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Origin and curing

Virginia tobacco that has been flue-cured is also called bright tobacco, because flue curing turns its leaves gold, orange, or yellow. Flue-cured tobacco is kept in an enclosed barn heated by flues of hot air, but the tobacco is not directly exposed to smoke. This method produces cigarette tobacco that is high in sugar and has medium-to-high levels of nicotine. It is the fastest method of curing, requiring about a week. Most cigarettes incorporate flue-cured tobacco, which produces a milder, more inhalable smoke.

Burley is a light, air-cured tobacco that contains little sugar. In fire curing, smoke from a low-burning fire on the barn floor permeates the leaves, which gives them a distinctive smoky aroma and flavor. Fire curing produces a tobacco low in sugar. When burned, Latakia, a fire-cured tobacco, has a characteristic wood-smoke aroma accompanied by floral sweet undertones.

Aroma chemistry

Curing and subsequent aging allow for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids in tobacco leaf. The compounds formed give the leaf a sweet hay, tea, rose oil or fruity aromatic flavor. More than a hundred products of carotenoid degradation have been identified in tobacco, most of them with appealing aromas. Among them, β-ionone exudes a violet scent, geranyl acetone evokes a magnolia aroma and megastigmatrienone emits tobacco-like aromas. Megastigmatrienone is the key flavor compound in tobacco. Four forms of megastigmatrienone were identified exclusively in cured tobacco leaves.

Tobacco absolute

Tobacco absolute is soluble in alcohol, but only partially soluble in fixed (carrier) oils.

History

John Rolfe obtained Spanish seeds of Nicotiana tabacum from the Orinoco River valley in 1612. Around 1839 an enslaved man named Stephen accidentally produced the first true bright leaf tobacco. He used charcoal to restart a fire used to cure the crop. People rapidly developed flue-curing techniques, a more efficient way of smoke-free curing.

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Related: Tobacco