CIGAR CONSTRUCTION
The Wrapper leaf (Capa) – the outside leaf that dictates the cigar’s appearance.
The Binder leaf (Capote) – the tobacco leaf that holds the filler in place.
The Filler leaves (Tripa) – the tobacco that makes up the heart of the cigar and gives it its bulk.
THE UNIQUE BLEND OF TOBACCOS
The Filler of a Havana cigar is made up of separate half leaves concertina’d by hand along their length so that there will be a passage through which the smoke can be drawn when the cigar is finished. A characteristic that can only be achieved by hand making. Three different types of leaf are used:
- Ligero – Dark in colour and full in flavour, although the word translates as “light” in English. Picked from the top of the plant where the growth and strength are the most vigorous, the leaves must be matured for a minimum of three years before use.
- Seco – Much lighter in colour and dry in texture, the seco is taken from the central leaves on the plant which still have flavour but much less than Ligero. They can be used for making after eighteen months.
- Volado – Literally the “flying leaf” picked from the bottom of the plant where little or no flavour remains. These serve to assist the burning of the cigar, and can be used after nine months maturation.
It is the blending of these three Filler leaves that creates the individual flavours of different brands.
The Binder is usually made of two leaves of similar character to the Volado i.e. from the bottom of the plant with little flavour.
The Wrapper leaf is very special. It is grown in a different manner to the other leaves under muslin to protect from sunlight so that a soft, silky appearance is achieved. The micro climate on different plantations produces a variety of different colours of wrapper leaves, which affect their ultimate flavour. The maturation period required is one year to eighteen months, however, the longer they are left before crowning a cigar the better.
Thus every Havana contains a blend of tobaccos from a least two and often three harvests. There are many similarities between fine cigars and wines, particularly with regard to aging, but at this stage they are better compared to cognacs or champagnes.
Habana2000 – The Wrapper of the Future
A new wrapper leaf for a new era, Habana2000 is a hybrid of recent Havana Seed Tobacco. The result is a spicy, reddish brown wrapper very close in appearance and taste to Cuban cigars today, YET, the wrapper leaves are large, elastic and very smooth in texture. This Cuban style wrapper combined with the fine craftsmanship of the factories of Ecuador , may very well be the future of cigars.These beautiful Ecuador made cigars feature the new redish brown Habana2000 wrapper and a robust Cuban style flavor.This bolder, powerful line of cigars features a dark, oily, hybrid imported first generation Cuban seed wrapper grown in Ecuador under the direction of Cuban tobacco experts.