Dominican cigars
Dominican cigars
Dominican cigars
Also Tobacco belongs among the basic crops grown in the Dominican Republic, besides bananas, cocoa, corn and rice.
Tobacco plants are grown on tobacco plantations. They are betting at the end of the autumn during the dry season because too damp soil could cause damages on plants. The cultivation itself takes about 3 months. After three months when the plant grows up to a height of 150–160 cm, the leaves of tobacco are harvested and dried. After about two months, leaves lose most of the water and get brown. The dry brown tobacco leaves are sent to the sorting line, where the leaves are sort out and sent for further processing. In the next processing step, the tobacco leaves again get the desired moisture, the sorted leaves are cleaned from resins and other unwanted substances. After cleaning, the leaves are folded into bales that are heated to 50–60 degrees Celsius. This is the right temperature for the fermentation to begin. During the fermentation process the leaves get the optimum flavor. The tobacco leaves will be conserved in about three months. Conserved tobacco leaves can be anytime, even after more than 5 years, used for preparation of single cigars.
A high quality cigar is packed by hand. It consists of several layers of whole tobacco leaves (Long filler) and thus of several types of fermented tobacco. The composition of leaves affects both – the taste and the final appearance of the cigar. Filling leaves, whose main stem is manually or by the machine removed, are packed into the binder. The binder is a flexible and solid strip of tobacco to which are fillings leaves wrapped. Filling leaves and binder create a bunch. The prepared bunches are given into presses and are pressed.
The last but the most difficult part of the process is wrapping the cigar into the cover leave – wrapper. The wrapper affects the taste, the appearance and the value of the cigar itself. Tobacco leaves that are specially grown for the cigar wrapper are grown in the shade. Their surface is smoother and they have too small veins. The cigar is manually removed from the press and wrapped in to the cover leave. The head of the cigar is covered by the cap that is glued to it with a natural adhesive. The cap closes the cigar and the cigar is ready to be stored for ripening. Each cigar matures from several months to few years. During maturation, all tastes of tobacco are gradually blend and the cigar gets its desired color.
Once cigars complete the process of ripening they are prepared for shipping. The cigars gets their label rings and are placed in a box of cedar wood that holds the necessary moisture of the cigars. The prepared and packed cigars are ready for shipping.
