Wikipedia
Oriental tobacco or Turkish tobacco is a highly aromatic, small-leafed variety of tobacco which is sun-cured. Historically, it was cultivated primarily in Thrace and Macedonia, now divided among Bulgaria, Greece the Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey, but it is now also grown on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, in Egypt, in South Africa, and elsewhere.
The name "Turkish" refers to the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the historic production areas until the late 19th/early 20th century.
Many of the early brands of cigarettes were made mostly or entirely of Turkish tobacco; today, its main use is in blends of pipe and especially cigarette tobacco.
Turkish tobacco is sun-cured, which makes it more aromatic and, like flue-cured tobacco, more acidic than air or smoke-cured tobacco, thus more suitable for cigarette production.
Turkish tobacco has a much milder flavor and contains less nicotine and fewer carcinogens than other varieties. Cigarettes containing only Turkish tobacco, like Murad, Helmar, Balkan Sobranie or those supplied by urban tobacconists like Fribourg & Treyer or Sullivan Powell in London, are no longer available. Blends, however, persist: the American Blend cigarette, in particular, uses Turkish mixed with more robust tobacco such as Virginia tobacco and Burley. Turkish tobacco plants usually have a greater number and smaller size leaves. These differences can be attributed to climate, soil, cultivation, and treatment methods.
Usage examples of "turkish tobacco".
The smell of the strong Turkish tobacco was rank on the sweet night air.
Sybil pulled one hand from her muff and gnawed feverishly at her fingernail, which smelled of Turkish tobacco.
It was the most wonderful cigarette he had ever tasted---the mildest and sweetest of Turkish tobacco in a slim long oval tube with an elegant gold crescent.
As soon as we were alone, Frank and I, uncorking the champagne, lighted our cigars, and saying that the sun was still too warm for outdoor romping, pressed the girls to try some very mild cigarettes of Turkish tobacco.
She'd got Drucker a fancy meerschaum, and some Turkish tobacco to smoke in it.
Mustaphet is supposed to sell Turkish tobacco to American manufacturers, and he has occasion to travel around over the world a lot, selling tobacco, of course.