How a Cigar is Made

How a Cigar is Made
8 years ago 8 comments

How a Cigar is Made

You are sitting on your porch with a wonderful beverage and the cigar of your choice when your mind starts to wander. If you are like us, you begin to think of the day and times gone by, what happened on your favorite show last night, or simply what that cloud on the left… no, not that one, the other one… resembles. Do you ever let your mind pass over to your cigar and begin to wonder about all the hard work, dedication, and skill that goes into the wonderful stick you are smoking? You may be amazed at the amount of time that goes into making your little slice of enjoyment and relaxation.


How a Cigar is MadeAfter planting, the first thing that goes into making a cigar is the harvest of the leaves. Large fields of tobacco are grown with different seed sources and different growing patterns. Not only does the region, soil, water, and amount of sun impact the flavor and type of leaf used, but also where on the plant those leaves are from. Volado/Vigo is the lowest priming of the leaf and because of shade provided by the other leaves, these are left with the mildest of flavor. Next up, the tobacco stalks are Seco which are the largest leaves on the plant. Some would arguably say that these are the best tasting, although still relatively mild in body to use. The top leaves are called Ligero and deliver the most body and an extremely full flavor. The masters such as Don Pepin of My Father, Willy Herrera of Drew Estate, and Pete Johnson of Tatuaje, have studied all these types of leaves for years and know the proper mix of all three types of tobacco in order to obtain the flavor they are searching.

Tobacco Leaf Sorting


How a Cigar is Made

How a Cigar is Made

From here, the leaves are sorted according to size and texture. These leaves are set to dry and cure for a period of at least six to eight weeks. This is a key component to making sure a cigar is ready for you right off the delivery truck. During this initial cure, the tobacco releases moisture and rids itself of toxins and ammonia. If you ever have smoked a cigar that tasted like it should be used to clean the bathroom rather than smoked, it is because it is still "green" and hasn't been cured or aged long enough. Some time in the trusty ol', properly seasoned, humidor will cure these ills.


Cigar Blending

After the cure comes the difficult and artistic task of blending. The master will sort and strip the leaves in preparation and get the filler, binder, and wrapper ready. After the sorting process is when the magic happens. The blender looks at everything available and starts putting together recipes in an attempt to create the amazing taste that up until this point was only in their head. The perfect blendings of Ligero from one nation, seco from another climate, to bring you the enjoyment of that hour and a half smoke. By choosing the right combination, a master blender can get exactly the level of body and flavor that they are looking to pull off. Looking for a full bodied cigar? Time to add more ligero and Nicaraguan tobacco to the mix. Want a nice creamy after taste? Let’s get some connecticut shade wrappers in here. Alec Bradley has even made a special edition box just to show you the importance of blending. In their Fine and Rare Blenders Edition you get small little cigars made of each component of the finished cigar. This way you can see what each leaf tastes like individually before smoking the finished blended project.

How a Cigar is Made


Rolling the Cigar

This recipe is then rolled together into one final product. Depending on size, as few as two full leaves and as many as six are bunched together into a perfect cylinder and the rough binder leaf is applied. This grouping is then placed into a mold and pressed into the perfect cigar shape. The final step of assembly is for the roller to apply the wrapper leaf.


How a Cigar is Made

Cigar Aging Room

The real final step is spent in the "marrying" or "aging" room. The finished stogies are placed in this room for a minimum of 3 weeks for the tobaccos to properly age together and get the best possible layers of flavor out of them. It is in this aging process that the essential oils naturally found in the tobacco leaves will start to evaporate and meld with the other leaves in the cigar. Gone is the astringent ammonia taste, and all you are left with is that amazing pure tobacco flavor.


How a Cigar is Made


Quality Control

Quality control is another huge issue with cigars. Despite being a handmade product, the key to enjoying your favorite cigar is obviously consistency. You expect Liga Privada No. 9 to taste and burn similarly to the one you had two months ago and just like the one you will smoke next week. While it may seem completely impossible to tell if a cigar will burn right without actually lighting it up, cigar makers realize that no consumer would like a box of half smoked cigars, right? They can tell to a certain degree of accuracy on how a cigar will smoke, burn wise, through the weight of the cigar. Too light? This cigar will be underfilled and burn fast and uneven. Too heavy and the cigar is too densely packed and will feel like sucking a golfball through a garden house.

Next time you grab a stick from your humidor to enjoy on a beautiful day in your backyard, think about all the time and dedication that went into that one stick you are smoking. Or go back to staring at the cloud shaped like a choo-choo train. All we at Cigarplace.biz care about is that you are enjoying your cigars.


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air.l@outlook.com 8 years ago at 4:05 PM
Verry good lesson by a wonderfull teacher with amazing comment
Thanks
Eduard 8 years ago at 10:21 PM
I didn't know that. Thanks.
Mike Gehm 8 years ago at 10:28 PM
Great article, thanks for the info!
pete sopczak 8 years ago at 9:52 PM
It's crazy to think all the work that goes into hand-rolled cigars and we just smoke it up. It is consumable art!!!! Hats off to all cigar artists in the world for sharing their skills
Michael Villani 8 years ago at 3:12 PM
Nice article!
John Hensel 8 years ago at 2:25 PM
a video from start to finish would be great.
bobbyg 8 years ago at 12:36 PM
thanks for the info
kodeybob 8 years ago at 8:39 AM
This is amazing. I absolutely love watching the rolling process. When I was in Yabor City in Tampa, the shopes there had so many rollers in their store front, it smelled amazing!
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