Cuban Cigar Reviews

What many people don’t seem to know, is that the most famous two types of “Tabacco Negro Cubano”, the Criollo and Corojo (intended for wrapper leaves), are actually no longer cultivated in their original forms. During the years hybrid variants have been genetically engineered to be more resistant to various diseases the tend to befall tobacco and influence its quality. Still, the cultivation process hasn’t changed much in the past centuries, and most of it is still done by hand, using old techniques and tools.

After intensely loosening the soil with animal carriages, the 9 month long process of tobacco growth begins in the month of June. From then on each leaf is controlled regularly by farmers, until it is time for the harvest, which in itself is a process that requires between 16 and 17 weeks of work, depending on the type of plant.

Leaves are picked from the bottom, progressing towards the top. The Maňanita leaves are the closest to the soil and are too small for cigars, so they are mostly used for cigarillos. The picked leaves have now to be cured for a certain amount of time, and are transported to the curing barns, where they will be air-cured for at least 20 days in the case of wrapper tobacco, and around 2 months for fillers and binders. After that the leaves are taken to the Escogidas for fermentation, which lasts for a month or more for the wrappers, binders and fillers, while the fillers and binders are then, after moistening and various classifications, submitted to another round of fermentation. Tobacco intended for Cohibas is cured for a third time, which is one of the factors that made them famous. All leaves are then aged, but depending on classification for different periods of time. While wrappers can be aged for only six months, Ligero takes at least two years of aging. The Volado and Seco are aged for around one to one and a half years. Of course all of them can be aged longer, which increases their quality. Most “Limitada” cigars are made with tobacco that has extra age on it.

Hello Everybody,

As promised, here is the first article about Cuban tobacco from our new mini-series on how cigars are actually made and where it all comes from. We hope you enjoy it!

What defines a certain tobacco is not only the seed, the fermentation process or amount of sunlight that it receives, but also the soil. A seed grown in two different regions in the same fashion will still produce different tobacco.

Anatomy:

Cuban cigars usually are composed of three components (the filler, the binder and the wrapper), and five types of tobacco leaf (there are exceptions however, such as thin cigars, which usually don’t contain any Ligero, or the Behike which contains a fourth filler leaf, the Medio Tiempo known for its rarity and potency):

- The Filler:

Volado (a leaf of light flavor and good combustion), a.k.a. Fortaleza 1
Seco (medium flavor, most defining for the aroma of the cigar), aka Fortaleza 2
Ligero (full flavor, gives the cigar its strength and slows the burn), aka Fortaleza 3

- The Binder (a.k.a. Capote) defines the shape of the cigar and keeps the filler together.

- The Wrapper (a.k.a. Capa) defines the look of the cigar and adds a certain distinctness to the aroma.

A cigar consists of three sections:

- The Head or Cap (La Perilla), which is cut before smoking,
- The Body (the mid part of the cigar),
- The Foot (La Boquilla), the part which is lit.

The types of leaves:

Wrapper leaves are grown in fields (tapado), covered from side to side with muslin cloth, intended to filter the sunlight. At about a half month after the start of the growing phase, the tobacco fields are completely covered with the muslin and each plant is then tied to the cover. Only the largest and finest leaves are destined to become wrappers, which is why the “hunt” for good wrappers is a constant one. The wrapper leaf is the most expensive one to produce and by some calculations often makes up to 80% of a cigar’s price. The upper leaves produce the darker colored wrappers, while the lower ones become lighter in color. The leaves have different characteristics at each level of the plant. The shade-grown leaves are classified as follows (top to bottom):

Corona
Centro Gordo
Segundo Centro Fino
Primer Centro Fino
Segundo Centro Ligero
Primer Centro Ligero
Uno y Medio
Libre de Pie
Maňanita

Filler and binder leaves are grown in the sun. The Ligero leaves grow at the top, closest to the sun, which gives them their strength. The Seco leaves come from the middle, while the Volado leaves grow nearest to the bottom of the plant. They are classified as follows (top to bottom):

Corona
Centro Gordo
Centro Fino
Uno y Medio
Libre de Pie
Maňanita

Hello Everybody,

It’s been a long time since our last post, too long in fact, but we are now active again and ready for some improvements too! From now on we will be providing you not only with the usual reviews, presented in a somewhat different style, but also with some basics about the world’s finest cigars, such as brief brand histories, details about tobacco growth, etc. We hope that you will enjoy reading the new blog as much as we enjoy making it.

Until next time,

The Cuban Lou’s Team