Cigar events:
A trip to a Tobacco plantation that produces the leaves needed for cigars is a no brainer.
We were picked up early for journey as we were told by Claudia the road to Vinales was very rough, with many potholes and ditches. This proved to be an understatement as many times we needed to come to an almost complete stop as to avoid the car hitting bottom.
The car plodded on making progress but we also made a pit stop for lunch and the need to relieve our kidneys from the incessent pounding of the vehicle.
We did make our destination which with break, took about 4 hours.
We met our host and roller, Javier, an affable dude, who explained the process of what it takes to roll a quality cigar. He demonstrated each step and clued us in, what happens to the cigar after it is rolled.
The cigar is sent to the factory , where it is aged, earmarked as to what brand it
will be ,and prepared for shipment. Javier did not live on the farm which employed about 20 persons in getting the products seeded, growing them and caring over the leaves. Depending on the aging , it could take several years until the cigar is actually sold to the public.
As he rolled the cigar for demo purposes, we smoked a properly aged cigar and drank the local Rum in a very leasurely manner. I was offered to buy a bottle of the Rum for $40 and a bundle of cigars depending on the size of the smoke.
I wondered if it was smart to bring home Cuban cigars due to US Customs possibly grabbed them and giving me trouble. Javier reassured me that unbanded cigars are not going to create a problem and in good faith, I bought a bundle of 10 robusto’s for $80. I have two left.
Good tasting cigar, but construction had problems. Very tight draw which needed several relights.
We thanked Javier and the other employees for their friendliness and headed back to Havana.
* Fun trip to the cigar plantation however it was over 100 miles each way. Too much for a day trip. Total time was about 7 hours of driving.
Keep smoking
