Tabanero sources its tobacco from Oliva Tobacco Company, a large supplier right here in Tampa! Oliva supplies Tabanero with some of the best tobacco from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. For Tabanero, tobacco selection is critical. Often times we will open 5 or more bails containing the same tobacco leaf to find the exact leaf we are looking for. We are very particular when it comes to selecting tobacco. It must have the right aroma and thickness for use in our blends and the sizes that we roll. Once we choose the tobacco from the local supplier we return to the Tabanero factory where we prepare the tobacco. We wet the wrapper and hang it inside of a sealed closet for 24 hours to rest in order for the veins to get the right amount of humidity and for the veins to open up. Often small factories make the mistake of using the wrapper too soon after hanging. This causes issues related to flavor and construction. We cover the tobacco with a plastic bag to contain the humidity at appropriate levels. The next day the wrapper is flattened. The tobacco is returned to the closet and hung for another 24 hours. After 48 hours the wrapper is then stripped and bunched into 40-50 leaves and then given to rollers and ready to be rolled into a beautiful hand made cigar.
When making our cigars, we use three different types of filler, binder, and wrapper tobacco leaves. We use Ligero, Seco and Volado. Every cigar needs a combination of these tobaccos in order to achieve the flavor profile, aroma, and burn we are looking for. Here are the differences between the 3 types; The amount of Ligero used in the cigar blend dictates the strength of the cigar: Mild, Medium, or Full. The more Ligero the stronger the cigar will be. The next type of tobacco is Seco. Seco comes from the middle part of the tobacco plant. These leaves will affect the flavor and aroma of the cigar. The final leaf is the Volado. When it comes to flavor or aroma, the Volado contributes very little. Instead, this leaf, found at the bottom of the plant, will impact how the cigar burns. It’s important that all cigars use Volado leaves to ensure the cigar burns properly as it’s being smoked.Â
At Tabanero we place a lot of importance on tobacco selection. We are focused on producing a quality cigar. Without quality tobacco we are unable to provide our customers with a quality cigar. It’s that simple. At Tabanero, our focus is providing a quality cigar for our customers.
We invite you to sit back, Relax, Enjoy, and Hav-a-Taba!
Yanko Maceda
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