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We took a day trip out to Holguin last week but rather than going on the tour operator organised trip we hired a taxi for the day for the cost of 80Cucs / ?55. We were driven around all day by a qualified accountant in a 1956 Buick who made more money driving taxis than bookwork for the government and seemed to genuinely enjoy his work. Driven around all day I asked him to take us to local cigar factory. Locals aren't allowed in to the factory (unless they work there) and we had to buy our tickets from a guy in the centre of town for 5 Cucs each before heading to the factory itself for.
In a quieter area of the city, not too far from the centre is an unassuming, shabby looking, whitewashed one-story factory. I was gutted to find that the factory shop at the main gates was shut when we arrived and workers around the gate just shrugged their shoulders when asked when it would be open.
We walked through the gates, past the security guard and into reception. There's no signage or information about any tour so I just rocked up at the reception desk asking about the tour. The receptionist didn't speak any english and I didn't speak any spanish but she took our tickets and then usehered someone who seemed to be a cleaner to take us into the factory. The lady who escorted us spoke no english either but beckoned us through the factory first in one direction where we stopped at tables where women were flattening out the leaves and grading them for colour and size, scooping them up out of big bags and flattening them on the table. At the station opposite they were removing the stem and veins from the leafs in one fluid motion, all done by hand and by women. Our escort gesticulated that men were too rough for this process. This side of the factory was full of benches / stations with people at these tasks, maybe couple of hundred people.
A quick walk to the other side of the factory, passing back through the entrance corridor, saw us at stations where people were making the cigars themselves. It's an amazing sight and the smell in the whole factory is fantastic. The guy at the first station we stopped at spoke a little english and told us he was making Cohiba Esplendidos. We saw him selecting the tobacco, twisting the leaves together into a tight, rough looking bundle and then removing the ends in his guillotine which was at the required preset length, first one side and then the other. The bundle was then placed in one side of a two-sided, 10 slot plastic mould. When it was full the other side was attached and full moulds were then placed in an old fashioned wood and iron floor press for 20 minutes. The guy next to him was actually sitting on three moulds at his bench. The guy never stopped working while he was talking and we were at his bench maybe a minute at most. Amazing to watch him and the others at work. I saw guys rolling cigars in a factory in New Orleans last year and these guys were rolling two to three cigars for every one they did there. The next station was manned by a guy who had a bit of a swagger about him. Sat in a black cowboy hat he spoke really good english and asked if I wanted to buy any cigars.....10 for 25 pesos. I'm thinking it's the old I have a friend ruse but then he pointed to my girlfriend's hand bag. I felt a bit queasy, was this some kind of 'sting'? He never stopped working and asked again. I asked him what he was making - Romeo y Julieta Churchill. Go on then. I didn't see the cigars go in the bag, it was that quick. Apparently he just pulled 10 from the stack including the one he'd just been rolling and that was that. I tipped our guide a couple of pesos who seemed very grateful as we walked back to reception. Out back into the sunshine and feeling a little bit worried we were going to get stopped we walked out of the factory gate, the security guard wasn't there as we left.
Overall it was a great experience if a lot quicker than I'd hoped. I'm sure, if we'd gone with the organised tour we would have gotten an english speaking guide, and maybe a longer tour but I don't think we'd have gotten as close to the workers as we did and I probably wouldn't have gotten my 10 cigars for ?18
In a quieter area of the city, not too far from the centre is an unassuming, shabby looking, whitewashed one-story factory. I was gutted to find that the factory shop at the main gates was shut when we arrived and workers around the gate just shrugged their shoulders when asked when it would be open.
We walked through the gates, past the security guard and into reception. There's no signage or information about any tour so I just rocked up at the reception desk asking about the tour. The receptionist didn't speak any english and I didn't speak any spanish but she took our tickets and then usehered someone who seemed to be a cleaner to take us into the factory. The lady who escorted us spoke no english either but beckoned us through the factory first in one direction where we stopped at tables where women were flattening out the leaves and grading them for colour and size, scooping them up out of big bags and flattening them on the table. At the station opposite they were removing the stem and veins from the leafs in one fluid motion, all done by hand and by women. Our escort gesticulated that men were too rough for this process. This side of the factory was full of benches / stations with people at these tasks, maybe couple of hundred people.
A quick walk to the other side of the factory, passing back through the entrance corridor, saw us at stations where people were making the cigars themselves. It's an amazing sight and the smell in the whole factory is fantastic. The guy at the first station we stopped at spoke a little english and told us he was making Cohiba Esplendidos. We saw him selecting the tobacco, twisting the leaves together into a tight, rough looking bundle and then removing the ends in his guillotine which was at the required preset length, first one side and then the other. The bundle was then placed in one side of a two-sided, 10 slot plastic mould. When it was full the other side was attached and full moulds were then placed in an old fashioned wood and iron floor press for 20 minutes. The guy next to him was actually sitting on three moulds at his bench. The guy never stopped working while he was talking and we were at his bench maybe a minute at most. Amazing to watch him and the others at work. I saw guys rolling cigars in a factory in New Orleans last year and these guys were rolling two to three cigars for every one they did there. The next station was manned by a guy who had a bit of a swagger about him. Sat in a black cowboy hat he spoke really good english and asked if I wanted to buy any cigars.....10 for 25 pesos. I'm thinking it's the old I have a friend ruse but then he pointed to my girlfriend's hand bag. I felt a bit queasy, was this some kind of 'sting'? He never stopped working and asked again. I asked him what he was making - Romeo y Julieta Churchill. Go on then. I didn't see the cigars go in the bag, it was that quick. Apparently he just pulled 10 from the stack including the one he'd just been rolling and that was that. I tipped our guide a couple of pesos who seemed very grateful as we walked back to reception. Out back into the sunshine and feeling a little bit worried we were going to get stopped we walked out of the factory gate, the security guard wasn't there as we left.
Overall it was a great experience if a lot quicker than I'd hoped. I'm sure, if we'd gone with the organised tour we would have gotten an english speaking guide, and maybe a longer tour but I don't think we'd have gotten as close to the workers as we did and I probably wouldn't have gotten my 10 cigars for ?18
I went to the same factory with an excursion, next time will do the same like you. Everyone must visit Cuba now, I think that the days of the tropical communism are counted and soon the charm of the country will be lost!
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