Types of tobacco

There are many different types of tobacco. In the manufacture of our products, these are carefully blended with other ingredients, such as flavourings or pre-processed tobacco.
These are the main tobacco types used and the product categories they are used in:

Virginia	Named after the US state where it was first grown, Virginia is also called ‘bright tobacco’ because of its yellow/orange colour following flue-curing. It is a successful crop in subtropical regions with light rainfall, such as Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas in the US, Southern Brazil and Zimbabwe.	Cigarette brands like Dunhill use mainly Virginia tobacco. It is also used in hand-rolling tobacco and pipe tobacco.
Burley	Growing Burley tobacco requires heavier soils and more fertiliser than Virginia. After being air-cured it turns brown with virtually no sugar left at all, giving it an almost cigar-like taste. Some of the best Burley is grown in the US, Central America, Malawi, Uganda and Mozambique.	‘American Blend’ cigarettes such as Lucky Strike or Pall Mall use Burley tobacco, blended with Virginia and Oriental tobacco. It is also used in hand-rolling and pipe tobacco and cigars.
Oriental	The smallest and hardiest of all tobacco types, Oriental is densely planted and grown in the hot summer of the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. These conditions help create its highly aromatic flavour, which is enhanced by sun-curing.	Oriental tobacco is used in a traditional Turkish cigarette. It is also used in hand-rolling tobacco and pipe tobacco.
Kentucky	Kentucky tobacco is grown in Malawi, Tanzania, Poland, Italy, Indonesia and the US, where its name originates. It is typically fire-cured, giving it a dark colour and smoky aroma.	Kentucky is blended with other tobacco types and is used in hand-rolling and pipe tobacco, cigars and chewing tobacco.
Latakia	Named after the small port town in Syria from where the tobacco was originally shipped, Latakia is grown mainly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Sun-cured and ‘smoked’ in small sheds after the harvest, it has a distinctive, spicy and smoky aroma.	Latakia tobacco is used in some pipe tobaccos.
Perique	Perique tobacco leaves are air-cured then left to mature for eight to ten months with prune juices, spices and fruit pulp. The result is a blue-black, highly aromatic tobacco.	Used in pipe tobacco mixtures to give them a more refined taste.
Rustica	Unusual in appearance, Rustica leaves are round with a light brown and green colour. This tobacco is sun-cured and has a distinctive strong flavour.	Mainly used in blends of tobacco used in water pipes. Also used in smokeless snus.
Dark air-cured	Dark air-cured is another seed variety. Once cured, the tobacco leaf becomes very dark in colour, deep brown or even black and has a cigar-like taste.