He's the undisputed local expert on what makes a good tobacco leaf. This tobacco's soft, pliable, it's elastic. It's kind of like lingerie. Now, there's what they call little stitches in tobacco. It's the veins.
Judges spend the morning pouring over the samples and, after lunch, more contests get underway.
And there's the spitting contest. Don Ackerman has won the spitting contest seven of the past eight years. It's quantity control, not to spit a lot of volume. Keep it simple. Smaller goes farther.