Hailstorm Destroys Florida Tobacco Crop Used in Popular Cigars

Fans of Drew Estate’s FSG and 20 Acre Farm cigars, or J.C. Newman’s The American better stock up while they can as the tobacco will be very scarce soon due to a hail storm that destroyed this year’s crop completely. “Total loss at the FSG Tobacco farm,” Borysiewicz wrote in a Facebook post. “The tobacco was looking incredible. We were going to top the plants this week and start harvesting next week. In a matter of minutes, an entire season can get wiped out by a hail storm.” Borysiewicz also shared photos of the farm both before and after the hail storm, and the destruction is devastating.

“If growing prized cigar tobacco was easy, everyone would be doing it,” Borysiewicz added on social media. It is impossible to insure tobacco crops against forces of nature and Borysiewicz already indicated that he won’t grow new crop until September due to the weather conditions. He won’t remove the current plants yet, as he expects them to sprout and flower in the coming weeks. The plan is to get seeds from these flowers to produce the next generations of crops. The flowers are also used to attract the bees that produce Florida Sun Grown Tobacco Honey.

Images via Jeff Borysiewicz.