An interview with Cuban tobacco farmer Hector Luis Prieto

[Ryan]

Back in February, I spent 2 days on Hector Luis Prieto’s farm with Rob Fox and Punch Joe.

As part of it, we did an interview with Hector.

He gives a very interesting answer to the question “what makes Cuban cigar tobacco different to tobacco from other places?”

I’ve never heard this reason given before, even Punch Joe was surprised, he hadn’t heard it before either, but it’s obvious when you think of it.

Jose, Rob and I had been discussing wine growing the day before and how stressed vines produce better wine grapes. Jose told us that that’s not the way it is for tobacco, that it needs the best soil. This, it turns out, doesn’t happen to be the case..

Talking to a horticulturalist and a food scientist since, it turns out that stressed plants do produce more phytochemicals, such as terpenes and phenolics (which would affect flavour) as a defence mechanism. It’s one of the reasons home grown tomatoes taste better than cheap supermarket versions.

Hope you enjoy the video, I think there's some good stuff in there.

[CaptainQuintero]

Been waiting for this for a while thanks Andy!

I saw Lawrence's recent vid saying that instead of expensive fertilizers etc a lot of farms used what is on hand eg crushed nuts or cherries, fruits or beans/herbs which affect the flavour of the tobacco then grown in those fields in successive years. It's the first time I've heard of that, what about you?

[Ryan]

Been waiting for this for a while thanks Andy!

I saw Lawrence's recent vid saying that instead of expensive fertilizers etc a lot of farms used what is on hand eg crushed nuts or cherries, fruits or beans/herbs which affect the flavour of the tobacco then grown in those fields in successive years. It's the first time I've heard of that, what about you?

I haven't heard of cherries being used but farmers do grow crops in the soil between tobacco plantings. Legumes, such as velvet beans are grown and ploughed back in. Velvet beans are not generally eaten in Cuba, though they can be eaten. Legumes will fix nitrogen back into the soil and the crop, ploughed in, provides fertiliser. The plants also protect the soil from being baked by the sun during the summer. Corn (maize) is also grown, in this case the corn is harvested but the plants are ploughed back in.

I don't really think specific plants will affect flavours directly eg. cherries providing "cherry flavour", if that's what Lawrence is implying (I haven't seen his video). It's more that specific plants provide specific nutrients for the tobacco crop.

[mychetboy]

Awesome video. Everything that Hector says in the interview makes perfect sense. Its awesome to see how similar in nature the tobacco growing results are with high quality grapes..especially the correlation regarding how the leaves must grown under stress to produce the best possible results.

[CaptainQuintero]

I haven't heard of cherries being used but farmers do grow crops in the soil between tobacco plantings. Legumes, such as velvet beans are grown and ploughed back in. Velvet beans are not generally eaten in Cuba, though they can be eaten. Legumes will fix nitrogen back into the soil and the crop, ploughed in, provides fertiliser. The plants also protect the soil from being baked by the sun during the summer. Corn (maize) is also grown, in this case the corn is harvested but the plants are ploughed back in.

I don't really think specific plants will affect flavours directly eg. cherries providing "cherry flavour", if that's what Lawrence is implying (I haven't seen his video). It's more that specific plants provide specific nutrients for the tobacco crop.

I have to say too that I cant see for example cherries or nuts being ploughed into the soil affecting the taste of tobacco grown in it but I'm not much of a gardener! I can though see the logic of Sancho Panza using tobacco grown on plantations near the sea but salt is a different thing to nuts/fruit I guess

[Colt45]

That was great - thanks for the effort, and for sharing it here re the stress factor, I wonder if they also do anything like green harvesting - removing some leaves early so the rest get extra nutrients. I also wonder - might a medium sized leaf end up being more flavorful than one which is much larger.......

[Ryan]

That was great - thanks for the effort, and for sharing it here re the stress factor, I wonder if they also do anything like green harvesting - removing some leaves early so the rest get extra nutrients. I also wonder - might a medium sized leaf end up being more flavorful than one which is much larger.......

Yes, from what it looks like, every plant is checked every day. While I was there, the second set of leaves from the bottom of the sun grown plants were being harvested, the "Libre de pied" leaves. Hard work.

The bottom leaves, the "Mananitas" were already removed, many of those are unusable as they touch the ground while growing and get damaged on the plant.

After every set of leaves is harvested (1 or 2 pairs of leaves), the plants are allowed to recover for 3 or 4 days.

The shade grown leaves were already in. Plants have any suckers and buds removed to concentrate growth in the leaves.

There have been rumours of farmers getting 2 crops per year from one field. How that started, possibly, is that sometimes the stalks are left in the ground after all the the large leaves are harvested. The plant flowers and will often grow a second growth of leaves. These leaves are smaller and are used for cigarette tobacco. So it's not really two crops but a second harvest from the same crop.

There is risk in this as leaving the plants in the ground so long and allowing them to flower can weaken them and encourage fungal growth, Black Shank or Blue mold. This can destroy the following year's crop as the spores can last in the ground.

So it's a trade off between extra profit in the current year while risking the entire harvest in the next.

Not all farmers do it.

[stargazer14]

Thanks for taking the time to produce and post this, much informative.

[laficion]

In the video there's a lot of information that is new to new smokers and It Is a good thing,

Thanks Andy for the extra time for FOH readers .And the time given to us by Hector Luis Prieto and Punch-Joe

Thanks Andy & Rob Fox .

[CanuckSARTech]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing, Andy and Rob (and Jose also - almost didn't recognize his voice there at first! LOL).

It does make perfect sense, that four part combination - local soil, micro-climate, skill and knowledge of the people, and then the environmental stressors naturally put onto the plant to make the best of all. And yes, Andy, the relation compared to wine grapes and tomatoes as you described earlier also add into the equation, and make perfect sense. Definitely one of those "a-ha!" moments! LOL.

Thanks for sharing. Cheers.

[Cohiba Stevie]

Superb video and very informative...

What cigars are hectors crops most likely to end up in Andy?

Thanks for sharing.

[Smallclub]

What cigars are hectors crops most likely to end up in Andy?

He doesn't know. The farmers don't know, and I don't think they care.

[Ryan]

Superb video and very informative...

What cigars are hectors crops most likely to end up in Andy?

Thanks for sharing.

Smallclub is right. Farmers don't know. Tobacco goes from the farms to the local sorting houses, there it gets weighed, sorted and mixed with tobacco from the other farms in the area.

When tobacco goes to the factory, the factory knows which sorting house it came from but not which farm. Which sorting house the tobacco is from is as specific as they can get when it come to blending. I have been told there are 22 sorting houses in Pinar del Rio.

Thanks, by the way!

[Cohiba Stevie]

Ahhhh I see, i take it when habanos needs more of a certain leaf or shade they consult the sorting houses...

I thought it would have been more advantageous for habanos if they knew what farms the tobacco came from.

Seeing your fantastic video makes me jealous lol, I wish my own experience in Cuba trailed far off the tourist track and took me to places like Hector's farm...

Not that my trip to havana was poor, but so little time to see so much I suppose.

Thanks again.

[MPS]

Fantastic! Thank you Andy.

[El Presidente]

Fantastic stuff Andy. Your (and Foxy baby/Jose's) love of the leaf and the people behind it is inspiring!!!

I don't think I could ever work that hard as a Tobacco grower. I would be more like the adds for La flor Dominicana...riding through the fields of green tobacco on a stallion supervising the workers.....if I wasn't allergic to horses of course...

The passion shines through from Hector and all involved in this excellent production.

[BonVivant]

Thank you for sharing! Great video!

It would be interesting to know, why would the seeds be changed two years ago, according to the video, if Corojo 99 is legendary?

[CanuckSARTech]

Thank you for sharing! Great video!

It would be interesting to know, why would the seeds be changed two years ago, according to the video, if Corojo 99 is legendary?

The seed varietals need to be changed frequently to prevent bugs / mold / fungal infestations from getting "used to" a particular crop varietal and doing extensive damage. Similar to how North American farmers will switch up crops (corn, soybeans, winter wheat, etc.) in a certain field in varying years, and even then, generally not go with the exact same seed type the next time around.

Also, it's a Tabacuba decision on the seed varietals, and they get distributed to the different farms/regions as the biologists in charge deem best fit for the conditions, compared to the statistics and research from the previous year's crop.

[BonVivant]

The seed varietals need to be changed frequently to prevent bugs / mold / fungal infestations from getting "used to" a particular crop varietal and doing extensive damage. Similar to how North American farmers will switch up crops (corn, soybeans, winter wheat, etc.) in a certain field in varying years, and even then, generally not go with the exact same seed type the next time around.

Also, it's a Tabacuba decision on the seed varietals, and they get distributed to the different farms/regions as the biologists in charge deem best fit for the conditions, compared to the statistics and research from the previous year's crop.

Thank you for the information!

That means that the farmers has no say in what they are planting - does Tabacuba deside what the farmers will plant for a given year and how do the farmers know what they are planting?

[CanuckSARTech]

Thank you for the information!

That means that the farmers has no say in what they are planting - does Tabacuba deside what the farmers will plant for a given year and how do the farmers know what they are planting?

Basically, yes, Tabacuba dictates to the farmers. The seedlings are nursury grown (take about a month to two months, IIRC), and the plantings are spread out between the farms in stages over a two-month window or so (X amount of plantings per day/week, etc.

Tabacuba basically decides what the farm will get and grow based on past production and quality levels, output, etc. They just say to the farmer, here you go, you have X amount of Y particular seed varietal (and perhaps Z, etc.). "Treat them well, we'll see you in 7 or 8 months!" LOL.

[BonVivant]

Basically, yes, Tabacuba dictates to the farmers. The seedlings are nursury grown (take about a month to two months, IIRC), and the plantings are spread out between the farms in stages over a two-month window or so (X amount of plantings per day/week, etc.

Tabacuba basically decides what the farm will get and grow based on past production and quality levels, output, etc. They just say to the farmer, here you go, you have X amount of Y particular seed varietal (and perhaps Z, etc.). "Treat them well, we'll see you in 7 or 8 months!" LOL.

Wow,

And, after the tobacco seeds had been switched, who makes the adjustments to the blends for various markas? Tabacuba? Or, does anyone?

[mk05]

I emailed you something BV

[BonVivant]

Thank you - had to fish it out from spam - most interesting

Sir, may I ask you a couple of questions?

The reason is - all the information you supplied is available on the net

[bugman78629]

Thanks..........

[Guest rob]

That was cool! Great to see the enthusiasm and passion by all.

Also, great to hear Jose's and Foxy's voices again. Good stuff, Andy!