Freshly chopped broadleaf, wilting in the sun.

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Broadleaf Shortage Hits La Flor Dominicana

David Savona
Posted: October 13, 2009

La Flor Dominicana is low on aged broadleaf. The company has alerted customers that many of its maduros are on back order due to shortages.

"It's been a few years with bad crops in Connecticut," said Litto Gomez, who makes the brand in the Dominican Republic. "We started to work the 2006 crop, but it was too tender. When you stretch a leaf, it breaks."

Connecticut broadleaf is a bushy plant that has been grown in the open sunlight in the Connecticut River Valley since 1833. Today, it is grown on lands stretching from around the Hartford area up into Massachusetts. Unlike most cigar tobaccos, which are primed, broadleaf is stalk cut, then speared and hung on lathes. The leaves are wide and, when fermented, they are very dark and exceptionally oily, with fat, ropy veins.

For the complete story, see the current Cigar Insider.

For more on broadleaf, see One Tough Leaf from Cigar Aficionado.