A Visit to the World’s Finest Tobacco Plantations

One of the most anticipated events within the Habano Festival is no doubt the visit to the world’s finest tobacco plantations in Pinar del Rio’s Vuelta Abajo, Cuba. This year was no exception and guests attending the number-one international gathering on premium cigars on the face of the earth took a closer look at tobacco as they learned how the leaves that are eventually rolled into habanos -a product that has become a tangible testimony of Cuban culture- are born in the first place.

For some it was their first-time meeting with the larger-than-life plantations; for other it was a repeat. However, the visit allowed guests to see how the crop is harvested and learn straight from the planters’ mouths on tobacco production in that special neck of the woods.

This time around, the adventurous attendees visited the Cooperativa de Créditos y Servivios (CCS) V Congreso del Partido, run by producer Francisco Lazo Díaz in San Juan y Martínez. This cooperative is tasked with harvesting shade-grown tobacco whose wrappers are used in the making of habanos.

According to what several tobacco growers said, 2017 has been off to a great start, with great weather conditions for the crop, a situation that bodes well for this year’s outputs and is music to the ears of those who plan on attending habano festivals in coming years, and of course, for whoever loves the world’s top-of-the-line cigars.