Criollo is a type of
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, primarily used in the making of
cigars. It was, by most accounts, one of the original
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n tobaccos that emerged around the time of
Columbus. The term means ''native seed'', and thus a tobacco variety using the term, such as ''Dominican Criollo'', may or may not have anything to do with the original Cuban seed nor the recent
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
, Criollo '98.
Uses
Originally, Criollo had multiple uses in the construction of the
Cuban cigar. After the development of
Corojo, Criollo was increasingly relegated to use as filler, and the Corojo, which was better suited for use as a
wrapper, replaced it.
It was then discovered that when Criollo is grown under cover, as opposed to growing it in the sun as was traditionally done, it can make a very suitable wrapper leaf, given the proper care and conditions. Some of the first Criollo seed grown for wrapper was grown in the
Jalapa Valley
Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...
of
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, and was introduced to the non-Cuban market in 2001 as the wrapper for the ''Cupido Criollo'' brand.
The hybrid variety, Criollo 98, is
Blue Mold
''Peronospora hyoscyami'' f.sp. ''tabacina'' is a plant pathogen infecting tobacco that causes blue mold. It is an oomycete (a fungus-like organism) that is highly destructive toward seed plants. It is very prevalent in humid farming zones, ...
resistant, and was developed in Cuba to replace the earlier Corojo hybrid, Habana 2000, which was losing favor due to its increasingly apparent short-comings.
References
The basis for summary article is Bernardo, Mark
A Tale of Two Seeds ''Smoke Magazine'', part 2, Spring, 2004 issue (vol. 9, issue 2).
Cigars
Tobacco