The World of the Habano

Tabaco tapado (shade grown)

Shade-grown leaf for wrappers

The processing of the tobacco leaves used to make a Habano differs according to their method of cultivation and their final function in the cigar. Below is a brief description of the processes used for the leaves that are destined to become wrappers.

Air curing wrappers

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The first process for the newly harvested wrapper leaf, on which the success of the whole crop depends, is a slow and careful period of air curing which removes moisture and turns the leaf by stages from bright green to golden brown.

1. Air Curing in the traditional manner

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Nimble fingered women sow the leaves in pairs and hang them over poles or cujes, 50 pairs to a pole.

Some wrappers are cured in the farmers’ traditional Curing Barns ([tippy title="Casa de Tabaco"]Tobacco House or Curing Barn on a plantation where the leaf is cured and the first fermentation of fillers and binders takes place.[/tippy]) that depend entirely on the natural effects of the climate. The leaves are sewn in pairs and hung astride poles which are placed on racks in the barn. As the leaves cure, so the pole is raised progressively higher in the racks. Ventilation and light must be constantly adjusted to allow for natural variations in temperature and humidity. This process lasts for around 50 days.

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The end of the curing process coincides with the onset of the rainy season, which provides the necessary moisture for the dried leaves to be transported safely to the Sorting House.

2. Controlled Air Curing.

The 1990’s saw a major investment in temperature and humidity control for the curing of wrapper leaves, to overcome the unpredictable conditions in a conventional barn. This is air curing at its most refined, with optimum conditions replicated around the clock. The time it takes is naturally less, around 25 days. But there is still the need for constant vigilance and adjustment as the condition of the leaf develops – the more so, because the process now runs at full pace day and night.

Fermentation of wrappers

Once the wrapper leaves are fully cured, they are removed from the poles and tied in sheaves called [tippy title="Gavilla"]A bunch of graded tobacco leaves tied by their stems for handling.[/tippy]. This concludes the work of the farmer and the task passes into the hands of the [tippy title="Acopio y Beneficio"]The process of gathering and improving tobacco leaves after they are harvested up to the point when they are placed in bales to mature.[/tippy] – the ‘organisation for the gathering and improvement of tobacco’ – which buys the leaf from the farmer. The leaves are then taken to the [tippy title="Escogida"]The Sorting House where the classification of all leaves - wrappers, fillers and binders - takes place and also the site of the fermentation for the wrapper leaves. The name also describes the process in the factory where the finished Habanos are graded into different colours and shades for boxing.[/tippy], or Sorting House, where they will be fermented.

As shade-grown leaves are so thin and delicate, wrappers only undergo a single process of fermentation. It lasts for a minimum of 20 days and takes place in chambers at the Sorting House that have been specially designed for this purpose. During the fermentation the leaf’s impurities are eliminated and its acidity, tar and nicotine contents are reduced whilst its taste characteristics are accentuated. The fermentation also evens out the colour of the wrapper.

Following the fermentation, the wrappers stay in the Sorting House and pass to the process of sorting into classes or classification.

Sorting and classification of wrappers

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The classification of Cuban tobacco leaves is probably the most meticulous in the world.

Size, colour and texture are the three criteria that guide the sorters. Precious wrappers, as you might expect, are the subject of very close attention. First they are moistened and aired to prepare them for handling. Then they are classified into a bewildering array of some 50 different categories designed to ensure that only the most perfect will ever dress a Habano. Any leaf below a certain standard is rejected and set aside for other purposes.

Baling and ageing of wrappers

After the wrappers have been sorted into classes, they are once again tied into [tippy title="Gavilla"]A bunch of graded tobacco leaves tied by their stems for handling.[/tippy] (sheaves). The gavillas are then packed in bales known as [tippy title="Tercio"]A bale made from yagua in which wrapper leaves are aged.[/tippy], made from [tippy title="Yagua"]The loose part of the bark of the Royal Palm, Cuba's national tree, which is used to make bales (tercios) in which wrapper leaves are aged.[/tippy], which is the loose bark of the Royal Palm tree, a material used for many purposes in Cuba. Every bale carries a label rich with information about the leaves within it including their size, the year of harvest and the date of packing. Tercios are also marked with the code of the Escogida where the wrappers were sorted.

Finally the tercios are transported to the warehouse where the wrappers will be left to age for a minimum of six months.

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1492

Habanos are made
completely by hand

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