Page 39 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

A POR TR AIT OF CUBA  37

How Cigars are Made Chaveta (blade)
Cigar manufacturing is a real skill that
Cubans hand down from generation Cutter
to generation. This sequence of Capote
photographs shows how Carlos Gassiot, Vegetable (wrapper)
a highly skilled torcedor (cigar roller), glue
makes a cigar, from selecting the loose
tobacco leaves to the final touches.

Having placed the capote (wrapper leaf) on the tablet,
1the torcedor chooses the filler leaves he wants to use for
the core of the cigar: three leaves from different parts of
the plant – seco, volado and ligero (see p143).

Once the wrapping is complete,
He begins to roll (torcer 3the final touches are added.
2in Spanish, hence the First the wrapper leaf is worked
term torcedor) the leaves. until it is completely smooth.
The capote is wrapped around Chaveta Then comes the trimming.
the filler leaves selected for the The cigar tip is finished
tripa, which in turn is covered off by wrapping the end
by the capa, which is smooth with a last tobacco leaf.
and regular. This determines
the appearance of the cigar.

Tableta (tablet)
Gauge
Once the cigar is finished, the torcedor checks
4 its diameter with a special gauge stamped
with the various standard sizes established for every
kind of cigar. The same instrument is also used to
measure the pre-established length, after which the
cigar is cut to this size using the cutting machine.

The Shape and Size
Cuaba Exclusivo,
Cigars are made in different sizes (heavy, figurado cigar
standard or slim ring gauge) and shapes
(they may be regular or tapered, figurado).
Fatter cigars tend to have a fuller flavour,
which connoisseurs prefer. The best hand-
rolled Cuban cigars benefit from ageing,
like fine wine. Trinidad Fundador,
regular-shaped cigar

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