Some Havana cigar news....from C.A.

[CanuckSARTech]

While I'm not necessarily a fan of C.A., and find that they have a tendency to not know their heads from their asses when it comes to Cuban cigars and the tastings of such (as much discussed on here already, and I don't intend to do the same again here), I do actually find that they have a good tidbit of information dug up from time to time.

So, I was just perusing their webpage, and found a couple of interesting recent notes:

Random Cuba Thoughts

Posted: Feb 3, 2011 12:00am ET

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/blogs/show/id/15822

Any time reporters head home after a productive trip, there is a final assessment of what made it into a story and what didn't. You've gotten pretty much everything that Dave Savona and I tapped into on our last trip to Cuba, but there are a few things that haven't seen the light of the day ... some never will, but that's another story.

There is also a story slated for the March/April issue of Cigar Aficionado that came from a great morning spent with the top officials of Habanos S.A., Cuba's global marketing company for its cigars. But here are a couple of items that work better at this point as stand-alone items.

Cigar Roller Ratings

Cuba evaluates the cigar rollers at every factory in the country on a monthly basis. As a roller becomes more experienced and qualified to roll unusual shapes or the country's best cigars, those ratings can rise up a scale that used to top out at nine. So, a roller charged with making a Cohiba Esplendido might be touted as a "9." There's been talk in Cuba that the ratings have been changed so that the top rank is now an "8." Sources say a roller doesn't necessarily stay permanently at the top level, because if their performance rating isn't good enough, they can be moved back down to a lower rating. Some rollers also like to specialize in certain cigar sizes that earn them a particular rating, such as a level 7, and they prefer to remain at that level, instead of being moved up to a higher rating where they might be asked to roll a different size cigar.

Seed Types

"We want to make one thing very clear, we only use natural hybrids for our cigar tobacco. Nothing is genetically engineered," said Buenaventura Jiménez Sánchez-Canete, the co-president of Habanos S.A. He said that any new tobacco hybrids that are being used are the result of a natural cross-pollination between plants that have been selected by the experts. He said it can 10 years to produce a new hybrid using this method, but it is only way they believe in producing the new seeds. He declined to specify which hybrids are currently being used in the fields, but in conversations with several local growers, they said they were planting for the 2010-11 crop both Criollo ‘98, and some Corojo '92, which has been known to have some susceptibility to blue mold infestations. Jiménez Sánchez-Canete of Habanos did say that all the current hybrids are directly derived from traditional Cuban black tobaccos.

Privatization Anxiety

There was still a fair amount of subtle anxiety about the consequences of a government plan to lay off up to one million government workers in 2011. The move is coupled with a new law allowing private businesses, in everything from restaurants to shoeshine stands to beauty salons. The problem is that no one is quite sure how the transition from a predominately government work force to at least some private sector labor is going to work; the new businesses are allowed to hire non-relatives for the first time, but there are a series of licenses that have to be obtained—for a cost—and then there will still be heavy taxes to be paid once the business in up and running. So, it is a topic of conversation among almost everyone living in Cuba. The only consensus at this point is that a new era is coming to the island nation. But no one is willing to predict the outcome.

Factory Renovations

The Cuban government is moving to renovate nearly all of the main Havana factories. On the list for 2011 is the Partagás factory, one of the oldest and by far the one where most tourists seeking a glimpse of the cigarmaking process are allowed inside. The factory will be shut down during the renovation, which executives at Habanos say will take at least six months. The move is scheduled to begin after the Habanos Festival later this month. Production at Partagás will be moved to the El Rey del Mundo factory. Surprisingly, the new H. Upmann factory has already been shut down to correct some structural deficiencies that have cropped up since it was opened in 2003 in Vedado. Production from that factory has been moved to Romeo y Julieta.

So, a few items of interest there. Firstly, that plantings will include some Corojo '92 - interesting. Also, that the Partagas factory will potentially be closed off to tourists for at least six months, starting after the Festival at the end of the month.

[ChanceSchmerr]

Interesting...I guess I will forget about going to Cuba in 2011 - if the Partagas Factory isn't open, that's a big downer as I was really looking forward to seeing it!

[Wil]

Interesting...I guess I will forget about going to Cuba in 2011 - if the Partagas Factory isn't open, that's a big downer as I was really looking forward to seeing it!

Mate, there is a lot more to Cuba than the Partagas factory

You should definitely go.

[samb]

Interesting info. Thats the sort of stuff that should make it into the magazine.

[n2advnture]

Seed Types

"We want to make one thing very clear, we only use natural hybrids for our cigar tobacco. Nothing is genetically engineered," said Buenaventura Jiménez Sánchez-Canete, the co-president of Habanos S.A. He said that any new tobacco hybrids that are being used are the result of a natural cross-pollination between plants that have been selected by the experts. He said it can 10 years to produce a new hybrid using this method, but it is only way they believe in producing the new seeds. He declined to specify which hybrids are currently being used in the fields, but in conversations with several local growers, they said they were planting for the 2010-11 crop both Criollo ‘98, and some Corojo '92, which has been known to have some susceptibility to blue mold infestations. Jiménez Sánchez-Canete of Habanos did say that all the current hybrids are directly derived from traditional Cuban black tobaccos.

I was under the impression that "92" was Habana 92 AKA H92. The Habana 92' was primarily used for binder & filler. I've never seen a mention of Corojo 92, only Corojo 98/99.

Here's my understanding of past strands:

H92 (Habana 92) and H2000 (Habana 2000) (IE: brother the dreaded fireproof wrappers 99-01, the h2000 being more notorious)

Habana 92 was cultivated for binders and fillers until at least 2005/2006 (may still be used).

Habanna 2000, Criollo 98 and Corojo 98 were used for wrappers, binders and fillers (Corojo 98 currently used)

Anyone have more insight as to which is correct?

Edit:

Just found an old reference I had from an interview w/ Robaina (believe it was with Aizuddin) several years ago:

How does the leaf to today compare with the leaf he grew years ago? He laughed and said that it was like comparing apples and oranges -- the strain of tobacco used changes every 7 years, like clockwork; the latest, Corojo98, started being used roughly 3 years ago, and before that H2000. Cuban bioengineers work very hard to make their tobacco resistant to maladies such as the blue mold, and its been found that it takes approximately 7 years before those maladies become immune to the tobacco's resistances. Normally, what determines the quality of the harvest is less to do with the strain of tobacco used, and more with the weather -- too much water is bad, too little water is worse, and if its too hot and dry in a particular year, that's the worse. His favourite time is when the harvest is brought in, the leaves have been dried, and he has the privilege of "tasting" the crop -- with some gestures of his hands, Robaina demonstrated how he would make a quick bunch of tobacco, and light it to smoke. In that precise moment, he said, he would always know whether the crop was going to be good that year.

When was the last good crop? Without hesitation, he answered, 2002, the first year corojo98 was grown. He asked me when was the last great Cuban cigar i smoked, i told him i had a 2004 BBF a few days ago that was particularly good. Cigars in 2004 are actually made from 2002 tobacco, i was told, so he was not surprised that i had enjoyed that cigar. 2-3 years is normally the amount of time it takes for a Cuban cigar to go from harvest to sale. How is this year's harvest going to be? Robaina smiled, waved his hand around, and said, "So far so good. You'll find out in a couple of years, my friend."

[josie67]

Glad I am going to the Festival this month, so I'll see that famous factory!!

[CanuckSARTech]

I was under the impression that "92" was Habana 92 AKA H92. The Habana 92' was primarily used for binder & filler. I've never seen a mention of Corojo 92, only Corojo 98/99.

Here's my understanding of past strands:

H92 (Habana 92) and H2000 (Habana 2000) (IE: brother the dreaded fireproof wrappers 99-01, the h2000 being more notorious)

Habana 92 was cultivated for binders and fillers until at least 2005/2006 (may still be used).

Habanna 2000, Criollo 98 and Corojo 98 were used for wrappers, binders and fillers (Corojo 98 currently used)

Anyone have more insight as to which is correct?

Edit:

Just found an old reference I had from an interview w/ Robaina (believe it was with Aizuddin) several years ago:

Good call, Mark. I too haven't heard of the particular "Corojo 92" that's mentioned there. Needless to say, it wouldn't surprise me if CA got that wrong. However, that said, if it is a mixup by CA, with Cuba using either Corojo 98 or Habana 92, I think it could be an interesting change. If it was indeed Corojo, and it's either '98, or actually '92 (a strain we don't know of maybe), I just jumped at that.

I remember seeing an interview a number of years ago, one that I think Suckling did with Robaina and his grandson Hiroshi (??). In it, I remember Alejandro saying that Corojo is wonderful stuff, has more oils and flavour, better to work with, etc. But, the major drawback it it's weakened immunity to the dreaded blue mold.

As far as I remember hearing/reading/seeing, they're using Criollo '98, so it would be nice to see the them come back to using Corojo again. I could be wrong, but I remeber this interview of a few years ago with Robaina saying that they hadn't used Corojo in a number of years now, and he wanted to see it come back. So, if this is what they're doing, and bringing back a more flavourful and oily tobacco, that's great news, considering the overall quality improvements that have happened over the last few years.

Just my 2 cents, anyways.