From seed to smoke, the cigar making process is very intricate and time consuming. Many elements and stages go into the creation of each cigar.

Finding the perfect location.
A typical plantation sits in a small valley, called hoyos. These valley locations protect the plants from too much sun and wind. The basic formula for the best crop is a sheltered valley, good altitude to maintain temperature(not too hot or cold), and great draining soil.

The Tobacco
Each seed and variety has its own characteristic. The final product is very much a result of where it is grown, the soil, and altitude as well. Like fine wine, a good cigar is created from various types of tobacco that have been chosen specifically for their innate characteristics, and then perfectly blended together for the best taste.

In Nicaragua we emphasize the concentration on the growing process in the fields. We have several plantations in Jalapa and Condega, where we grow our filler, binder, and wrapper for all of our cigars. Both sun and shade wrappers are grown in our Nicaraguan fields. We have carefully chosen the Havana 92 variety because our experience has shown us that it blends best with the heavily volcanic soils in the territory. This seed was brought over to Nicaragua by Cuban agronomists in 1980, when the Sandinistas were in power and Cuba was the most important trading partner of the country.

In Nicaragua, the process, from seed to harvesting, takes approximately 90 days. Seeds are germinated in greenhouses for 3 weeks, and then transplanted into the fields. For Tobacco plants, the number one enemy is blue-mold—a spore that manifests itself in the dew on the plants. To prevent this disease we only plant at certain times of the year. This ensures the dew is at its lowest level.

Once the plants are fully grown, we begin harvesting. All tobacco is hand picked in sections. Lower leaves are picked first, then we work our way up the plants. The final picking is the corona leaves, generally used for Ligero tobacco, which gives a cigar its strength.

Direct from the fields, all tobacco goes into curing barns, where it is moved around and closely monitored for the best curing. The barns are well ventilated, allowing the natural breezes to dry the tobacco—truly natures
hand at work. When ready, the tobacco is brought to sorting barns to be prepared by size and grade. The next step is to move the product to the fermenting barns where it is piled in stacks to ferment. Inside these piles, a metamorphosis occurs. The natural combination of elements deep within the piles causes the inner temperature to skyrocket. Some inside temperatures can reach 45 centigrade during this process. Within the industry we call this “removing the tobacco fever”. This process is monitored very carefully because of the possible damaging nature to the tobacco, and the fermenting barns. The leaves are moved around in the piles up to 3 times to allow the process to reach all of the tobacco evenly.

After the fermenting is done, leaves are again sorted by size and grade and origin, put into bales wrapped in palm leafs, and stored to for another aging process. After this aging process, the tobacco is ready to be rolled into our wonderful cigars. The master blender prepares the particular batches of leaves for the rollers and the production begins.

At Felipe Gregorio, we use the tubular bunching method on all of our cigars. This method is what creates the channel that allows the best draw for the smoker. Bunches are made, put in molds and pressed. Then the final stage commences—the wrapping. When completed, all cigars are check by our supervisor, and placed into cedar lined aging rooms for up to one year. Then all cigars are ringed and boxed. The cigars are then shipped to the U.S. and ready for you.

So as you can see, by the time you are ready to light up your cigar, more than 50 people have taken part in its production, and over several years—truly a team effort. The next time you light up a Felipe Gregorio, think about all the miles of travel and work that it took to create your cigar, and as you take that first magical puff, become one with all those people for just that one moment.