Everything You Didn’t Know About Cigar Making Process
The word cigar is etymologically derived from the word ‘Sikar’, meaning to smoke rolled tobacco leaves. It is a tobacco leaf wrapped around a bundle of fermented leaves intended for consumption. The essential ingredient behind the manufacturing of cigars is the leaf of a tobacco plant called Nicotiana Tabacum. Such plants are carefully pruned for the leaves to grow to their necessary size.
Curing Tobacco
In the process of producing a cigar, the importance of the curing task is often overlooked. Curing tobacco is necessary before processing it for consumption. After the period of harvest, it is crucial to cure tobacco by altering the colour and reducing the chlorophyll content. By igniting slow oxidation, the process prepares the leaf for consumption. Post curing, the leaves are segregated as per their colour and size.
Rolling A Cigar
Rolling a cigar can be done in three simple steps constituting a filler, a binder, and a wrapper. To roll a cigar, there is a need for three varieties of tobacco leaf. The smaller or broken tobacco leaves are meant for the filler. The wrapper inside, which forms the binder is usually made up of whole leaves which can be of uneven texture or imperfect quality. To hold the binder and the filler together, a large finely textured leaf having a uniform appearance is required. Once leaves are demarcated as per their size, the process of fermentation begins.
Fermentation Span
Tobacco leaves of varying sizes are bundled together and kept in boxes or large caskets until they undergo the process of fermentation. Usually, they can be stored for a period ranging from 6 months to five years. The tobacco is generally fermented for a longer duration when it comes to rolling a cigar. During the process of fermentation, the leaves undergo chemical alterations wherein the aroma and the taste of the leaf develops.
Emerging from the southern land of Caribbean, Cigars are best suited to be grown in dry and humid weather like that of Mexico or Nicaragua or Dominican Replublic. Regions having moderate to heavy rainfall provide an apt environment for harvesting Cigars.
Cigar conexion, a venture founded in 2011 by Mr Hemanth Sureddi, a cigar connoisseur himself, Shepherds premium quality cigars to India. The company imports exclusive cigars from the Mediterranean land of the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and USA. Boasting of a myriad collection of premium cigars ranging from Ashton VSG Corona Gorda to Rocky Patel ALR Second Edition, Cigar Conexion is moulding a cigar for every occasion.
Headquartered in Bengaluru, the venture stands out as it is one of the pioneering companies to introduce hand-rolled cigars to the ever-growing Indian market. Besides retailing top quality cigars, they also offer one of its kind experience in their tasting room sessions. While smoking a cigar is usually associated with luxe and high society, these sessions provide a glimpse into what goes behind curating these fermented leaves into a finely rolled, aromatic finished product.
