Connecticut Shade-wrapped cigars have undergone a transformation in the last decade. First of all, very few are actually wrapped in genuine USA-grown leaf, which for decades was where nearly all Connecticut Shade came from. The high cost of US labor, combined with the short growing season and difficult process of literally shading the plants from excess sun exposure, became too much to overcome. Then there’s the value of the land, which was too high to justify its use for farming. Most Shade leaf now hails from Ecuador, where there’s no need to actually shade the leaves. The result is a richer, tastier tobacco that comes up lacking only when it comes to appearance. It’s oiler and veinier than the US-grown varieties, the finest of which resembled the smoothness of Cuban wrapper leaf.
RSS Feed
