lancaster Farming
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