The influence of a hot summer - vintage 2024

The summer of 2024 will be remembered in Swiss growing regions for a long time. Heatwaves at the end of June and in mid-August, together with long rain-poor spells, shaped the growth curve of our fields as strongly as few vintages over the last ten years.

What the plant did

Under sustained heat the tobacco plant reacts defensively: it reduces leaf area, thickens its wax layer and concentrates its content. What looks like a loss - smaller leaves, less tonnage per hectare - is a sensory gain. The leaves become denser, more aromatic and richer in nicotine, sometimes 15 to 20 percent more concentrated than in a balanced year.

The harvest: later, more precise

We had to draw the 2024 harvest windows considerably tighter. In Burley stands in the Broye, on some slopes only 36 hours separated a perfect leaf from an overripe one. Together with us, our growers partly organised the harvest in two night shifts - in the cool the leaf is more supple and doesn't tear.

Curing in the heat

Air-cured Burley leaves normally need 6 to 8 weeks in the open barn. In 2024 everything was faster - sometimes too fast. We had to close gates at times, place water troughs inside the barns and slow the curing artificially. Skip that and you get leaves that turn strawy and lose their sweetness.

First sensory notes

In January 2025 we set up the first sample fermentation from the vintage. The impression after eight weeks:

• Nose: dried plum, walnut, light pepper.
• Palate: dense body, mineral attack, long finish.
• Combustion: cooler than 2023, quiet, light ash.

Hot vintages give depth. But they demand that you are willing to harvest less and wait more.

What the vintage means

For the grower 2024 was an effort. For the connoisseur it could become a windfall. We expect the first matured 2024 leaves to appear in meaningful quantities in our manufactory blend from late autumn 2026 onward. Anyone who knows Swiss tobacco should mark that date.