The incredible process of a cigar.

A cigar is like a passion: First you light it up, then burn red, violet, violent, virulent, then creates embers and creates ashes: a passion consumed. ………….. a good cigar is a woman and a woman is a smoke. A passion made of that primitive leaf to blaze in a slight flame and then to avidly burnt the ember.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante, (From “Puro Humo”.)


Tobacco belongs to the botanic species Nicotiana Tabacum, from the Solanaceae family; it has 24 pairs of chromosomes. Scientifics believe that this species is an amphidiploid, means a natural hybrid, originated from another two species of the same kind: Nicotiana Tometosiformis and Nicotiana Sylvestris. This hybrid should be sterile and for its reproduction would be necessary duplicate its chromosomes, this could have happened spontaneously in nature.

In October of 1492 Columbus mentions Tobacco for the first time in history: “the natives brought fruit, wooden spears, and certain dried leaves which gave off a distinct fragrance.” And some days later: "We found a man in a canoe going from Santa Maria to Fernandia. He had with him some dried leaves which are in high value among them, for a quantity of it was brought to me at San Salvador” (Taken form Christopher Columbus' Journal)

Tobacco arrived to Europe from the Americas, first was condemned for the Holy Inquisition, but nobody could stop its spread throughout the whole world. Many have been trying to combine tradition and quality, but never with the excellence, knowledge and professionalism that has now achieved in JC CIGARS, INC. More than a company, a family determined to bring to aficionados and connoisseurs the best of the best in cigars.




Cultivation:

During the summer the seedbeds are prepared, choosing loose and well drained soil, preferably close to a water source. After applying fungicides and herbicides to the seedbed, these are distributed and the farmers start to “throw” the seeds in the terrain previously selected, this is done with sand and ashes so they will know where the seeds are planted.
Irrigation starts right after this process, two times per day, then the seeds are covered with rice straws to avoid the direct heat from the sun, the excessive loss of humidity and to protect seeds from wind. After 45 days of irrigation the offshoots are 15 to 20 centimeters tall, now they are ready to be transplanted.

The sow is made in stages (starting in October), to make sure that the different phases of the manufacture process do not get overflow. The offshoots are sown with a separation of 40 centimeters from each other. During this process water plays an important roll, so farmers take special care on irrigation. Tobacco plants need 45 to 50 days to reach the complete development, but throughout this period they have to be visited regularly to eliminate buds before they flourish since flowers consume great quantities of nutrients, damaging the useful part of the plant: the leaf. This is called “desbotonado”, this action allows to develop bigger leaves, but at the same time, unleashes an accelerated growth of side shoots and has to be visited frequently to eliminate them; this is the “deshijado”.





Recollection:

Around 45 to 50 days has been passed since sowed was made, and now the harvest process begins. This is a colossal work, not only because the leaves have to be picked up by hand, one by one, but also, because just two or three leaves can be taken on each visit to a determinate plant, and some days have to go by between every recollection: the period between the first harvest and the second one is 7 days, the third one is made 3 days later and finally the fourth picking is completed 3 days after. The recollection has to be made by levels since leaves ripen from down to top, and the leaf chemical composition varies depending on the height. The harvesting of a single plant takes approximately 30 days to be done. The estimated time of visits to each plat is in general 150 days.



Air Curing:

This is a long but natural process, which requires an extreme supervision to make sure that temperature and humidity remain under control. This procedure takes place in big barns, usually oriented from east to west. The leaves are tied up in groups of two or three and threaded onto a stick that is going to be hanging out into the tobacco barn that same day. During this process the leaves obtain the typical golden-brown color and loose 85% of their weight in water. This takes approximately 50 days.

Once cured, the leaves are untied from the stick and tied again in bunches that are called “gavillas” and gather together into piles of 1.5 meters of height. This procedure is called first fermentation and lasts at least 30 days. Leaves that are going to be used as wrapper (capa) only pass this first fermentation since they are especially thin leaves and will not stand a second fermentation.

At this point, a classification is made depending on type of tobacco plants, sun grown tobacco for filler and binder or covered tobacco (tapado) for the wrapper; the leaves are sort by sizes, color and conditions and in all cases by regions. The best ones will be used as wrapper (capa) and the ones with less quality are destined to be filler or binder (tripa o capote). This is the first classification; the final sorting takes place at the factory.

After the classification is completed, the second fermentation process begins, the leaves are piled up again, but now in bigger loads; the size and weight of the stack combined with the relative humidity generates a more intense fermentation. This method may last up to 90 days. Temperature and humidity are rigorously controlled by thermometers that are inserted on the stacks, when temperatures are too high the stacks are taken apart and piled up again changing the leaves from the top to the bottom, this procedure is repeated until temperature is stable, indicating that the fermentation process has been completed. During this technique leaves undergo a chemical transformation that enhances even more their flavor and aroma, while also eliminates ammoniac. Next, the leaves are placed on shelves allowing them to settle for a few days, then, they are packed, wrapped up in two different types of materials; wrapper into bales (tercios), a very thick and textured material made out of royal palm leaves (Palma Real) called yagua; Binder and filler are packed in “arpilleras” or jute bales; afterward, tobacco is transported to warehouses where they mature and aged for a certain period of time depending on the type of tobacco leaf; it could be from a year and a half up to two years but only 6 months for wrapper. However, tobacco could be aged for up to ten years; passed this period of time, tobacco starts the process of what is called empty tobacco (tabaco vaciado). This begins to loose all its nutrients such as: oils, nicotine, tar, ammoniac, calcium; iron, ect; and becomes a common pile of ordinary grass. Now the leaves are ready to be transformed into cigars.


Types of Tobacco:

Five different types of leaves form a cigar; wrapper, binder and filler are the parts of a cigar. The filler is a blend of leaves from one, two or three different types of tobacco that masters or blenders create for each kind of vitola of every brand; they jealously keep that “secret”; this combination gives unique characteristics to every vitola.

The wrapper is a special type of tobacco, with exceptional distinctiveness attain throughout the delicate careful that has been given to the plant during its cultivation. This tobacco is called “covered tobacco” (tapado) since is cultivated under big white awnings to prevent that sun’s radiations get directly to the plants, especially to the leaves. This gives to these leaves special properties: a fine leave, satisfactory flavor and a particular and pleasant aroma.

Leaves set aside for binder are chosen for its flexibility and resistance, and usually are from the central or inferior area of the stem. Its purpose is to keep together the filler. These leaves have to have an excellent combustibility. Both, the binder and the filler are sun-grown tobacco.

Fillers are made from three different kinds of tobacco; basically the strength is what sets the difference. Strength goes from 1 to 3 and it is marked for the leaf position in the tobacco plant. The highest the leaves are, the nicotine concentration increases. Leaves located on the superior part of the plant are known as strength 3; these give to the mixture more strength, the ones located at the middle part of the plant are called dry (seco) or strength 2 and have the perfect balance between aroma, combustibility and flavor, therefore these leaves add the aroma. And leaves located at the inferior area of the stem are called volado or strength 1 and are used basically to give combustibility to the cigar.



Production of hand-rolled cigars:

The first step on the factory is conditioning the leaves; these are separated and classified according to every type of leaf. Binder and filler comes in “arpilleras” or jute bales and wrapper in “tercios” or leaves of royal palm, previously marked and coded indicating harvest year and source.

Wrapper gets into a wetting process. With extreme careful they are separated and then wet to recover the elasticity, and place to a specific temperature and humidity for 10 to 72 hours until they recovered the smoothness needed for the rolling procedure. Unlike the wrapper, the binder and filler do not require an additional wetting process.

After this process, the leaves are fumigated with an innocuous product that does not change the flavor or the odor, and prevent bugs and fungus formation. This procedure takes 45 days.

Now the leaves are ready for the quality control zone (el rezagado), there, leaves are separated depending on their size, color, etc. next start the blending, the tobacconist master has to manage the progress of each type of tobacco leaf, only when perfection is reached leaves are accepted into the blending department where these experts assure the perfect flavor, aroma and the identity of each vitola.

At this time, leaves are ready for the rollers, who are the heart of every cigar factory, their tools are essentially their hands, but they also use a table, a knife called “chaveta”, a guillotine, vegetable glue, a press and molds. They start by making the filler, very carefully and even for a perfect burning. Once the filler is done, is covered with the binder to create the “bonche” which is placed on the mold where the cigars obtain shape. The molds are closed and pressed for a while; now comes the most delicate part of the process: to put the wrapper (la pasada de la capa), but before, the rolling is interrupted as the molds are taking to a machine that checks the draw of the bonche by suction, to guarantee appropriate quality and perfect combustibility.. These machines were first introduced at the end of 2001 and are now widely used. Afterward the roller just has to perfectly roll the wrapper, cut the leaf to make the “perilla” which is bond with vegetable glue, and we have a perfect cigar.

The cigars are taken to a quality control department, making sure that size, shape, appearance and thickness are the indicated for each vitola; then, they go to a room with perfect temperature (61º F to 64º F) and humidity (65% to 70%). This room, also known as the “escaparate”, has cedar-paneled walls; here the cigars are left to rest, to let them loose all the excess of humidity that they gained during the hand-rolled process. They usually stay a week into the “escaparate” but the longer they settle the better.

The final procedures in the factory are dedicated to a perfect presentation of the cigars. Those that have passed all quality controls and have been settled into the “escaparate” are taken to a table where the cigars are chosen according to their tonalities that can be more than 67 shades of colors; extreme care is taken to guarantee that all cigars in a box are the exact same shade. The color graders or “escogedores” work in pairs to color-match the wrappers into the box. The first one sorts the cigars, separating them by colors and shades while the second chooser or “escogedor” puts them into the box, ordering them, running from dark to light from left to right across the box. This “escogedor” also chooses the frontal face of each cigar; the more attractive one will face upwards in the box. Finally the bands are placed on the cigars very carefully; the “anilladoras” or banders follow the escogedor’s arrangement in every aspect: same face upwards with the band properly aligned, and the same order left to right.




Tasting a cigar

The tasting of cigars is done in the factories; each factory has its own team of cigar tasters, they have to appreciate basically six points of general quality: draw, combustibility, aroma, flavor, strength and appearance. For this it is indispensable that they have created certain conditions, a room with comfortable temperature and humidity, with no noise or strong odors, a place where they will be able to relax and make an appropriate judgment.

The tasting starts with an adequate lighting, this can not be done ever with anything that will add any flavor to the cigar, such as, wax matches or candles; the best is to use cedar splinters, butane lighters or wood matches always let them burn for a few seconds before light up the cigar.

A cigar has to be lighted up slowly; the entire circumference has to be lighted up before we start to inhale, until make sure that is going to burn up evenly. At this point all our senses get in touch with the cigar, a phrase from the famous tobacconist Zino Davidoff explain this perfectly: “It (a cigar) is made for all the senses, for all the pleasures, to the nose, mouth, fingers, eyes ... is a slight crack extra pleasure for the ears.”

Appearance:

The appearance is the external look of a cigar, the most evident part of it: color, texture, fineness, if is too hard or too soft. While we touch a cigar we can recognize if a cigar has excess or defect of filler or how well conserved it is. We also use the sense of smell, if the ammoniac odor is too intense is because it does not have the adequate grade of fermentation, if the smell is too slight or has not odor at all is because the cigar is too dry or maybe too old.

Aroma:

When tasting a cigar we most follow certain guidelines since each vitola will have the aroma that the masters gave to every mixture, this will depend only in the types of tobacco that has been used and in the harmony of each combination.

First of all:
-A cigar only has one smell, tobacco.
-Depending on the mixture the aroma can be more or less strong, more intense or long lasting.
-The aroma may increase or not with combustion, this is while we smoke it.
-Fill with more or less intensity the air with its odor.
-Its aroma will remain in our sense of smell for more or less time, indicating the “tempus” of each puff.





Flavor:

This is the most important point in a cigar tasting, some times it depends on external aspects, for example if you are drinking coffee, or whisky the flavor is not always the same. On big format cigars are easily to detect the different flavors, sweet, salty, acid or sour. After inhale, the puff has to be kept it in your mouth for a few seconds, roll it around, smack your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and remember that you get the cigar’s flavor by the end of your tongue.
The flavor always has to be judged by the end of the first third of the cigar, when the “chimney” is totally hot; it is when the cigar reaches the real flavor. A good balance in flavor is obtained when all the process prior smoke has been done properly.

Draw:

The draw has much to do with the rolling, the mixture and format of the cigar, it is related to the combustibility, when the draw increases amplify the oxygen entry and the cigar burns better.
The diameter of the cut in the head of the cigar has a direct influence on the draw, also the shape and size of the cigar.
Cigars of big format tend to reduce the draw, while thickness adds it; the thicker a cigar is the better draw and combustibility is obtained.
The points on the draw are given from 1 to 5, being 5 the perfect draw and 1 insufficient, 2 occurred when the rolling is too loose and you get an exaggerated and hot puff. 3 is a lightly superior to the correct draw and 4 is slightly inferior to the perfect one.

Combustibility:

This aspect of tasting is focused on the easiness, regularity, the quickness and the way a cigar burns.
First of all, we have to observe the rings on the ashes. While the cigar burns, it creates circle after circle, if the combustibility is excellent those circles are regular and even, you also can detect a division of 0.5 to 1 millimeter between each ring. If some black stains appear around the line of burning is a signal of bad combustibility.
Color and consistency are important points, color on the ashes indicates if the cigar had a good fermentation or not and also it’s chemical composition. Consistency demonstrates whether combustibility is good or bad and the strength of the rolling. Ashes most have consistency, when ashes are compacted indicates that rolling and combustibility are excellent. Another sign of good combustibility is when ashes fall from the cigar, if the ember stay flat is normal, if gets conical, like a volcano, is excellent, but if it forms a crater is consider bad.


Strength:

This is one of the must personal and subjective aspects of tasting a cigar, as a rule is valued according to the types of tobacco used in the mixture and the particular characteristics of each vitola. Here it is important to evaluate the taste of every market and the personal taste of the taster, because what is strong for some people is medium-strong or just medium for others.

There are some rules for tasting a cigar, it can be open, where the panel and guests know the brands and vitolas to be tasted or blinded, in this case neither the panel or guests does not have any information about the brand or vitolas to be tested.
The panel is conformed for an odd number of tasters, preferably expert smokers and personalities. They get some samples from the jury and a filing card. The jury is integrated by qualify personal and connoisseurs of the product and its characteristics, they will observe the compliance of established rules. The ambience has to be in a room with comfortable temperature (approximately 75º F) and humidity (65 %) with no noise or strong odors, furniture and lighting will provide relaxing atmosphere to make an appropriate judgment.


Tasting Rules:

The following are basic rules that cannot be altered for best results of the tasting.

Panel:
-The tasting panel must not consume any drink or food 30 minutes prior to the tasting.
-The panel must know exactly the time that tasting will start.
-During the tasting the panelists must be relaxed, like this were an ordinary cigar, without any kind of stress.
-Between each tasting session the panel will have a recess, during this time the panelists will not have any kind of food or drink with the exception of a mouth washer made out of warm tea without sugar.

Jury:
-Time is going to be running at the point that the panel gets the samplings and lights them up, so the panelists must have the filing card by this time.
-Jury will finish every session; they will pick up the filing cards and evaluate them and finally give the results.
-The results must be given by the end of every session.
-The members of the jury will be impartial and righteous.
A good cigar is always a gift for the senses, which you will enjoy even more if it is smoked in a relaxed atmosphere.

How to preserve your cigars:

Tobacco is a product highly hygroscopic; this means that easily attracts moisture from the atmosphere, and if is under excess of humidity will sooner reach putrefaction. That is why it is so important that cigars remains always under adequate conditions of temperatures and humidity. Temperature must be between 61º F and 64º F and humidity between 65% and 70%, this can be easily achieved if you keep them into a humidor, this is a wooden box, preferably made out of cedar that maintains stables conditions of humidity and temperature.

How to check the condition of your cigars:

When you want to check if your cigars are in good condition, just put one between your thumb and your index finger and gently press it, if is soft and the wrapper has a smooth texture is perfect.

How to cut your cigar:

The best way is to use a guillotine cutter, hold the cigar with one hand and the guillotine with the other, then insert the head of the cigar into the guillotine and cut the cap. Never use a stick to punch the cap or “perilla” this only will compress the cigar and the draw will be insufficient.


How to light up your cigar:

The finest is to utilize cedar splinters, butane lighters or wood matches, remember always let the matches head burn for a few seconds before lighting up the cigar. Never use anything that adds any flavor to the cigar, such as, wax matches or candles. First bring near the flame to the cigar until it gets charred and start to burn, then gently blow up over the ember and make sure that the whole circumference it is burning evenly. Put the cigar on your lips and apply the flame again, start to inhale while rotate the cigar with your fingers.

How to smoke your cigar:

A cigar becomes enjoyable when its smoke components dilutes in the saliva that has contact with your tongue and the taste buds, so you have to play a little with the puff inside your mouth, sooner you will notice the flavors on the combination of your cigar. Let the ashes fall by it self. When the pleasure reaches the end of the cigar simply put it on the ash tray, you do not have to put it out, and it will do it by itself.

© Juan Carlos González Unauthorized Reproduction Prohibited