That's an interesting question...

I'm thinking out loud here, but I wonder if you can go to a dealer that rolls cigars and work a deal out for some tobacco. I know there's a small outfit in San Antonio that has some excellent hand rolled cigars - Latin Gold Maybe try to reach out to them and ask what it would take to buy some of their raw stuff... Worth a shot!

Let us know how your search goes - I gotta think there's SOME PLACE that will sell you raw leaf tobacco...