Growing cigar leaf in central Italy: @UmbriaFarmer

[UmbriaFarmer]

My email is ********* Send me an email please

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Thanks Bob, but honestly it's just a kind of burner email I use for sketchy situations. I'm pretty crap at navigating this forum - it's a bit of a stretch for my brain- and I hadn't realised there was a proper channel to go through. Thank you.

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Bob, do you know what effect if any does fermentation have on a leafs combustability? Does if change, get better/worse with fermentation?

 

[deluxestogie]

Much of what tobacco aging accomplishes is to eliminate albuminous proteins. Fermentation is aging. Kilning or pilones are both simply accelerated aging.

Bob

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Much of what tobacco aging accomplishes is to eliminate albuminous proteins. Fermentation is aging. Kilning or pilones are both simply accelerated aging.

Bob

So no influence on combustion properties?

 

[deluxestogie]

Sorry. I lost track of the answer that I had intended. Albuminous proteins reduce combustibility. Aged leaf usually burns significantly better than the same leaf unaged.

Bob

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Sorry. I lost track of the answer that I had intended. Albuminous proteins reduce combustibility. Aged leaf usually burns significantly better than the same leaf unaged.

Bob

Just what I wanted to hear. Thanks Bob!

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Update on my activities...
So all my leaf has done it's time in the fermenter and I've removed all the hands except the last 3 or 4 hands of the 4th, ligero priming. I've graded it, froglegged the filler and today packed my mini bales of 3rd priming binder and wrapper. The smell is now changing from fruitcake to a much more cigary aroma. The bales now join the first one for 6 months of aging. And for those interested, I harvested roughly 75kg wet weight of leaf and have ended up with roughly 7.5kg finished leaf, so 10%, which is what I always used to get doing my pipe tobacco too.

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Bob, do you know what effect if any does fermentation have on a leafs combustability? Does if change, get better/worse with fermentation?

Hey Bob, just thought you might be interested to hear the results of an experiment I've just conducted, re combustability between unfermented and fermented leaf. I took some regular sun-cured kentucky, grown in Italy, and fermented a hand of it. Then I rolled ten toros (6x50), all with identical filler (my own fully fermented criollo seco and viso) but 5 had a binder and wrapper of unfermented kentucky while 5 used the same leaf but fully 8 week fermented, rested for 2 weeks. Essentially the unfermented ones simply will not burn - give little smoke and go out immediately whilst the fermented one smoke really well. Obviously such young leaf leaves a lot to be desired flavour etc-wise but the burn difference is night and day. Case proven I think.