America's #1 Online Cigar Auction
first, best, biggest!

Last post 20 years ago by MIKEDDD. 9 replies replies.
Sungrown
Jump to Bottom | Previous Topic | Next Topic
mrkmitch Offline
#1 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 3:03 PM EST
Joined: 11-18-2002
Posts: 990
I recently won a "Sungrown Sampler" here, all very tasty smokes, but I'm unclear about the term "sungrown", as used to describe a type, or family, of cigars.
cwilhelmi Offline
#2 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 3:13 PM EST
Joined: 07-24-2001
Posts: 2,739
sungrown as opposed to shade grown. These leaves are normally higher up on the plant and get more sun which gives them a darker color and a stronger/spicier flavor profile. Most good sungrowns also have a bit of a sweet taste to them as well.
eleltea Offline
#3 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 5:27 PM EST
Joined: 03-03-2002
Posts: 4,562
Cut and pasted and only edited a little to disuise the source. Thanks, Steve:

Wrapper plants are typically grown in fields that are tented under muslin cloth. This cloth helps to diffuse the sunlight resulting in silky wrapper leaves that are thinner in texture and that have much smaller veins, highly desirable qualities in good wrapper leaf.

In Ecuador the tenting is not needed because its tobacco growing regions lie under dense and near constant cloud cover. In Ecuador mother nature provides the shade required to produce beautiful wrapper leaf without the use of any muslin cloth. Hence the leaves are called "sun grown."

All Sumatra and Connecticut wrappers grown in Ecuador are sun grown.

P.S. Considering the fact that the Ecuadoran cloud cover provides more or less constant shade, maybe there really are no sun grown wrappers.

P.P.S. Connecticut Shade wrappers, grown right here in the good old U.S. are still considered the world standard, even by the Cubans.
Slimboli Offline
#4 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 5:28 PM EST
Joined: 07-09-2000
Posts: 16,139
Like cwilhelmi stated ... and with a little more elaboration ... most shade grown tabacco plants are grown under some type of 'shade cloth' to block out the majority of the sun.

Sun-grown tobacco leaves are more robust, tougher and heavily-veined, much darker in color. Through the process of photosynthesis, more sugars are produced. This makes for a sweeter, more powerful, robust flavor ... generally best suited for true aficionados (or your grizzly grandfather with one remaining taste bud). Cigars with sun grown wrappers will have more of a bite (or peppery tang) to them. Tobacco plants grown soley in the sun, are usually a small percentage of the entire crop.

Shade-grown tobacco is more delicate and much lighter in both color and flavor. Since the leaves don't get that much sun ... they tend to be much thinner, less veiny and have a more rubbery texture (easier to roll). Many of the ultra-premium cigar manufacturers prefer this type of leaf ... because it makes for a 'near perfect' looking cigar, and makes for better visual presentation. Shade grown wrappers tend to crack and split more easily ...
Slimboli Offline
#5 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 5:37 PM EST
Joined: 07-09-2000
Posts: 16,139
BTW --- Ecuador is where the Oliva family grows their 'sun grown' tobacco!

Here is an interesting article from Smoke Magazine:

http://www.smokemag.com/0303/feature2.htm
Slimboli Offline
#6 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 5:45 PM EST
Joined: 07-09-2000
Posts: 16,139
eleltea --- all Sumatra and Connecticut wrappers grown in Ecuador are sun grown?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't know there was such a wrapper called 'Connecticut sun grown' (I've only heard of Connecticut Shade wrappers) ... and I'm under the impression that Connecticut Shade wrappers are only grown in the USA.

Although experiments have been done transplanting wrapper leaf seed varieties from Connecticut to grow in other regions such as Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and others, no one has yet been able to duplicate the color, flavor and texture of the Connecticut Valley leaf.

http://www.cigarsinterna...m/html/cig101_10csw.asp
eleltea Offline
#7 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 6:03 PM EST
Joined: 03-03-2002
Posts: 4,562
Slim, I suppose it really should have read "Sumatra seed" and "Connecticut seed" tobacco. Caros Torano and Bahia, for two examples, use Ecuador Connecticut seed wrappers on some of their cigars. Ecuador Sumatra may be better than Sumatra Sumatra, but it's all debatable.
eleltea Offline
#8 Posted: Thu, May 15 2003, 6:07 PM EST
Joined: 03-03-2002
Posts: 4,562
And maybe it should have read "ALMOST all Equadoran wrapper is sungrown." Evidently they do grow some under muslin, too.
mrkmitch Offline
#9 Posted: Mon, May 19 2003, 3:55 AM EST
Joined: 11-18-2002
Posts: 990
Thanks for all the good info. I appreciate the lesson.
MIKEDDD Offline
#10 Posted: Mon, May 19 2003, 10:28 AM EST
Joined: 04-17-2003
Posts: 45
Even though they don't advertise it, Caribe grows their corojo plants used in the Camacho cigars w/o any type of protective cover. Many other types of tobacco are "sun-grown" but are not mentioned in the name of the cigar. Some of it is just marketing, although I do like cigars designated "Sun-Grown".
Users browsing this topic
Guest
Back to Top