Harvesting
The growing cycle for tobacco is very quick. Those seeds the farmer first planted in September have turned into full-grown tobacco plants ready for harvesting in January. However the time to harvest is not something that is controlled by the clock. Instead it's up to the farmer to decide just when the right time to harvest is and that time can vary from season to season.

Earlier I mentioned that some plants were grown to provide binder leaves while others were grown to provide the leaf that goes into the body of the cigar but it's also quite possible to obtain both types of leaf from the same plant and many farmers do just that

The leaves at the top of a tobacco plant are generally smaller and have a stronger taste and so those leaves are the ones that are used to make the body of most quality cigars. The leaves at the bottom of the plant are bigger and usually coarser than those top leaves and they can be used as the wrapper.

And the middle leaves on the tobacco plant? Well they're the best quality of all and those are the ones that go into the body of the very finest cigars.

Around the Caribbean the harvest is done by hand and, while no leaves are wasted, only the ones that are undamaged and perfectly shaped go to the leading cigar makers. The damaged leaves go to the makers of cheap cigars and they're often used in cigars that are produced by machines.

So in just four short months ... well they seem short to us but the poor farmer probably sees them as being much longer ... the tobacco has gone from seed to harvested leaf and we're getting closer to the point where that leaf looks, feels and tastes like a fine cigar down at our local cigar shop.

Our series continues next month ...