''Tabacalera La Matilde'' Cigar Factory Tour

[wrasse]

We were for a week in the Dominican Republic in the beginning of this month and we decided to do an excursion to show our little daughter from where the chocolate and the sugar come from. It included a visit to a small boutique cigar factory, situated in La Romana province. I will post the pictures in few posts.
The first photos are from a small exibition related with the history of the cigar making in the Dominican Republic. Our tour guide didn't forgot to mention (few times) that not Cuba but the DR now is the new hotspot for cigar making

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[cj121]

That's an interesting read, and great post wrasse It sounds like a nice opportunity during your break. I'm looking forward to the next instalment already.

[tommy]

That is interesting. I'm also looking forward to the rest, thanks for sharing.

[tommy]

Jeez that gave me a flashback that did, thanks for sharing haha

[peanutpete]

Great post thanks for sharing

[Johnny Thunder]

That is a great read. I'm looking forward to reading more.

[wrasse]

Now I will go a step back to the entrance of the factory. The view was more than welcoming after arriving there - a little garden with few blossoming tobacco plants. Probably there is no other cultivated plant that is so controversial like the tobacco, revered and hated at the same time. I touched the velvety, covered with sticky sap leaves and had this lovely fragrance on my fingers for the rest of the day.

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The entrance itself was decorated like a tobacco leaf curing barn with a thatched roof. The air was filled with the sweet aroma of the amber tobacco leaves, strung and hanging above our heads

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[wolfie]

enjoying this post

[Krist]

Yeah great post man, keep it coming if there is more!

[Wigan]

Can tobacco be grown in this country?

[cigarmo]

Can tobacco be grown in this country?

they manage to grow weed

[Wigan]

Not in the back garden tho. In the conservatory maybe?

[wrasse]

Let's go further inside. We had the ''anatomy of the cigar'' and the process of curing and preparation of the leaves explained. Because of the fermentation process, cigar tobacco is much lower in acidity, tar, and nicotine than cigarette tobacco, making it much more palatable.
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A lady was sorting and skillfully removing the stems from the tobacco leaves on a working bench with convex cylindrical surface covered with leather.

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At the next work bench we have e specialist buncher who works in team with specialist wrapper roller, typical for the production of handmade cigars in DR . The buncher makes the ready molded filers, rolled into the binder and pressed in wooden molds with a mechanical press. The cigar roller gently stretches the fragile wrapper leaf and trims it to the right size. Here he uses wheel rolling knife, instead of the traditional oval bladed ''chaveta'' knife. Then the cylinder of tobacco (filler+ binder) is laid at an angle across the wrapper, which is then stretched as necessary and wound carefully around the binder, overlapping at each turn, until it is stuck down using a tiny drop of colorless and flavorless tragacanth vegetable gum. The cigar is then rolled, applying gentle pressure.

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[wrasse]

A short clip