The Tobacco Plantation

There are big areas that, under the effects of the trade winds with a humid and tamplate climate, are perfect for tobacco cultivation.

Tobacco cultivation is always done by hand. The cultivation starts on the seedbeds where, on good cared fields, after a short period of time young tobacco plants, called "postura", begin to grow. The young plants have to be well cared all the time.

When the tobacco plant becomes ripe, the leaves are harvested and stored for 1 or 2 days in a shady place.

After that the leaves have to be tied together. In this process the central rib at the base of the leaves is treated with a portion of ice or a thin metallic bar. Only the backsides of the leaves are tied together to prevent a loss of quality in the drying process.

In the evening, at lower tempratures, the tobacco leaves are put on cujes, long thin wooden bars. The cujes are put on barrederas, thin and short posts, that are held by horcas. The whole drying system constructed with cujes and barrederas is known as a tendal. In order for the leaves to get a golden shade, the cujes have to be installed outside depending on the weather.

After 8 or 9 days the cujes are brought into the drying-house (casa del tabaco), which has to remain closed during the rest of the drying and ripe process.

The next step is that the leaves are put into bundles, tied by banana leaves at the stem of the tobacco leaves. These bundles are called matules.

A matul is built of all the tobacco leaves that hang over one cuje. The leaves are then put into piles or bulks until they reach the perfect level of ripeness.

After that they are arranged by size, colour and texture. In this way there are different categories of leaves that begin with the first class with excellent characteristics to the leaves with the poorest properties.

Next the leaves are tied into sheaves according to the class and put again into piles or bulks.

Before the cigar-roller can start to work, the leaves have to be humidified with water so that they remain moist and flexible for the following tasks.

One day after the leaves have been moisted, the biggest ribs that are not suitable for the rolling process are removed. The leaves are usually seperated into two parts in this process, so that they offer different sizes and properties.

After the moisting process the leaves are aired outside or in a drying house which has been constructed with wood or cloth.

Then the leaves have to be classified for the last time. Again they are arranged by classes, sizes and colours.

In this way, the cigar-roller is able to produce cigars very similiar in shade and texture, so that the cigar bundles or packages are made with almost the same looking cigars. This complicated and thorough process of classifying the tobacco leaves is the reason why the wrapper, the visible part of the cigar, has its good looking colour and its smooth touch.