Can Someone Pass Me a Cigar?

In case you haven’t heard, Cuba has a reputation of growing and making some of the best cigars in the world.  We happened to be staying in ‘the’ region for this and set out today to explore how they are made and visit a family that makes their living off tobacco.

In the town of Pinar del Rio there is a factory where tobacco brought in from the countryside is rolled into cigars.  This is also a popular tourist spot since everyone wants to see the rolling process.  Typical for Cuba, a place where one day it’s okay to take photos suddenly became a camera free zone the day we visited.  Our group opted to still go in to see the process although David and I enjoyed the free street show outside. 

This street appeared to be the main route for potable water tankers to make their way into the city for their daily deliveries.  The plumbing in the residences and business is very old and tends to not be safe.  Some places have holding tanks where these trucks will pump the water for later use.  There are many infrastructure issues in Cuba that have created a field of work-arounds.

Since our group was unable to photograph the cigar rolling, we decided to go back out into the country to a farm where the tobacco is grown and see a rolling demonstration.  We traveled back through the town of Vinales where we took time to have lunch in one of the oldest houses in town on a veranda overlooking one of the main boulevards.  This was the perfect location to take pictures of the vintage cars passing by while noshing on more of the typical menu of grilled chicken, grilled fish, ropa vieja and rice with a mixture of meats.

After lunch we drove into the country to a farm that plays hosts to tourists wanting to see the whole production process.  The fields were planted in September and the tobacco plants were about 10 inches tall at this point.  The crops will be harvested early in the year and the tobacco leaves will be hung to dry in thatched roofed barns, of which this farm had several.  The dried tobacco leaves are then rolled into the cigars.  A large outer leaf is laid flat on a board across the roller’s lap and then shredded leaves are placed inside to be rolled up.  In a big factory, the workers are expected to roll 4000 cigars a day.  Often a person comes and reads books to the workers to help the day go by faster.

We explored around the farm.  A variety of animals either roamed freely (including walking in and out of the houses) or were kept in a cage like the rabbits and some large rodent looking creatures.  A tom turkey and his ladies were a major attraction since he was more than happy to show off his tail feathers for anyone walking by.  We also had the opportunity to buy unbanded cigars, ten for ten Cuc’s. The farmers had quite an operation going.  They get to keep 10% of the tobacco profits with the rest going to the government.

We drove back through the rolling hills to the setting sun.  It was a fun and informative day.

Tomorrow: To Havana We Go