Cultivation

The Cuban archipelago is very close to the Tropic of Cancer. Its western region—where the best tobacco in the world is grown—has a relative humidity of 79 percent, an average annual temperature of 25º C. (77º F.) and a particularly favorable amount of rainfall.

In addition to these special climatic features, the chemical composition and agricultural properties of the soil in Cuba’s tobacco-growing areas couldn’t be bettered. Add to all this the experience and care that Cuba’s tobacco workers put into each of the many steps that go into making an Habano. They, too, are absolutely necessary to maintain the product’s top quality.

The cultivation process begins in the seed bed, an area in which the seeds are planted under the best conditions for their germination and later development and where the seedlings remain for 40 days, until they are ready to be transplanted to the fields. The seedlings are planted in stages, beginning in October.

The leaves are picked between 45 and 80 days after planting. Later, the leaves are taken to the curing barns, where they are dried and fermented. In the sorting houses—which are of great economic and social importance—skilled workers (the vast majority of whom are women) gently and delicately select, classify and sort the leaves.