I first wrote about the Connecticut shade tobacco industry in 2014 after wondering about the fields covered with white cloth I saw when flying in and out of the Hartford airport.

I did some research then and discovered that those fields were producing Connecticut Shade, the tobacco used as a cigar’s two outside layers, the binder and the wrapper.  The cloth covering was introduced in the late 1800s to create the right mix of temperature and humidity for the industry to stay competitive with a similar product from Sumatra.

Over time the demand for Connecticut Shade lessened and by the time it came to my attention it had long been a dying industry.  Fields of tobacco and rows of huge drying barns had been making way for housing tracts, industry and massive shipping warehouses for decades.  I wrote about that in 2020 and in 2022.

In recent years, however, I have noticed that not only has the industry hung on, but that the tobacco fields don’t seem to be using the white coverings any more.  I have also noticed new roofs on some of the old weather-beaten barns and even entire brand-new ones!

Something has changed.

Indeed, it has. Tobacco production has actually increased since 2019 and the delicate, very labor-intensive Connecticut Shade has been largely replaced by the hardier Connecticut Broadleaf as a cigar binder and wrapper. Broadleaf does not require those huge white shade coverings, and it can also be harvested by chopping off the whole plant at once, while shade requires several passes where individual leaves are cut off.

Below are some photos of what the industry looks like these days. Click on any one to bring up a slide show of all the larger images.