Cavendish

Cavendish, despite what its name suggests, is not a tobacco variety but a processing and cutting method. Dried tobacco leaf — most often Virginia or Burley — is softened with steam and heat, pressed into cakes under heavy pressure, and left to ferment. The resulting dark, soft, sweet tobacco is considered the fundamental building block especially of aromatic blends.

The Process and the Origin of the Name

In typical Cavendish production, the tobacco is first steamed, opening the leaf's pores. The leaves are then pressed into cakes and put through fermentation, heated by fire or steam. Once fermentation is complete, the cakes are sliced and are ready to be blended. This process caramelizes the leaf's natural sugar; the tobacco's harshness softens and its sweetness becomes pronounced.

The name is said to derive from the 16th-century English seafarer Sir Thomas Cavendish. According to the account, Cavendish, on his 1585 voyage to Virginia, moistened tobacco leaves with sugar and bound them tightly, and the tobacco stored this way was found to taste noticeably better. This story, however, is poorly documented and is quite plausibly an origin legend attached after the fact. What is certain is that the name is now used the world over to describe this processing method.

Main Types

Cavendish is not a single recipe but a family of methods. Three main approaches are distinguished:

• English-style Cavendish: Considered the additive-free approach. Only heavy Virginia leaf is held under high pressure for three or four days; the sweetness comes entirely from the caramelization of the leaf's own sugar. This method is known to have been shaped by England's older purity laws restricting additives to tobacco; the generalization that "English Cavendish is always additive-free," however, is not an absolute rule for today's producers.

• Danish-Dutch-style Cavendish: After the tobacco is steamed and its pores opened, it is heavily cased with sugar, fruit, vanilla, and similar ingredients and pressed in a mold. This method forms the basis of modern aromatics; the details of casing and topping are described in the entry on casing and flavoring.

• Black Cavendish: Tobacco darkened thoroughly through additional steaming and "sweating." It is generally produced on a Burley base in the United States and on a Virginia base in Europe.

Common flavors used in Cavendish tobaccos include vanilla, cherry, maple, honey, chocolate, rum, coconut, and whiskey.

Its Place in the Blend

Cavendish adds fullness, sweetness, and softness to a blend; it burns slowly and its room note is generally found pleasant. These qualities make it a staple component both in aromatic blends and in mild mixtures aimed at newcomers.

The quality difference is largely sought in the quality of the base leaf and the degree of casing: over-cased Cavendish burns wet and can lead to the burning sensation known as tongue bite. Another distinguishing point is its relationship with aging. Because Cavendish is already a fermented tobacco, it is considered to be affected comparatively little by aging, while the added flavors fade over time; for this reason, cased Cavendish blends are considered better suited to smoking fresh than to long-term cellaring.