The Cigar Making Process

In accordance with historical documentations, the world's earliest cigars were prepared by local Cubans. Christopher Columbus, during his journey to the New World, for the very first time came across Cubans smoking unrefined cigars and he brought some along with him to Europe. At the present time, cigar smoking can prove to be quite an expensive habit, as cigars are normally high-priced.

The tobacco leaf is possibly the most vital element in a first quality cigar. A cigar needs three different types of tobacco leaf:

. Broken or small leaves, used for cigar stuffing
. Whole, intact leaves are required for internal binding or wrapping
. A large leaf with an even texture is required for outside wrapper

The cigar creation process also necessitates other raw materials, like a flavorless gum, which is needed to affix together the outer wrapper ends. Sometimes, seasoning agents are sprayed on top of the stuffing leaves.

The actual cigar making process involves many different steps, such as;

Step 1: Farming of Tobacco Tobacco plants must be pruned carefully so that their leaves reach the proper size. Plants, which produce leaves, used for the external wrappers, are normally shielded, to protect the leaves from the direct rays of the sunlight.

Step 2: Curing In such a phase, the leaves are yielded and taken care of, to provide the cigar's distinctive aroma. After reaping, the leaves need be treated, so as to cultivate their distinctive aroma.

Step 3: Fermenting After being treated, the leaves are separated by color and size. Then, about 10 to 15 leaves are tightly attached in bundles, called hands, and are kept in boxes, known as hogsheads.

Step 4: Stripping On this stage, the filler leaves are stripped of their major vein. This process is carried out either manually or mechanically. Then a stripped tobacco leaves are made into bundles and stocked for additional fermentation. Immediately, previous to the leaves are all set for cigar production, they undergo steaming process, so that the lost moisture is restored.

Step 5: Hand rolling World quality cigars are hand rolled. Rolling is a tricky art, which can only be performed by skilled and qualified labors. The packing of filler needs to be even so that it smoothly burns.

Step 6: Wrapping Wrapping is another difficult step, in which a partly finished cigar is detached from the cast, laid on the binder leaf and then it is cut by the use of an unique rounded knife known as a chaveta.

Although the word's premium cigars are still made by Cubans, cigar production has developed into an art, which has spread throughout the globe.

About the Author

Cigars-Now been operating continuously since 1998.Unless you're going to buy your cigars one at a time from a local smoke shop, you'll need a humidor.