Cuba has long been known for its tobacco leaves. Amongst A-list celebrities, Cuban cigars are all the rage. Cuba’s soil and climate give its leaves the qualities that aficionados seek. Even while Cuban products were banned during the United States’ embargo, Cuban tobacco remained to be a profitable national export for Cuba.
Even though Cuban tobacco will remain dominant in the tobacco industry, no one ever expects another country’s tobacco to overthrow Cuban tobacco’s rightful place on the throne, Cuban growers are looking for new ways to grow and new leaves to grow. Recently, Cuban growers have begun to grow Connecticut shade tobacco.
That’s right, folks! Cuba is looking towards Connecticut for new, fresh tobacco leaves. Even though this fact may surprise many people who do not follow the tobacco industry, those in the know will find this fact very plausible. At Funnels, we have been fans of Connecticut shade tobacco for a long time.
Connecticut shade leaf is known as one of the greatest wrapper leaves in the world. Connecticut leaves have a leathery, oaky taste with a rich, smooth finish. Cigar companies from around the world look to Connecticut to produce their wrapper leaves. What makes Connecticut shade tobacco special?
First, it is grown in the shade. Second, it is grown in only a few places in the world, making it a much sought after commodity. According to James Suckling, “Connecticut wrapper leaf has been grown in various tobacco regions, but none have produced as excellent results as its namesake. The Connecticut River Valley, stretching north from the state capital of Hartford, has the perfect combination of soil and climate to produce extremely large leaves with uniformly fine texture and color” (1).
A-list celebrities often smoke cigars that are wrapped in Connecticut leaves. At Funnels, we offer great Connecticut shade leaf wrappers at affordable prices.
Mark Suckling states that some experts do not find the Connecticut leaves grown in Cuba to be as good as the Connecticut leaves grown in their namesake state. The main Cuban tobacco producers refuse to use Connecticut leaves to wrap their products; however, they are refusing to use Connecticut shade leaves because they want to produce traditional Cuban cigars.
Connecticut shade leaves are becoming a commodity that is highly sought after worldwide.
As the leave’s popularity continues to soar, more regions will try to produce Connecticut shade leaves. Whether they succeed or not remains to be seen.
“A Connecticut Leaf in Cuba.” Cigar Aficionado. Cigar Aficionado, Autumn 1995. Web. 19 Feb. 2016. <http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/7666
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