Dark Fired Tobacco is indigenous to Middle Tennessee, and into the southernmost portion of Kentucky, in an area known as the Black Patch Region. Dark Fired Tobacco from Robertson County, Tennessee is considered the world over as the finest. The plant itself is a different variety than the Burley Tobacco that is used for cigarettes. Dark Fired Tobacco is used for cigar wrappers - primarily for the European and Middle Eastern markets, and the lesser-grade leaves are used for smokeless tobacco.
The process of Dark Fired Tobacco farming is predominantly carried out through manual labor, and the majority of that labor force now is legal migrant workers, primarily from Mexico. Until recently the farms have been family-owned… some for well over 100 years. But that is changing as well.
The curing process is also different from the Burley, which is air-cured. Dark Fired Tobacco is hung in firing barns where smoldering fires burn in a sealed environment creating heat and smoke.
