While going through back issue of Cigar Press, we stumbled across this great article written by Sam Mendez.  Originally published in Volume 7 Issue 3, we had to share it once again. 

Whenever you enjoy a truly outstanding cigar, it means that every step, every link in that chain, from planting the seeds to aging the cigars, has been perfectly executed.  A perfect cigar is a perfect chain of events.  Even though there are many departments that come before and after the Galera, this aspect is the true heart of a cigar factory and the chain of event in the cigar making process that we’ll focus on here. This is where many different tobaccos, each one coming from a long journey of its own, meet for the first time at the cigar maker’s table. For those who don’t know, a cigar is made with three types of tobaccos, filler, binder and wrapper.  Check out a more detailed article on the parts of a cigar here: https://cigarpress.com/not-just-cigar/

Filler tobacco constitutes the inside of a cigar. It is usually grown in areas with strong sunlight and wind, so the plants have to “fight” against the elements, thus creating a stronger vein structure. This is important because when filler leaves are folded by the cigar maker and placed inside a cigar, these veins “spring back” and create air passages for smoke to circulate through the body of the cigar.

Binder is the tobacco leaf that holds the filler leaves together, to create the bunch. Binder is either a tobacco leaf not perfect (or beautiful) enough to be a wrapper (from a wrapper plantation), or the most perfect tobacco leaves that result from filler production.

Wrapper is the beautiful, silky, oily, and elastic tobacco leaf that wraps the cigar. Premium wrapper is usually grown in fields under reduced sunlight, either by choosing a naturally cloudy area with fewer days of sunlight per year, by covering the tobacco fields with a special fabric that filters the sunlight, or a combination of both.

Making a cigar is divided in two steps, making the bunch and rolling the wrapper.  The “bunch” is a cigar without a wrapper. It is the result of
rolling the filler leaves into the binder leaf.  Even though skilled cigar makers can perform both steps, it’s usually a team of two people, who have to synchronize their speed, and even their personalities, as they become partners in the process of making a complete cigar. In traditional cigar factories, this partnership often lasts for many years.  On a cigar maker’s table, you will see groups of different filler tobaccos. Each one of these tobaccos comes from different seeds, different levels in the tobacco plant (priming), different years of harvest, different countries, different regions of a country, or even different farms within the same region.

There are many similarities between wine and cigar production.  In the agricultural process of producing grapes for wine, the “terroir” is the combination of soil and climate, and its influence on the flavor of the grapes.  The same Cabernet Sauvignon seed planted either in Bourdeaux (France), or the Maipo Valley (Chile) will produce two noticeably different results.  This also happens in the tobacco realm: The same tobacco seed planted in two different countries, in two different regions of the same country, or even in two different plots of the same farm simply separated by a river, will produce tobacco with different characteristics.

There are also similarities in the aging process.  In wine production you age the wine in oak barrels, and then in the bottle.  In cigar production, after fermentation, you age the tobacco before aging the cigars, and then you age the finished cigars in an aging room.

Each filler tobacco leaf serves a different purpose in a cigar blend. Some tobaccos are the base for proper combustion. Some other tobaccos make the cigar stronger. And each tobacco adds its own particular flavor and aroma to the blend, just like ingredients and spices in a recipe.  The master tobacco blender designs the blend with a combination of different tobaccos, until he finds the desired balance of taste, aroma and strength and finish.  An expert cigar maker is like a chef who combines different ingredients and spices to prepare a dish while following a recipe.  But unlike the wine industry, where you’re mixing fluids, here our minimum unit will be half a leaf. There’s constant decision making in the process. If a particular leaf is too large the cigar maker will put 1½ leaves instead of 2. If the leaves are too small, he might use 3 leaves instead.

The order in which the leaves are placed in a cigar is also important. The same way that in a sandwich the ham and cheese are in the center and the bread is on the outside, in a cigar the thicker, more full-bodied, slower burning tobacco, should be placed in the center of the cigar, surrounded by the thinner, quicker burning tobacco. This basic principle is what produces that beautiful cone shape when you drop the ash of a properly constructed cigar. The tobacco leaf that forms the tip of the cone is the “Ligero”, (thicker, full-bodied leaves harvested from the top of the tobacco plant). The tobacco surrounding it will be a combination of “Viso” (medium bodied tobacco from the center of the plant) and “Seco”, (harvested from the lower levels of the tobacco plant).

The cigar maker must carefully fold and distribute each tobacco leaf with the right technique to ensure proper and even airflow through the cigar.  Just like a chef has to make sure he neither undercooks or overcooks a steak, a cigar maker must put the right amount of tobacco in order to achieve the correct draw (airflow) in a cigar. The filler leaves are then rolled into the binder, placing them at the proper angle, and rolled with an even pressure throughout the length of the bunch. The bunches are then pressed between 25 and 40 minutes, rotated 45 degrees and pressed again to eliminate the seams from the first pressing.

Now we’re ready for the second step: the wrapper.  The wrapper has three purposes: First, it’s what gives a cigar its beautiful appearance. Second, it seals the surface of the more porous binder leaf to ensure there aren’t any leaks on the surface of the cigar. And third, it has an important influence on the taste and aroma of a cigar.  Even though the wrapper is only half a leaf versus 6 to 8 leaves of filler, the wrapper dominates about half of the flavor and aroma in a cigar.  This is because wrapper has the highest essential oil content of all the tobaccos. The same way an ounce of cedar (an oily wood) has more aroma than a pound of oak, the wrapper on a premium cigar will usually be responsible for at least half of the flavor and aroma in a cigar. The wrapper roller first proceeds to cut the wrapper, cutting as little as possible from the edge (the sweetest, best tasting part of a tobacco leaf is on the tip and edges), and removing the center part of the leaves, which has the thickest veins. After the wrapper is cut, then he proceeds to roll the cigar, stretching the wrapper as much as possible without breaking it, resulting in a beautiful, shiny, and smooth surface for the cigar.

After the cigar is finished, a supervisor will inspect each and every cigar, first looking at the shape and appearance, then feeling by hand, detecting any soft or hard spots, and he will finally look at the foot of the cigar, where he will verify whether the cigar maker used the correct technique, which will produce the precise density necessary for proper airflow, and the symmetry that will ensure an even burn. Finally, the weight per bundle of 50 cigars is verified. Each type of cigar will have a specific weight, depending on the size and blend of the cigar. This is important because a cigar with too much filler tobacco will not draw, and a cigar with less than enough tobacco will feel soft to the touch, look deformed, and draw too much, thus producing an unpleasant smoking experience.

After cigars have passed all quality control inspections, they’re ready for the next step in the factory: the aging process, which deserves an article of its own.  Meanwhile, you can now sit back, relax, light a cigar, and enjoy the result of hundreds of people who have worked in many different places, through many years, so that you can enjoy the unique cigar you hold in your hands.

Sam Mendez (b.1972, d.2016)