Cubans are widely considered to be the best cigars in the world for a plethora of reasons, including their exquisite hand-rolling process, the aromatic and sweet leaves as well as the fact that their wrappers are sorted on the thighs of Cuban women.
Hurricane Ian caused a ridiculous amount of damage to Cuba’s thriving industry in September 2022. This has resulted in many tobacco farms still trying to recover from the colossal damage caused by the Category 3 storm.
Following the hurricane in 2022, farmers began testing a new variety of tobacco that is more resistant to fungus with results positive. However, it may take time for the palates of cigar connoisseurs to accept this tobacco when it is mass-produced.
This year’s crop saw the industry plant 9,500 hectares of tobacco, with just a little more than 2,000 hectares of premium shade-grown leaf cultivated, to meet growing export demands.
Seedbeds were prepared on loose, well-drained soils for the initial growing process in July and August. Once the tobacco plants enjoyed 45 days of irrigation, reaching a height of up 15 cm, they were replanted in October to reach their full growth in 45 to 50 days.
The plants have another 50 days of growth before the final stage of being harvested for one of Habanos’ 27 premium brands.
This is big business in Cuba, with more than 100 factory names preparing the best-known cigars for over 400 market names.
Generally speaking at larger factories, workers strip an estimated 1,200 leaves per day for a daily production of around 25,000 cigars.
Another historic building has replaced the original Partagas factory, which closed for renovations in 2011 and closed down following a roof collapse in 2020. As well as Partagas, other major brands are produced such as Bolivar, Cohiba, Quai d’Orsay and Romeo y Julieta by 200 rollers who make around 15,000 cigars a day.
Habanos’ 2022 announcement of a new global pricing standard was behind the global hike in prices of Cuban cigars. The company announced additional price increases this year, with no news about when this will stop.
Jose Luis Lopez Inchaurbe, Habanos’ development vice-president, explained: “The company is confident in its pricing strategy. As in every market, the procedures and the regulatory situations are different.
“The price increase has not been made at the same time in every market. We are now evaluating how the demand has been impacted by this step. It’s clear that some brands and references have responded better than others.”
Luis Sanchez-Harguinday, co-president of Habanos, stated: “We trust in the power of our initiatives that we have, product initiatives and other activities that we are planning for the year ahead.
“This is a great weapon that we have. It’s all the enthusiasm, the hard work, the spirit and passion devoted by all the participants in the value chain of our business, starting by the Cuban Tobacco Research Institute, going through the farmers, the tobacco growers, the Cuban industry, the workers at Habanos as well as the unique and exclusive distribution network that we have.”