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The Cuban Tobacco Industry: The Cigar Factory

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Cuban tobacco and the cigars made from it are world famous. Proper soil, growing techniques, curing, rolling, storing, and mysterious family secrets are all credited with giving the Cuban cigar its unique flavor. Genuine Cuban cigars are rolled from tobacco leaves that are grown, cured and rolled in Cuba. A Cuban cigar, since the origin of the cigar, has been the highest standard of comparison by which most cigar aficionados compare all other cigars. The best-tasting, smoothest cigars in the world have been attributed to the soil and climate in Cuba. "In the same box there are no two cigars alike; each one has a different taste” is a phrase frequently used by only the most distinguished cigar aficionados. Many families attribute their cigars’ unique taste to the special care given during its growing and curing. Very few cigar makers handle everything: the planting, the growing, the curing, and the rolling of the cigar. Usually this takes place on smaller farms or in more remote areas of Cuba. In other cases such as in the larger cigar rolling plants, the filler, binder, and wrapper may come from different tobacco farms in various parts of the island. Most cigar production for export is controlled by the Cuban government, and all the differing brands are rolled by any of the factories in Cuba depending on the world demand. While the smaller independent Cuban tobacco farmer farms his own land, the government run companies of Habanos SA and Cubatabaco gather the differing types of tobacco, oversee the tobacco rolling, provide quality control, create the marketing and promotional plans, direct distribution, and negotiate the export of cigars in Cuba. The small independent Cuban tobacco farmer is allowed to keep some tobacco, cure it, and roll a limited amount of cigars. Each adult Cuban citizen above 16 years old is granted their monthly discounted tobacco ration. Very few foreigners ever get to sample these cigars. Most of these are rationed to the Cuban citizens.

Rolling Tobacco into Cigars To properly roll a cigar is another process completely. Most tobacco growers of the world just grow tobacco and sell it to the highest bidder, while many cigar makers around the world only make cigars. There are very few individuals that know the tobacco growing and cigar rolling processes completely, and most of these cigar sages live in Cuba. Secrets have been jealously guarded by certain families, and have been passed down for many generations. To learn how to roll a cigar that is world class and worth a premium in the world market is to learn an art form. To learn just the basics of rolling a Cuban Cigar takes nine months. Cuban cigar rollers or torcedores are considered by many to be the most skilled rollers in the world. Some famous torcedores are highly respected in Cuba, and they travel worldwide displaying their art of hand rolling cigars.

What is the Authentic Cuban Cigar?

Because of the perceived status and the immense value placed on Cuban cigars, counterfeits are commonplace. While the Dominican Republic is the world’s largest exporter of cigars, the Cuban people make quality a point of pride. The conflict that exists between the Cuban people that remain in Cuba and the original families that owned the cigar brands runs deeply. Both feel that the cigars made by the other are counterfeit. As trade relations with the United States have been improving gradually, many heated questions have brought the subject of brand name rights to the forefront. An aficionado friend showed me how to spot a fake box of Cuban cigars. The words "Hecho En Cuba" (Made in Cuba) and "Totalmente a Mano" (Totally by Hand) should be burned and not just stamped into the bottom of the wooden box. The top of the box should have a 13/16" sticker bearing the Habanos logo in bold red and it should be highlighted in yellow. It will additionally have gold stripes between black lines at the top and bottom. The Cuban tax stamp, an ornate green-and-white seal bearing the words "Republica de Cuba", has been placed on legitimate Habanos boxes since 1912. The seal was updated in 2000 with denser color, serial numbers, and a hidden UV watermark. This was added to frustrate those who would counterfeit the seal. Here is a link for more information on genuine Cuban product: http://www.cigarnexus.com/counsel/counterfeit/

A Practice in the Cigar Factory: The Reading To make the best cigars in the world, the Cuban torcedores may find inspiration in the daily readings. A Lector is a reader who reads aloud in a cigar factory. There is no canned music or radio in the tobacco factory. The reader usually begins with Granma, the national newspaper, then she has the job to choose the daily reading from sources that vary from current events, works of non-fiction, works of fiction, religion, comedy, politics, news, and poetry. The readers at the Cigar Factories are respected literary critics among the workers and are considered by the workers to be well educated. One reader is quoted as saying that the employees see her as “counselor…an expert in law, psychology, and love.” It is her job to either choose the daily reading or have an invited guest. Poets, authors of short stories, and novelists visit the factories to read passages from their works. They answer questions posed by the workers and share their thoughts about their creations.

The History of the Reader In 1865, the first reader appeared in Havana at the factory of Le Figaro. The employers and Spanish colonial authorities eventually stopped the reading. They felt that ignorant workers were more easily exploited. During the War of Independence in 1896, many of the cigar factories moved to Tampa and Key West...these spots are where the famous Cuban hero, Jose Marti, made appearances that breathed life into the revolution. Those who work rolling cigars learn to dwell on deep thoughts, classic literature, laugh at amusing stories or get an update on the social calendar for the month. This practice of reading still takes place today in Cuba wherever tobacco is rolled into cigars. A little known fact is that when a reader read something that was well-liked, they’d name a cigar after the reading. Two examples are “The Count of Montecristo” and “Romeo and Juliet”.

Why the Cuban People Identify with Tobacco Nearly a third of the Cuban population smokes tobacco. After 1959, during and after Fidel Castro headed up the Cuban revolution, many tobacco plantation owners left Cuba to start over in the Dominican Republic and other parts of the world. They felt and still feel entitlement to the brand names developed on their land. Any aficionado will tell you that the taste does differ between a Dominican Montecristo or Romeo y Julieta and a Cuban. Thus begins a hotbed of controversy. Both claim superiority. Cuban tobacco is considered by Fernando Ortiz to be “more Cuban than sugar”. The tobacco farmer spends time year round caring for the ground and the tobacco plant to draw the very best out from the ground. The pride of creating a product exclusively in Cuba without needing anything from another country is what makes tobacco so important to the people of Cuba. Many other industries from sugar to tourism have foreign investment involved to make them successful. The 100% Cuban origin brings tobacco and the cigar closer to the heart of the Cuban people than any other Cuban product. Tobacco is a crop that the indigenous peoples of Cuba grew and smoked before the first European stepped foot on Cuban soil. Sugar was an imported crop brought to Cuba that is believed to come originally from Asia.

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Footnotes

1) Fernando Ortiz, Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar. (New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc., 1947), 9. 2) Tracey Eaton, “Antis in Cuba (tobacco)”. The Dallas Morning News. 23 Aug. 23, 2003.

3) Ciro Bianchi Ross, "Lectores de tabaqueria". Cubaperiodistas.cu. January 29, 2010. 1.

4) Araceli Tinajero, El Lector de Tabaqueria: Historia de una tradicion cubana. (Madrid: Verbum Ensayo, 2007). 226.

5) Tinajero, 96.

6) Michael Voss, "Reading while rolling Cuba's famous cigars". BBC. (accessed Feb. 28, 2009.)

7) Lourdes Perez Navarro, “Cuba: an Enriching Encounter with Readers at a Cuban Cigar Factory". Cubaperiodistas.cu. (accessed Feb. 28, 2009)

8) Eaton. 1.

9) Perez Navarro, Lourdes. 2.

10) Ortiz, 61.

11) Ortiz, 58.

  Works Cited

Bianchi Ross, Ciro. “Lectores de tabaqueria.” Cubaperiodistas.cu. Feb. 18, 2010. Web.

Eaton, Tracey. “Antis in Cuba (tobacco)”. The Dallas Morning News. 23 Aug. 2003. Mar 5, 2010. Web.

Ortiz, Fernando. Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar. Trans. Harriet de Onis. New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. 1947. Print.

Perez Navarro, Lourdes. “Cuba: an Enriching Encounter with Readers at a Cuban Cigar Factory". Cubaperiodistas.cu. February 17, 2010. Web.

Tinajero, Araceli. El Lector de Tabaqueria: Historia de una tradicion cubana. Madrid. Verbum Ensayo, 2007. Print.

Voss, Michael. "Reading while rolling Cuba's famous cigars". BBC. February 18, 2010. Web.