The leaves of Burley tobacco are porous and absorbent, a quality that prompted the earliest tobacco farmers in Missouri and Kentucky to realize that Burley leaves could easily absorb sugar. These tobacco farmers had taken to sweetening their tobacco after curing with a process that immersed the leaves in a “sugar sauce,” marinating them, in effect, in a concentrated sugar solution that might also typically include honey, maple syrup, molasses, fruit syrups, licorice, and other sweeteners.
