Have you ever had the pleasure of puffing slowly on a real Cuban cigar
? Many of those who smoke cigars or pipe tobacco on a regular basis claim that there is no comparison between the flavor and smoothness of real Cuban cigars and the rest of the competition.
Those that have fallen in love with these special cigars often wonder exactly how they are made. Most of the cigar companies now operating in Cuba have been rolling cigars by hand for generations. If you're interested in the delicate process that goes into their craft, here are some things you should know.
Even thought it only takes about eighty or ninety days for a tiny tobacco seed to grow up into a full plant that can be harvested and used to make Cuban cigars, most plants are only harvested two or three times a year in the best regions of the country.
The seedlings are planted on a rotating schedule so that they soil can have time to recuperate between harvests. The crops are closely supervised by field managers that keep their eyes out for insects and other pests that could compromise the quality of the plants.
One the tobacco leaves are picked and pruned, they are taken to special drying houses where they are hung upside down to cure and ferment. There are thousands of racks in each of these drying houses, which are often open to the elements.
The leaves are packed in close together to that the moisture can build up between the leaves and sweat out the impurities in the tobacco. Water is continually sprayed on the leaves as they are packed and repacked during their thirty to forty day stay in the sweating houses.
After an additional curing and packing process, the tobacco is finally ready to be shipped to the rolling facilities where they will be formed into the Cuban cigars that are known and loved all over the world. In order to transform the loose tobacco into Cuban cigars, leaves are chosen very carefully for their size, shape, and texture.
Less experienced rollers are in charge of packing the initial leaf and pressing it in a form. Then the master rollers take over the process of forming the dense cigar and wrapping it in the all important outer leaf. In most cases, this talent has been passed down for generations in a single family.