Raw Materials

The principle raw material of the cigar is the leaf of the tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum). A cigar requires three kinds of tobacco leaf as its raw material. Small or broken tobacco leaves are used for the filler. Whole leaves are used for an inside wrapper, called the binder. The binder leaf can be of second quality or imperfect. Its appearance is not important. A large, finely textured leaf of uniform appearance is used for the outside wrapper. Some cigars are made with the leaves all from the same region. Others may be wrapped in a high-quality leaf but filled with poorer quality leaf from another region. Secondary raw materials include a tasteless gum to stick the end of the wrapper together, flavoring agents that are sometimes sprayed on the filler leaves, and paper used for the band placed around each cigar.

 

The Manufacturing Process

Cultivation of  Tobacco

Tobacco plants are seeded indoors, and transplanted into fields after six to 10 weeks. The plants are carefully pruned so the leaves grow to the necessary size. Plants that produce the outer wrappers of cigars are usually kept covered with cloth to protect them from the sun. The plants take several months to mature in the fields.

 

Curing

After harvesting, the tobacco leaves must be cured in order to develop their characteristic aroma. The leaves are cured when they have passed from bright green flexible fresh leaves to dried brown or yellowish leaves. Chemically, the naturally occurring chlorophyll in the leaf gradually breaks down and is replaced by carotene. To cure, the harvested plants are strung to narrow strips of wood called laths. The laths are hung from the ceiling of a well-ventilated curing barn. In dry weather, they may cure simply by hanging, a process called air curing. The leaves may also be flue-cured. In this method, the laths are hung in a small barn which is heated from 90-170°F (32.2-77°C). The temperature must be carefully monitored in order to prevent extreme rapid drying. Sawdust or hardwood may also be burned in the curing barn, to aid in drying the leaves and impart an aroma.

 

Fermenting

After the leaves are cured, they are sorted by color and size. Small or broken leaves are used for the cigar filler, large leaves for the inner wrapper or binder, and large, fine leaves, usually grown in shade or under cloth, are set aside for the outer wrapper. The leaves are tied into bundles called hands of 10 or 15 leaves each. The hands are packed in boxes or in large casks called hogsheads. The tobacco is kept in the hogshead for a period of from six months to five years. The leaves undergo chemical changes during this period referred to as fermentation. During fermentation, the aroma and taste of the leaf develops. Cigar tobacco is usually fermented longer than other tobacco. Fermentation for two to five years is typical for high quality cigars. After fermentation, the leaves are manually sorted again by highly trained workers.

 

Strippping

The filler leaves must have their main vein (or stem) removed, or else the cigar will not burn evenly. This can be done by hand or machine. Manually, a worker with a thimble knife fitted to his or her finger clips the vein near the tip and pulls it down. Then the worker stacks the stripped leaves in piles (called books or pads). The stripped leaves are wrapped in bales and stored for further fermentation. The bales may be shipped at this point, if final production resides elsewhere. Just before the leaves are ready for manufacture into cigars, they are steamed to restore lost humidity, and sorted again.

 

Hand Rolling

Fine cigars are rolled by hand. Cigar rolling is skilled work: it may take a year for a roller to become proficient. The filler must be packed evenly for the cigar to burn smoothly, and the wrapper should be wound in an even spiral around the cigar. Hand cigar makers usually work in small factories. Each worker sits at a small table with a tray of sorted tobacco leaves on it and space to roll out the cigar. First the worker selects from two to six leaves for the filler. These are placed one on top of the other and rolled into a bunch. Then the worker places the bunch on the binder leaf and rolls the binder leaf cylindrically around the filler. The unfinished cigars are placed in an open wooden mold that holds them in shape until they can be wrapped.

 

Wrapping

Wrapping is the most difficult step. The worker takes the partially completed cigar out of the mold and places it on the wrapper leaf. With a special rounded knife called a chaveta, the worker trims off any irregularities from the filler. Then the worker rolls the wrapper leaf around the filler and binder three and a half times and secures it.

 

Finishing and Packing

Cigars that pass inspection are placed on trays and passed to a banding and wrapping machine. A worker places a band around them. The same worker may also wrap the cigars in cellophane. The ringed cigars may be also passed to workers expert in sorting by shade. They sort the finished cigars according to minute variations in wrapper color. Cigars with the same wrapper shade are then boxed together.