Pipe Tobacco

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This article was formed in large part by the excellent FAQ from Alt.Smokers.Pipes[1]

Common Types of Tobacco.

Burley

A low-sugar, high nicotine, slow-burning tobacco with a very subtle flavor, burley is often used as a base for aromatics or to modify the burning characteristics of a blend.

Cavendish

A term with a variety of meanings. Generally, a cavendish is "sweetened" in some way, either by a processing technique or by additives, or both.

Latakia

A "spice" tobacco that is cured over the smoke of particular types of wood. (You may read that it is cured over fires fueled by dried camel dung, but this is not the case.) Latakia has a distinctive "smoky" taste and a pungent aroma that some find very pleasant and others find just the opposite. Latakia adds body and depth to the flavor of many natural blends.

Orientals

By definition, "Orientals" are those tobaccos indigenous to the eastern Mediterranean region, including the various "Turkish" tobaccos and latakia. An "Oriental blend" contains at least one and often several of these tobaccos.

Perique

Another "spice" tobacco grown only in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Perique is subjected to extreme pressure and is allowed to ferment as it is cured, which results in a very distinctive tobacco. TURKISH. Any of a number of tobaccos grown in numerous locales throughout the eastern Mediterranean region. Common "Turkish" varieties include Basma, Smyrna, Xanthi, Samsun, Izmir, Drama, and Yenidje. Generally, these names are derived from the region in which they are grown. Turkish tobaccos have a somewhat sweet, spicy flavor that gives "body" to many blends.

Virginia

Despite the name, Virginias are grown in numerous locales. There are several varieties of Virginias, but all are characterized a relatively high sugar content. Virginias are often used as the base tobacco in blends, but they are smoked "straight" as well. Straight Virginias undergo changes in flavor as they age, similar to fine wines. Lighter in body than Oriental blends, they have a subtle complexity of flavor that makes them a favorite of many experienced smokers.

Off sight links

An excellent resource for exploring pipe tobaccos is tobaccoreviews.com