Wrapper leaf
Connecticut broadleaf
Connecticut broadleaf is a sun-grown, stalk-cut tobacco with big, thick leaves, and it is the classic raw material for dark maduro wrappers. It grows in New England and, more and more, in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Same valley, opposite leaf
Broadleaf and Connecticut shade share a river valley and almost nothing else: one gets full sun, the other lives under cloth.
| Connecticut shade | Connecticut broadleaf | |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Under fabric tents | Open sun |
| Harvest | Primed, a few leaves per pass | Whole stalk cut at ground level |
| Leaf | Thin, elastic, pale | Big, thick, resilient |
| Barn time | Shorter cure | Longer: the leaf keeps feeding off the stalk |
| Usual job | Light natural wrapper | Maduro wrapper, binder |
| Cost to grow | Very high | Far lower than shade |
Cigar Aficionado's 2012 shade report calls broadleaf far easier and less expensive to grow than shade. No tents. No summer of priming. One cut and it's in the barn.
Why does broadleaf grow in full sun?
Broadleaf grows in open sun because thick, dark leaf is the goal, and direct light builds exactly that.
Shade cloth exists to make a leaf thin and pale. Broadleaf growers want the reverse. Cigar Aficionado's write-up of a 2015 maduro seminar says open sun makes broadleaf grow thicker and darker.
Wikipedia sums up the family in three words: enormous, resilient, thick. Those are the traits a long ferment needs.
The whole plant comes down at once
Broadleaf is stalk-cut: workers chop each plant near the ground instead of picking leaves one priming at a time.
General Cigar's Ernest Gocaj made the point at that seminar: broadleaf is stalk-cut, not primed. The write-up walks through it. Cut the stalk at the dirt line. Let the plant wilt in the sun for about half an hour. Split the stalk, spear it onto a lath, hang it in the barn.
The University of Kentucky's grower guide adds the cautions. Cut at ground level so stumps don't punch holes in leaves laid down to wilt. Don't cut more than you can pick up fast if the sun turns hot. Shade cloth over the wagons helps.
Then the barn. Stalk-cut tobacco keeps drawing on the thick stalk as it cures, so it takes longer than primed leaf. The seminar put it at 10 to 20 extra days.
From barn to maduro
Broadleaf becomes maduro in the fermentation room, where it sits in hot piles for months until it turns very dark brown or black.
Drew Estate's Willy Herrera told the seminar that maduro fermentation takes six to nine months, and the panel singled out broadleaf as the leaf prized for it. The full process, plus the steam shortcut some factories use, is on the maduro page.
Not all of it goes dark. Plenty ends up as binder, the leaf just under the wrapper, where looks matter less.
What makes a leaf wrapper grade?
To grade as cigar wrapper, a broadleaf leaf must be at least 9 inches wide, uniformly brown, elastic, fairly thin and nearly free of flaws, according to the University of Kentucky.
- Width. 9 inches minimum.
- Color. Uniform brown, no mixed patches.
- Stretch. Excellent elasticity across the whole leaf.
- Flaws. Almost none: no holes, bruises or watermarks.
- Cuts. Premium #1 wrapper yields six to eight wrapper cuts per leaf. #2 wrapper/binder yields two to five.
The money is in that grade. The 2020 guide quotes $4 to $6 a pound for wrapper and binder grades against $1.75 or less for filler, on a crop that yields only about 2,000 pounds of cured leaf an acre. Growers are told to aim for at least half their crop as wrapper or binder. Wrapper-size leaves mostly come from the upper half of the stalk.
Kentucky and Tennessee joined the map
Broadleaf now grows in Kentucky and Tennessee because Connecticut River Valley production fell while demand for natural cigar wrapper rose.
The University of Kentucky calls it a short-season crop, ready as soon as 10 weeks after transplanting. It also calls it high risk. No variety resists black shank, and the guide tells new growers to start with one or two acres.
Flavor tendencies of a broadleaf maduro
Broadleaf maduros lean sweet and heavy, in line with Wikipedia's rule of thumb that dark wrappers add sweetness.
Dark chocolate, espresso, molasses and earth are the usual descriptions. Tendencies, not promises. Find those words on the flavor wheel, see the shade on the wrapper color chart, and keep body and strength apart with the strength scale.
Broadleaf tobacco questions
Is Connecticut broadleaf a maduro?
Broadleaf is a type of tobacco and maduro is a process, but broadleaf is the leaf most prized for maduro wrapper. Its thick, sturdy leaf stands up to the long, hot ferment that turns a wrapper near black.
What is the difference between Connecticut shade and broadleaf?
Shade grows under tents and is picked leaf by leaf into a thin, pale wrapper. Broadleaf grows in full sun, is cut down whole and turns into a thick leaf that usually ends up dark.
Is Connecticut broadleaf grown in Kentucky?
Yes. The University of Kentucky reports that dealers have contracted Kentucky and Tennessee farmers to grow it, because production fell in the Connecticut River Valley while demand for cigar wrapper rose.
Does broadleaf make a cigar stronger?
Not on its own. Broadleaf is mostly a flavor and color choice on the outside, and the filler blend decides most of a cigar's nicotine strength.
Where the broadleaf facts come from
- Connecticut Broadleaf cigar wrapper tobacco: 2020 production guidelines (TOB 1-20), University of Kentucky Extension
- Mysteries of Maduro Cigars (2015 Big Smoke seminar), Cigar Aficionado
- What is stalk-cut tobacco?, Cigar Aficionado
- Secrets of Connecticut Shade, Cigar Aficionado
- Types of tobacco: Broadleaf, Wikipedia