Cigars: Tobacco Growing

Cigarettes Everywhere

Tobacco is grown all over the world to make cigarettes. It is grown from Poland to South Africa, from Argentina to Canada, and, going west, from the Philippines to Mexico. But most cigar tobacco is grown in places between the tropics and the subtropics.

Tobacco Origin

People say that tobacco is an American plant. In South Pacific, some species were found. There are a lot of different kinds and types. Not all of them are used to make things that you smoke. Many are grown as decorations because they bloom often and have flowers in colours ranging from white to dark red and purple.

Here are some of the places where tobacco is grown so that cigarettes can be made.

Argentina

In the provinces of Misiones and Corrientes, where Salta is, they grow dark air-cured tobacco. In the province of Corrientes, where Salta is, they grow flue-cured tobacco. The type of Burley is also made in Misiones. Most of these tobaccos are used to make cigarettes, but the smooth taste of Corrientes makes it a good choice for short filler cigars. Argentina used to make and ship a lot of tobacco, but changes in economic and tax policies have hurt production and made tobacco too expensive to sell on the international market. As a result, the amount of goods being made has gone down.

Brazil

Brazil is one of the biggest countries that makes tobacco. About 100 miles west of the state centre, Salvador da Bahia, a busy port on the Atlantic Coast, there is a large area where cigar tobacco is grown. This is the East Central State of Bahia. Around the city of Arapiraca, in the northern state of Alagoas, covers for maduro cigars are grown. Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina are two southern states that grow tobacco for smokes and pipes.

Cameroon

The East of Cameroon is where the leaves used to make cigars are grown. The rising area goes over the eastern border and into the Central African Republic. Wrappers are grown in the air by small farmers who do not use fertilisers or chemicals. In general, a farm is about one acre in size. The seed comes from Sumatra and was brought to the country right after World War II. The tobacco was first grown to meet the needs of the French Monopoly. When there was too much of it for this one use, it was sold on the international market. Poor management in the late 1980s led to a drop in Cameroon wrapper production, which was liked by cigar makers in Europe and the United States. Now, there aren't as many things and the quality could be better.

China

China makes far more tobacco than any other country, about 5 million metric tonnes. The USA comes next with about 1,000,000 metric tonnes. Chinese tobacco is a flue-cured type that doesn't smell good and tastes a bit sharp. This tobacco can't be used to make cigarettes. It is mostly used to buy cigarettes in the area. A small amount is sent abroad. The tobacco is brought in from other countries and used as a cheap filling in cigarette making.

Connecticut, USA

In the northeast of the United States, the Connecticut Valley is known for its bright yellow cigar wrapper. Because the summers are very hot and sunny, the tobacco is grown in the shade. If you have ever flown over Hartford, Connecticut while sitting next to a window, you can't have missed the huge white areas of land all around. These are the tobacco fields, which are covered with white clothes to protect the plants from the sun. And the huge barns, which were as big as churches, were ready to dry the flue. Impressive!

Cuba

In Cuba, tobacco grows everywhere. I hope that your high-end cigar was made with tobacco from the West area of Vuelta Abajo, where really good tobacco is grown. The provinces of Remedios and Oriente in central and eastern Cuba grow tobacco that isn't meant to be good enough for what everyone calls a Havana.

Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic has a long history of growing tobacco. In the 1960s, a Cuban seed was brought to the US, and the tobacco that grew from it, called Piloto Cubano, became well-known as a good replacement for Cuban tobacco, which could no longer be brought into the US. Cubans who lived in exile did a great job there. Piloto Cubano is a full-bodied tobacco, but it might not have much of a smell. Piloto Cubano makes the 100% Dominican cigar very good by mixing it with the more sweet Olor Dominicano type. Both types of Dominican coffee work well in mixes with coffee from other countries.

Countries in the East Mediterranean

Sun-cured Oriental tobacco is a big part of the culture of the countries on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria make the most, but production is also growing in Lebanon, Syria, Macedonia, and Romania. Some of the leaves on this tobacco are only 2 inches long. They get their bright colour and high sugar content from being dried in the sun. Most blends have a strong smell, and a small amount of oriental tobacco makes a big difference in taste. This tobacco is only used in short cigars and smokes, not in long cigars.

Ecuador

Ecuador is right on the Equator, which makes it a great place to grow wraps. And the land is very good. The almost always cloudy sky provides natural shade, which keeps the wrapper plants from getting too much sun and lets the tobacco grow thin and light. Many cigar factories around the world get wrappers from Ecuador that look like Connecticut and Sumatra.

Honduras

Honduras has made a name for itself as a place that makes good cigars. The country doesn't make very much tobacco, and most of the leaves used to make cigarettes come from outside the country. But Honduras has a good chance of becoming a big player in the future when it comes to growing tobacco, especially wrappers.

Indonesia

Many of the islands in the Archipelago grow tobacco, but Sumatra and Java are the best for cigarettes. Sumatra Wrappers are famous all over the world. Both East Java (Besuki) and Central Java (Vorstenland) have a lot of gaps and wrappers. Indonesia is an important place for cigar tobacco.

Mexico

Most of Mexico's dark air-cured tobacco is made in the provinces of Vera Cruz and Tampico, which are on the East Coast along the Gulf. Yucatan is also a place where things are made. It used to be run by the government, but now private people and groups do it. The best leaves of Mexican tobacco, which is very dark, can be used to make maduro cigars. Sumatra seed wraps are made in a very interesting way in San Andrés de Tuxtla, which is in the state of Veracruz.

Philippines

In the Philippines, most of the tobacco is grown in the north of the main island, Luzon. In the past, dark tobacco for cigars was grown, and the powerful Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas made some of the best cigars in the world. They probably turned them down because they were not strong enough. Even now, the Philippines grows dark tobacco and has started making flue-cured tobacco for blond cigarettes.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe, along with the USA and Brazil, has some of the best flue-cured tobacco in the world. The industry was not hurt by the embargo that hit the country when it was still called Rhodesia. It made them more creative, and they kept making things. At this time, Zambia and Tanzania, which are close by, were doing a lot of business. When the embargo was lifted in 1980 and we were able to do business with them immediately, we found a very interesting organisation with the best equipment in the world. Tobacco was the most important thing the country did, and many young men had trouble getting jobs in the tobacco business. The real Zimbabwean agrarian strategy, which we won't talk about here, will probably keep this country from making tobacco. As far as flue-cured tobaccos are concerned, the cigar business will not be hurt. Brazil should be the one who gains the most from this.