【Cigar 101】 From Seed to Cigar
Intro
For beginners in the world of cigars, understanding this rich and complex landscape can be both exciting and a bit overwhelming. In this blog, we'll unravel the mystique of cigars, starting from their origins and guiding you through the process of how they are made.What is a Cigar?
A cigar is made from fermented tobacco leaves, rolled and bundled into a cylindrical shape. To truly appreciate cigars, we begin with the tobacco seed. Tobacco seeds are typically grown in tropical climates to ensure optimal growing conditions. Some renowned tobacco-growing regions include Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, the United States (Connecticut and Pennsylvania), Cameroon, and Indonesia. The growth cycle for tobacco takes about 18 weeks, and the entire journey from seed to cigar generally takes 2 to 3 years.The Journey from Tobacco to Cigar
Every step in the cigar-making process is crucial, including drying, fermenting, aging, rolling, and further aging the finished cigars to ensure maximum enjoyment. Any mistake along the way can damage the tobacco crop or lead to the production of inferior cigars, affecting the consumer experience.On the Farm, each year’s tobacco crop begins in seedbeds within greenhouses. After about 3 weeks, the seeds sprout into tobacco plants approximately 1 inch tall. Workers select the healthiest plants with robust root systems and carefully transplant them into trays filled with nutrient-rich soil. Here, they continue to grow for a few more weeks until they are strong enough to be transferred to the fields. The journey from seedbed to field takes about 45 days.
As the tobacco grows, its leaves are harvested in different stages. These stages include the bottom priming, known as Volado; the second priming, Seco; the third priming, Viso; and the fourth priming, Ligero. Typically, Volado leaves are not suitable for premium cigar production, while Seco, Viso, and Ligero leaves are sent to curing barns for processing.
Curing, Fermenting, and Aging Tobacco
When the harvested tobacco leaves come to a curing barn, they are tied or sewn together in pairs and hung on sticks, known as cujes. The cujes, holding dozens of tobacco pairs, are raised into the rafters in a curing barn to begin the air-curing process. Over approximately two months, the tobacco dries, and the chlorophyll breaks down slowly turning the tobacco’s color from green to brown. During the curing process, the cujes are rotated from the top of the barn to the bottom so that each leaf receives roughly the same amount of temperature and moisture conditions to ensure their consistent curing and uniform color.Once the tobacco has been cured, it’s graded by size, color, and condition, and moved to a tobacco processing center that’s often part of a cigar factory. Here, tobacco is stacked in piles or pilones, each approximately 3 feet high by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and weighing several thousand pounds. Fermentation slowly removes ammonia and other impurities from the tobacco leaves while at the same time developing the leaves’ innate flavor and aroma through a process that involves the natural heat created from the stacked tobacco. Several times throughout the process, the pilones are torn down and restacked, moving tobacco from the top to the bottom and from the inside to the outside. The fermentation process takes months to complete with the thicker leaves taking as much as 2 years to complete. Once it’s been fermented, the tobacco is again sorted by size, color, and condition before it’s then packed into bales and set aside in the warehouse for aging.
From Tobacco to Cigar
All premium cigars—whether short-filler or long-filler—are labeled "hecho a mano," meaning handmade. When a cigar factory needs tobacco for rolling, the bales are removed from the warehouse and unpacked. A day before being rolled into cigars, the tobacco is re-humidified to make it pliable and reduce the risk of damage to the leaves. Now that we have our tobacco leaves, we can begin crafting the cigar. A cigar consists of three main components: the filler, the binder, and the wrapper. The filler is made up of about 6 leaves that are combined within the binder leaf to create a “bunch.” Cigar makers blend different filler leaves together to create unique tastes and flavors, much like winemakers craft their wines.Higher-end cigars use long-filler tobaccos, where the inner leaves are rolled into a tube that runs the entire length of the cigar. Regardless of whether a cigar is made from short or long-filler tobaccos, the filler leaves are always secured within a leaf called the binder, which sits just beneath the wrapper.
Then, these individual bunches are placed into cigar molds and pressed into shape for about an hour. Once the mold is filled, it is placed in a press that applies pressure to shape the bunch. The bunch is rotated several times under pressure to avoid creating seams in the cigar.
After several hours in the press, the cigar bunch is removed from the mold and prepared for the application of the wrapper. The roller uses a curved cutting tool called a chaveta to trim any excess tobacco from the wrapper leaf. Depending on the shape of the cigar, the roller then wraps the bunch in the wrapper leaf, which is soft, highly elastic, and visually appealing. Finally, the cigar is capped and trimmed to ensure uniform size, with a small amount of natural vegetable glue applied to secure the cap at the top. The finished cigars are aged for at least 21 days, although many factories age their cigars for up to 24 months.
Once completed, a cigar can be broken down into 4 parts: the cap, head, body, and foot.
Cap - The cap is a piece of tobacco applied to the head of the cigar to prevent the wrapper from unraveling. This is the part you’ll cut off when you begin your cigar ritual.
Body - The body is the main part of the cigar, located between the head and the foot. Each cigar's body consists of three primary layers: the filler, binder, and wrapper.
Filler - The filler is the tobacco leaves at the center of the cigar, forming the core of the cigar blend.
Binder - The binder, as its name suggests, is a leaf of tobacco that holds the filler leaves together. It sits between the filler and wrapper. Once the binder is applied, the cigar is placed in a mold to shape it before the wrapper is added.
Wrapper - The wrapper is the outer layer of the cigar, made from high-quality tobacco. While there is much debate about this, I believe that the flavor of most cigars comes from the wrapper.
Foot - The foot is the end of the cigar that you light.
Common Cigar Sizes, Shapes & Colors
From Factory to Your Cigar Humidor
Once they pass rigorous quality control checks, the finished cigars are placed in aging rooms where the humidity levels of the various tobacco components are stabilized, allowing their flavor characteristics to begin "melding" into the overall flavor profile of the cigar.Finished cigars can be aged in the factory's aging rooms for months or even years until they are ready to be shipped to premium cigar retailers. When the cigars are ready for shipment, workers remove the finished bundles from the aging room and break them down. Each bundle is further disassembled, and individual cigars are labeled and neatly packed into boxes, ensuring that each cigar’s label faces up for an attractive display in the retailer’s cigar cabinet.
During this process, the aging of the cigars not only enhances their aroma and flavor but also ensures consistency and high quality in the product. This stage is an essential part of the cigar-making process, guaranteeing that each cigar delivers an exceptional experience for consumers.
As the cigars transition from the factory's aging room to your cigar humidor, their journey does not reach an end; rather, it opens a new chapter. Over time, each cigar develops unique flavors through subtle changes in temperature and humidity.
Needone, we understand that every cigar is like a precious work of art, requiring the perfect environment to flourish. We are dedicated to using advanced technology to provide the ideal storage conditions for your cigars, ensuring they reach their peak flavor.
