The Master

[Corylax18]

Hector is a Man among boys. I know the size jumps out out you, but look at the quality. Not a single blemish. He's holding two perfect Monte A sized wrappers. 

He is still about a month from starting to Harvest the majority of the leaf, but pending any bad storms we'll have plenty of beautiful, delicious farmies in a few years!

[bbguardsp]

A month from harvesting and looks like they're already 6 feet tall!  I don't know about Cuba specifically but in Nicaragua and DR, shaded wrapper crops can reach 8 feet in good years.  Very promising!

[mwaller]

30 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

Hector is a Man among boys. I know the size jumps out out you, but look at the quality. Not a single blemish. He's holding two perfect Monte A sized wrappers. 

He is still about a month from starting to Harvest the majority of the leaf, but pending any bad storms we'll have plenty of beautiful, delicious farmies in a few years!

Nice. Is this Corojo 99?

I've grown both Corojo 99 and Criollo 98; both produce enormous leaves, even in the Pacific Northwest.  

[Corylax18]

32 minutes ago, bbguardsp said:

A month from harvesting and looks like they're already 6 feet tall!  I don't know about Cuba specifically but in Nicaragua and DR, shaded wrapper crops can reach 8 feet in good years.  Very promising!

Yup, they're right around the 6 foot mark now. Hector isn't particularly tall, I'm just shy of 6'-3" and even with the hat, I've got a good 6" on him. You can see that the cloth is probably another 2' above the top of the plants, so probably in the 8' to 9' range. The bigger they get, the faster they grow, so they could easily add another 18"-24" in the next 3 or 4 weeks. 

[Corylax18]

28 minutes ago, mwaller said:

Nice. Is this Corojo 99?

I've grown both Corojo 99 and Criollo 98; both produce enormous leaves, even in the Pacific Northwest.  

Probably, but I'm not certain. I forgot to ask him specifically last time I was there. 

[SenorPerfecto]

FAKE

[Corylax18]

3 minutes ago, BoliDan said:

What you guys smoking? Pure Pinar del rio custom rolls?

Pure Quemada de Rubi (Hectors Farm) Custom Rolls. All the tobacco was grown, dried, cured, aged and rolled within 1/2 mile of where we are standing. He is smoking what I cal a "Robusto de Prieto" but its akin to a toro. About 6" x 60 ring. I was smoking a Siglo III/Long Corona size. 

I have his customs in several different sizes, what size do you prefer? I know you might not make it to the Denver Herf next weekend, but I can bring you one to try next time. 

[Corylax18]

41 minutes ago, SenorPerfecto said:

FAKE

Haha. Whats fake?

[Rabbi]

18 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

Haha. Whats fake?

I’m pretty sure that was a dig at the FB Cuban police who automatically call anything Cuban “FAKE!”.

[westg]

Fantasic pics.Thanks Cory ?

[La_Tigre]

3 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Hector is a Man among boys. I know the size jumps out out you, but look at the quality. Not a single blemish. He's holding two perfect Monte A sized wrappers. 

He is still about a month from starting to Harvest the majority of the leaf, but pending any bad storms we'll have plenty of beautiful, delicious farmies in a few years!

Loving to see this. I picked up ~100 Quemada De Rubi BHK 56, 60 but Hector was not available to meet. Amazing smokes and silk wrappers. ?

[bmf30180]

This is awesome.  They were still a few weeks away from planting when I was there.  Hector was there though and was the most gracious host, spending a few hours of his day with us.  Can't wait to go back. 

My friend snapped this picture as Jorge was holding court.  

[alloy]

Great tobacco! Luv me some HLP's!

[El Presidente]

Great stuff Cory 

[Corylax18]

16 hours ago, La_Tigre said:

Loving to see this. I picked up ~100 Quemada De Rubi BHK 56, 60 but Hector was not available to meet. Amazing smokes and silk wrappers. ?

They are. Beautiful and very tasty. He is a busy man. 

16 hours ago, BoliDan said:

Oh god, yeah. Love tobacco from that region. Anything 38-50rg sits well with me, (42 is my preference). Thanks, man. My collection is pretty weak, so I'm afraid I wouln't be able to match anything close to that rarity ?

I prefer that range as well, but Hector likes his big boys, both in ring and length. I've got a few smaller options though. Don't worry about matching it. I've been gifted countless sticks I couldn't match, so I still have years of paying it forward in front of me. ?

[Nino]

18 hours ago, SenorPerfecto said:

FAKE

Not sure about the cigars they are smoking ... but the picture sure is NOT fake as I took it and can vouch for it... ?

... and yes, @Corylax18 is a pretty tall guy.

[Corylax18]

3 hours ago, Lrabold89 said:

does any of his tobacco go to the factories for production? not sure how that works

On paper the state takes 90% of the Dried Harvest, from every farmer. They take the tobacco from the farmers drying barns, remove the stems, sort it, and ferment it. Then resort it and ferment it some more. The tobacco eventually makes its way to the tobacco warehouses in Havana (and a few in the provinces) where it sits until the Factory Managers go pick their bales. 

In practice, the farmers keep significantly more than their 10% allotment. How much more? I have no idea. It could be 20%, 40%, 60% of each harvest. Since its all a bit underground/against the rules it doesn't get discussed much. Most of this tobacco goes into farm rolls that you can buy directly from the farm. Some of it goes into other stuff as well.