Burley became rather late a tool in the toolbox of the tobacco blender. The origin of Burley tobacco was credited to George Webb and Joseph Fore in 1864. They had brought seeds from Kentucky to southern Ohio, seeds from a tobacco plant that had developed other leaves than the normal tobacco grown in Kentucky. The leaves were thinner than those grown in Kentucky and the colour was kind of shaded from white to yellowish. The seeds were planted in a field and once they have been harvested the White Burley was born. Well, nobody calls it white Burley anymore, just Burley, and everyone recognises what it means.
When the time for harvest approaches, the Burley tobacco field is harvested using the stalk-cut method. This means that the whole plant is cut by the surface of the soil and at the widest end of the stalk it is speared onto a stick. One plant besides another, and when the stick is fully loaded with tobacco plants they are transported to the drying barn where they are hung in neat rows from top to bottom. The magic in drying Burley is simple, because due to the roof and sides in the drying barn the tobacco is not influenced by sunlight and normal air completes the drying process. It usually takes about 6 weeks for the plants to dry and during this period the colour of the leaves slowly change from green/yellowish to a darker brown colour.
During the proportionally long time in the drying barn, the sugar in the tobacco is broken down, so at the end the Burley has only slight traces, or in most cases, no sugar at all. Of course this has a dramatic effect on the taste compared to Virginia. Burley is lacking the sweetness found in Virginia tobacco.
So what is the smell and taste of Burley tobacco? The character is bolder than Virginia tobacco and it is a little dry with faint hints of cocoa. After the Burley has been processed, the taste is medium to full bodied, relatively dry and contains a clearer note of cocoa. The total intensity in the taste is determined from the leaf position; a leaf positioned high on the tobacco plant gives it a bolder taste.
However, Burley is not an anonymous participant in a tobacco blend, and it contributes with a variety of natural flavours and has a number of basic properties, some of which are quite remarkable. Without these basic properties many new blends would never have found their way into the pipes, but instead they would have been stranded on the table at the blender as a “not perfect” blend.
The most important property of Burley tobacco is its ability to reduce the often sharp taste of Virginia tobaccos. The pH value of Burley is around 7 which means that it is more or less neutral, whereas Virginia tobacco has a pH value of about 5 which means that it is acidic. So the Burley can soften the impression of a sharp Virginia tobacco and make the smoke more rounder and appealing.
Burley and Virginia tobaccos very often have the same amount of nicotine; however you will get more nicotine from a neutral or alkaline smoke than from acidic smoke. For us who work with tobacco every day, this translates into: “If we want the blend to be a bit stronger, we add more Burley”.
Another important property is that the leaves of Burley are slightly thicker than Virginia leaves, and in the casing process this means that Burley tobacco can “drink” much more casing and top flavour. Pipe tobacco coming from USA very often is made out of more Burley than Virginia tobacco because of the ability of the Burley to obtain more casing. By doing this you will be able to make a more aromatic tobacco with a lot of flavour.
It might be that you find Burley tobacco boring and unappealing but never underestimate the magic that Burley does for a blend, sometimes almost undetectable, but it does its magic for your smoking experience.