Burley

Burley is one of the leading air-cured tobacco varieties. Emerging in the United States in the nineteenth century, it became one of the indispensable building blocks of both pipe and cigarette blends owing to its low natural sugar, high nicotine, and porous leaf that absorbs flavoring well. In the pipe world it is known for a nutty, cocoa-like character and is regarded as the foundation leaf of the American blending tradition.

History

The emergence of today's known light-colored variety ("White Burley") is dated to 1864. When George Webb and Joseph Fore planted seed brought from Bracken County, Kentucky, on the Frederick Kautz farm near Higginsport, Ohio, they obtained unusually pale, whitish leaves. Sources differ on whether this difference was a spontaneous seed mutation or the selection of an existing variety. After Webb's first large harvest in 1866 drew great interest at the St. Louis Fair the following year, the new variety spread rapidly; according to the records, within about twenty years it came to make up more than a third of US tobacco production. Whether the name "Burley" derives from a surname or from a local term has not been documented with certainty.

Leaf Character and Processing

Burley is the classic example of air-curing within tobacco curing methods: harvested leaves are hung in well-ventilated, unheated barns without exposure to fire or sun, and dry over eight weeks or longer, during which the color moves from light green to yellow, then to brown. The result of this curing is a leaf very low in sugar and comparatively high in nicotine. This chemistry makes Burley's smoke drier and less sweet than Virginia's; its porous, absorbent texture, in turn, lets it hold casing and flavoring very well. The two base varieties can be compared as follows:

Property	Burley	Virginia
Natural sugar	Very low	High
Nicotine	Comparatively high	Lower
Burn	Slow and cool	Faster and hotter
Flavor retention	Very good	Limited

Its Place in Pipe Blends

As a pipe tobacco, Burley is defined by nutty, cocoa, and earthy tones. Its ability to absorb flavoring makes it the backbone of aromatic blends; the tradition of codger blends, made up of modest American classics in the style of Prince Albert and Carter Hall, also rests largely on this leaf. American-style black Cavendish is most often built on a Burley base, and it is also the classic raw material for cube-cut tobaccos. Its slow, cool burn allows it to be used as a balancing element in Virginia-forward blends that burn fast; because of its high nicotine, it is also frequently found in blends offering a strong smoke.

Because it is low in sugar, Burley is counted among the varieties that benefit least from aging; its character stays largely fixed when cellared. The bulk of production remains in the US today, with Kentucky and Tennessee leading; Malawi, Brazil, and Argentina are among the other major producers.