Tobacco, Massachusetts Wrapper (Organic)

Nicotiana tabacum.

As folks that haven’t spent much time in New England, we were surprised to learn that Connecticut and Massachusetts have a 300 year history of producing premium tobacco for wrapping cigars. Warm summers, long day length, and high humidity provide favorable conditions for leaves that can reach 3′ across and twice as long! After 18 months of processing, each of these giant leaves may become two cigars. Here in the Pacific Northwest with our cool temps and low humidity, the giant wrapper tobaccos don’t grow quite as large but are still very impressive, with leaves reaching 3′ long and 1½’ across at the widest point. Massachusetts Wrapper Tobacco grows to 7′ tall in our garden, with pretty light pink, trumpet shaped flowers atop the central stalk. Early maturing. We’ve never experimented with curing or smoking tobacco, but these leaves fared well in our taste test of dried, unfermented leaves. We don’t usually chew tobacco, and think the plants are worth growing for their ornamental qualities, unique size and shape. Also, tobacco may one day be useful again in bartering! We sourced this variety from Scott Weech at a seed swap in Eugene, Oregon.