When it comes to cigar debates, few are as heated as the one over whether shade-raised tobacco is smoother than the sun-grown stuff. Everyone experiences a cigar differently, but the divide runs deep between these camps. 

But today’s topic is more than just a discussion about taste. As a heavily cultivated cash crop, quality control remains a cornerstone of every step of the tobacco production process. Crop consistency is a constant consideration and challenge, and contributes more than one might think to the way in which both shade-grown and sun-grown tobacco strains are perceived. There is a reason why Plasencia Cigars does not release a Cosecha harvest cigar every year, for sometimes the climate isn't right for producing a truly exceptional crop each season.

Regardless of what the weather does or doesn't do, cigar smokers continue to buy shade-grown and sun-grown cigars by the millions every year. Some of these people understand the significance of the tobacco swaddled up in that little baggie or box, many others do not. 

For those of you who are unsure as to what makes sun-grown cigar tobacco different from its shade-grown sibling, and how these two types of farming affect flavor, aroma, and appearance, here is your chance to get up to speed. Oh, and for any of you out there who are on the hunt for cigar suggestions, keep scrolling to find links to our five best-selling shade and sun-grown cigars. You can thank us later...

Digging Up Tobacco’s Roots

To truly understand the whole shade vs. sun-grown story, one must first look at where the tobacco plant comes from. We won’t get into that whole horticulture history lesson today, just note that the majority of the cigar tobacco grown in the world hails from humid, lush, heavily vegetated environments. Got a dash of volcanic ash to throw into the mix along with some loam and clay? Great. Tobacco loves the stuff. 

While central and south America and its surrounding islands immediately come to mind, countries like Cameroon, Indonesia, and the state of Connecticut all produce top-tier cigar tobacco as well. Take the latter of these for instance, which according to most historians is where the whole shade-grown technique originated, yet today, sun-grown leaf remains its most in demand tobacco crop. More on that a bit later down the line as well...

Now, from a physical aspect, both styles of tobacco are structurally identical to one another in profile, with the same stalk, leaves, and flowers forming from the ground up. Regardless of the growing environment or seed strain, most tobacco plants rarely crest 2-meters in height, although some plants have been known to grow upwards of 3-meters.

Sun-grown tobacco tends to be the shorter of the two varietals, and rarely grows past shoulder height, with smaller, thicker leaves being produced. In contrast, shade-grown variants tend to be willowier and are notably taller. That is because partial shade allows the plant to take the nutrients it is pulling from the soil, and channeling it toward the task of growing larger, more delicate leaves, instead of toughening up and hunkering down to withstand the direct onslaught of sunlight. 

This tends to be true regardless as to what the tobacco strain may be and explains why leaves toward the center of the plant tend to be milder, softer, and paler in color than those toward the top. For more on this topic, be sure to check out our blog on the anatomy of the tobacco plant. 

Tobacco Nerd Note: Tobacco isn’t the only plant that benefits from a bit of shade. Coffee has long been known to offer richer, mellower undertones and reduced bitterness levels when cultivated beneath a canopy. Long utilized, yet still widely unrecognized by the coffee market, shade-grown coffee has seen a surge in popularity in the past few years alone.

Sunshine's Benefits and Side-Effects

Just like that barfly down at the local watering hole who’s spent entirely too much time outdoors, tobacco leaves also tend to toughen up when left out in the sun. When tobacco is grown in direct sunlight it forms a coarse, leathery kind of foliage, with broad center spines and a more prominent, oilier aroma, which oftentimes can be detected when the leaves are still on the plant.

Part self-defense factor, part positive repercussion, the heavy concentration of oils, resins, sugars, nicotine, and chlorophyll that materialize when a tobacco plant spends its entire life in the sun is impressive and potent. However, being that older foliage toward the bottom of the plant is shaded by the newer growth above, centrally located "seco" leaves still tend to be a good bit milder and lighter in color than what grows above. It may not be a full-blown shade-grown sort of scenario, but the softness of the leaves toward the center of a tobacco plant can oftentimes be determined by sight and touch alone.

Tobacco Nerd Note: Not all, but most tobacco plants are harvested from the ground up, with one leaf at a time being plucked from the plant via a process called "priming." Since the final primings on the plant are the youngest leaves, and see the most sunlight, they tend to be the most vivacious in flavor, spice, and strength. Adding further potency to the situation is the fact that as the foliage beneath these upper "ligero" leaves slowly diminishes over the harvest season, they receive a continuous increase in nutrients due to a lack of competition. This harvesting act alone greatly affects the way in which the tobacco matures and ripens as it ages and ferments, and ultimately, in how it influences the cigar flavor profile within a blend. 

Klaro's Best-Selling Shade-Wrapped Cigars

Drew Estate "20 Acre Farm"

Room101 Cigars "Johnny Tobacconaut"

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust "Sobremesa Brûlée"

Raices Cubanas "Clásico"

Caldwell Cigar Co. "Cream Machine"

Taking an Expensive Stroll Down Shady Lane

Tent canopies. They aren't just for glamping and backyard patio parties anymore.  

When it comes to tobacco, most strains will flourish beneath a touch of dappled or diffused light. While a sunny meadow will suffice, the jungle is the sort of environment where tropical plants like tobacco hail from, so it only makes sense that these plants have evolved to thrive beneath a canopy.

But for tobacco farmers, hunting for crops in a jungle adds entirely too much risk and labor to the equation. Like any cash crop, neatly cultivated rows are the obvious choice, with very few outcroppings or obstacles around them to interfere with daily plantation work. 

So with shade far away, the only logical option is to diffuse the sunlight via translucent man-made materials suspended on poles and then hold it all together with rigging. What started with hand-sewn sheeting and scrap cloth, eventually evolved into sprawling rolls of cheesecloth, with nylon screens being the product of choice for the majority of tobacco farms today. 

However, people don't always consider that shade-grown tobacco tends to be a bit more expensive than sun-grown leaf. Every square centimeter of "topado" tent shading, as well as the clasps, grounding staves, canopy support poles, and rigging that keeps it all together costs money. The human labor that erects and tends to this coverage requires compensation too, as does the transportation, maintenance, and storage of these humongous canopies. 

Even with the added expense and labor requirements, the methods used in shade-grown tobacco cultivation are undeniably well-founded. Adjusting the level of sunlight a shade-grown tobacco plant receives either by removing or adding a nylon sheet can be quickly and easily implemented. Additionally, this man-made canopy doubles as a form of windbreak when extended on the sides, thus reducing the risk of crop damage during inclement weather. 

Conversely, sun-grown tobacco requires little more than an ideal growing environment, a dash of care, and harvesting along the way. So, keep this in mind the next time you go cigar shopping because the prices between a sun-grown and a shade-grown blend can sometimes be quite sizable.

Tobacco Nerd Note: Certain growing environments are prone to producing far more organic shade than others. Take Ecuador for instance, which is responsible for producing a large amount of the market's cigar wrappers. This South American country receives a sizable amount of cloud coverage every year, especially up in the northern reaches of the Andes mountain range just south of the capital, Quito. Consistent cloud coverage, airborne volcanic ash, and massive mountain peaks have made Ecuador the ideal organic shade-grown environment for cigar tobacco. In recent years, this has led to the phrase "cloud-grown" being applied to Ecuador’s unique tobacco cultivation environment.

Klaro's Best-Selling Sun-Grown Cigars

Rocky Patel "Sun Grown Maduro"

AVO "Classic No. 2"

Caldwell Cigar Co. "Pepper Cream Soda 10th Anniversary"

Crowned Heads "Mil Dias Maduro"

Macanudo "Crü Royale"

Sun-Grown Stereotypes, Well-Founded or Completely False?

Prized for its resiliency and robust cigar flavor profiles, sun-grown cigar tobacco is both avoided and adored the world over. 

Spicy, sweet, toasty, rich, aromatic, oily, intense, dark, leathery, and undeniably direct, every discernible profile that can be pulled from the tobacco plant gets amplified beneath direct sunlight. From a cigar master blender’s perspective, sun-grown tobacco offers an outstanding opportunity to craft a stogie with long-filler that is loaded with substance. In fact, the vast majority of the sun-grown stuff gets stuffed inside of cigars nowadays, leaving only a select few as legitimate wrapper leaf contenders. 

One of the most recognizable and widely utilized sun-grown wrapper strains is Connecticut Broadleaf. Commonly fermented for extended periods in order to reach maduro cigar status, the stocky structure of this hearty Connecticut-bred leaf lends it to being an excellent aid in both construction and combustion. It also feels fantastic in the hand due to its general oiliness and tactile, leathery characteristics, with the smoke it produces being just as bold and oftentimes oily in nature.

But it isn't just Broadleaf tobacco that is getting some direct rays, for cigar wrapper selections within the sun-grown category come in a broad array of colors, textures, oil levels, flavors, and strengths. Everything from habano and corojo crops, and onward to Sumatran and criollo-seed tobacco, as well as a number of other heritage and hybrid strains respond well to sunny growing environments.

Tobacco Nerd Note: For most Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco plants, life tends to end rather dramatically. Unlike shade-grown cigar leaves, which are slowly harvested from the ground up throughout the growing season, Broadleaf usually gets felled all at once via a technique called "stalk cutting." This method forces the entire plant to reach maturity, and by abruptly harvesting it at once, allows the cigar maker to conserve precious man-hours while allowing the plant’s leaves to form a highly desired, mature character.

Parting Puffs

All that said, the art of blending tobaccos for a multi-tiered cigar smoking experience is where all the action is packed. A balanced premium cigar blend is like a fine blended scotch whiskey or an imperial stout with a massive grain bill. Complexity, balance, aroma, and tasting pleasure are the prime objectives, and having a diverse collection of tobacco is forever key when it comes to crafting premium cigars. Indulging in a sun-grown stuffed, shade-wrapped premium cigar blend with a dual binder that rocks a leaf varietal from each camp that hail from completely different countries is totally possible. 

Here at Klaro Cigars, we suggest trying an array of wrapper shades, as that allows you, the cigar smoker, to discover which types of cigar flavor profiles suit your palate best. This also explains why we are constantly sourcing new cigar blends from around the world for the Klaro Monthly Cigar Subscription Program, and take such immense joy in the process of exploring right along with you. May it be shade-grown, sun-grown, or something in between, experiencing the myriads of cigar options that are out there is one of the greatest aspects of this smoking journey we have embarked upon, and we cannot wait to see where it leads us next.