TOBACCO PLANT Corojo: Provides the cigar’s outer wrapping layer. Criollo: Provides four of the five leaves used in rolling a cigar: volado, capote, seco and ligero.

SOIL PREPARATION July-August. The soil is ploughed up.

FROM SEED TO SHOOTS September-October. Shoots are transplanted after a 45-day watering period.

TOBACCO GROWING October-January. The plants need 45 to 50 days to achieve complete maturity.

CARE OF THE COROJO Plants are covered with cotton-fabric cloths to protect the leaves.

CARE OF THE CRIOLLO They are exposed to the sun to achieve variety and underscore flavor.

HARVEST Leaves are collected one by one and by hand, plucking out two or three leaves at a time.

HARVESTING THE COROJO Each and every plant has eight to nine pairs of leaves, and each section is picked up independently as soon as they are matured.

HARVESTING THE CRIOLLO Each and every plant has six to seven pairs of leaves that are labeled in Ligeros, Secos, Volados and Capotes.

AIR DRYING This process takes some 50 days. Leaves are stitched in pairs to rods or sticks. First, they turn yellow and finally get a gilt-reddish hue.

FIRST FERMENTATION It could last 30 days. All leaves in every rod or stick are tied up in a bundle and whisked off to fermentation houses. They are piled up in half-a-meter-high heaps. This process helps to drain resins off the leaves and give them an evener color.

WICK REMOVAL AND LABELING This humectation process is called moja. Layers are soaked in water, while tripas and capotes are dipped in a mixture of water and tobacco wicks. The main wick or nerve is removed and the leaves are labeled according to their color, texture or type.

SECOND FERMENTATION It could last up to 60 days. Labeled leaves are piled up in a heap called burro. The tobacco endures a chemical transformation that further refines its flavor and aroma, while impurities are rubbed out.

AIRING AND BALE PACKING Leaves are put in shelves to let them rest for a few days and later on are packed in bales wrapped in royal palm fibers.

BALE AGING The bales remain stashed in warehouses for months –sometimes for two years. This process refines both the aroma and the flavor before the leaves are rolled into cigars.

TOBACCO CONDITIONING Classification of the five leaves before their transfer to the workshop’s galley

LAYERS They are subjected to special treatments through a special moja, saving one day for airing and then proceeding to remove the wicks. They are finally labeled in line with their size, color and texture.

TRIPAS AND CAPOTES The different aging processes are checked. The Ligero is left to age for two more years, while the Volado and the Capote are ready to go in twelve months.

HAND ROLLING Cigar hand-rollers, whose only tools are the wooden plank, the jackknife, a guillotine, a flask of vegetable glue and, above all, their hands, churn out an average of 120 cigars a day.

QUALITY CONTROL The size, shape, look and width of each and every Habano is checked. Those that fail to meet these requirements are removed.

THE STORAGE ROOM The hand-rolled cigars are stored in cedar-walled reconditioning or storage rooms for at least three weeks. In there, they remain at a temperature between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius and with relative humidity levels somewhere between 65 and 70 percent.

SELECTION Pickers classify Habanos in no less than 65 different colors or shades. They are put away in boxes of different colors, ordered from dark to light and from left to right, thus choosing which cigars will be on top when the case or box is opened.

BANDING OR RINGING Faithful to the way the picker ordered the cigars, each and every Habano is banded with a paper ring and put back into the box.

FILLETING AND CLOSING The boxes get their final decorations. Since they are made of cedar, the aging process never stops.

WARRANTY SEAL National Warranty Seal of Legitimacy, established by law on July 16, 1912, in an effort to detect fakery.

BRANDS Three brands are marked on the bottom of the box: “Habanos S.A.”, name of the exporting company since October 1, 1994; “Made in Cuba”, added since 1960 to indicate its place of origin, “All Rolled by Hand”, a warranty indicating those cigars were hand-rolled in keeping with the Cuban cigar-making tradition.

HABANOS LABELING It’s glued on the upper edge of boxes built since 1994.

HOW TO PRESERVE A HABANO Habanos can be preserved for fifteen years or more. Like good-vintage wines, the longer the time, the better they get. They must be stashed in humidors at a temperature ranging from 16 to 18 degrees Celsius and with relative humidity levels somewhere between 65 and 70 percent.

HOW TO LIGHT A HABANO Cut off right above the line where the cap is glued to the layer. Don’t slide the ring off the cigar; that might ruin the layer. Use odorless flames –like the one sparked by butane-filled lighters, wooden matches or cedar sticks. Make it burn evenly, only blowing lightly the burning end to make it run smoothly.

HOW TO SMOKE A HABANO Don’t inhale while you’re smoking. Breathe in lightly till you get a mouthful of smoke. Let that smoke toy with your taste buds for a while. No problem if you need to relight your cigar because it just went out.

HOW TO PUT OUT A HABANO When the sad moment of leaving your cigar has come, don’t crush it out. Let it rest in the ashtray and it’ll go out by himself. Let that gem die with dignity.