Cuban Cigar Factory Question....

[Bartolomeo]

I did a search and couldnt find this answer....this goes out to all of you you that know a lot more than me

For hypothetical example......If CoRo are rolled at mother factory ABC and other factories such as XYZ, 123, etc .....obviously the blender at factory ABC has the correct blend to what makes a CoRo a CoRo

-Do the other factories rolling CoRo get the tobacco already pre-bundled with correct blend for their rollers for these robustos?

-How do the other factories know the exact blend that makes up a CoRo if factory ABC doesnt share the "recipe"?

-My understanding is that the rollers of all factories more or less are given daily lots of tobacco and told to produce a certain number of cigars in a certain size and dont always know what they are rolling

How do other factory rollers know what a specific cigar consists of as far as the blends?

I was talking to a friend today about this and didnt know basically how the same cigar can be made at various places and be consistent?

I just used CoRo as this example but any cigar can be substituted here really

I belive in the theory of buying mother factory cigars when you can but thats another discussion in itself

TIA!

Bart

[stogieluver]

From the reading I've done, a master blender determines the exact ratio of different types of leaf, and

that blend or combination of leaf (filler, binder, and wrapper) are bundled together in one place under

the supervision of the master blender and those bundles are sent to the rollers at each factory rolling

that cigar.

[Overproof]

Interesting question. Maybe a masters mistake could be someone's good fortune, on an off day.

[jdo2110]

Love the question, buddy, and something I was also wondering when you and I spoke the other night. I also like the thought of mother codes, but I guess that's not always practical.

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[SCgarman]

I believe the roller gets hers/his daily bundle of leaves and a "recipe". Maybe it is simply scribbled on paper. The roller doesn't even know the brand they are rolling, merely the vitola.

[Smallclub]

I don't believe the combination of leaves is bundled in one place; each roller takes leaves from different piles and for him the "blend" consist in a certain ratio of each leaf.

[Fuzz]

Ryan posted this pic a few years ago, showing a chart in the blending room of a factory. One would assume that the blenders would know, depending on the leaf available, the correct ratios to get the flavours right for a particular cigar.

[Dmatzkin]

Very interesting. Would love to see what people have to say about this...

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[Bartolomeo]

Ryan posted this pic a few years ago, showing a chart in the blending room of a factory. One would assume that the blenders would know, depending on the leaf available, the correct ratios to get the flavours right for a particular cigar.

Thanks Fuzz for posting this

So for arguments sake on the above chart even though the Volado, Seco and Ligero are blanked out on the chat, for the example the Robusto total ratio is 518......does that mean this one particular Factory is only rolling Robustos w one blend? So its the same Robusto rolled day in day out? If not, wouldnt all the robustos they are rolling be the same ratio but meant to be different types of Robustos ie. Choix, PSD4, etc all rolled at one factory? Or could it be that Robusto A has 100+200+218 and Robusto B could have 150+150+218 etc?

Thanks!

[Bartolomeo]

Thanks for all of the responses so far fellas!

[Fuzz]

Thanks Fuzz for posting this

So for arguments sake on the above chart even though the Volado, Seco and Ligero are blanked out on the chat, for the example the Robusto total ratio is 518......does that mean this one particular Factory is only rolling Robustos w one blend? So its the same Robusto rolled day in day out? If not, wouldnt all the robustos they are rolling be the same ratio but meant to be different types of Robustos ie. Choix, PSD4, etc all rolled at one factory? Or could it be that Robusto A has 100+200+218 and Robusto B could have 150+150+218 etc?

Thanks!

On that I could not say, as I wasn't there. I would assume that they are only rolling one brand of robusto at that factory with that specific blend. Looks to be that they are rolling the CoRo and another robusto there.

[potpest]

I watched a factory tour on youtube recently where the guy was asking the rollers what cigar they were rolling and they were responding with "montecristo nr 2" etc. Is it possible that it's a myth that the rollers are rolling just a vitola blind. I'll see if i can find the clip if anyones interested?

[Ryan]

I watched a factory tour on youtube recently where the guy was asking the rollers what cigar they were rolling and they were responding with "montecristo nr 2" etc. Is it possible that it's a myth that the rollers are rolling just a vitola blind. I'll see if i can find the clip if anyones interested?

I can't speak for every roller but every roller I have spoken to knows which cigars they are rolling at a specific time.

For example, a Partagas roller knows if they are rolling a PSD4 or a RASS on a given day. Again, that is what I have been told by rollers.

Thanks Fuzz for posting this

So for arguments sake on the above chart even though the Volado, Seco and Ligero are blanked out on the chat, for the example the Robusto total ratio is 518......does that mean this one particular Factory is only rolling Robustos w one blend? So its the same Robusto rolled day in day out? If not, wouldnt all the robustos they are rolling be the same ratio but meant to be different types of Robustos ie. Choix, PSD4, etc all rolled at one factory? Or could it be that Robusto A has 100+200+218 and Robusto B could have 150+150+218 etc?

Thanks!

That 518 is not a ratio. It is the weight in grammes of a bundle given to a roller.

"Peso en gramos se las ligadas" at the top, "Weight in grammes of the blends"

I took that picture of the chart in February 2011. I originally posted it here to show that perlas do not contain Ligero (at least the perlas rolled that day at Partagas).

I blanked out most of the weights in the chart because I told someone in Cuba I would. That's all I can say on that I'm afraid.

Regarding the original question in this post, I have an answer for that.

In February, I did an interview with Carlos, the Ligador (the only ligador in El Laguito) and Berta, a quality control director, again in El Laguito.

Some great stuff in it. I just haven't had time to edit it all properly and add the subtitles.

The voices you hear off camera are me, Rob Fox and Punch Joe. Rob and I were hanging a bit that day, it was the morning after a night before and we were up early to (unsuccessfully) find a TV to watch Ireland v England in the 6 nations.

I was reminded of one of the best cigars I've ever smoked. Carlos brought gifts of cigars he rolls for his own use. Behike 52s.

Behike 52s rolled by the master blender at El Laguito for his own consumption. I tasted that cigar again just by watching this video.

One of the funnier questions we asked him was does he smoke much himself. "No, no not much at all, only about 3 Behikes a day"

Anyway, here's the bit that answers the question. I'll try to get the rest, about 40 minutes total, up at some stage.

[Fuzz]

My mistake. Thanks for clearing that up, Ryan.

[Ryan]

My mistake. Thanks for clearing that up, Ryan.

I didn't notice any mistake..?

[...]

Cool stuff Ryan, please do post the full interview if you can and thanks for sharing!

[potpest]

Great stuff, cheers Ryan

[Fuzz]

I didn't notice any mistake..?

I mentioned ratios when posting your pic.

[Ryan]

I mentioned ratios when posting your pic.

Ah OK.., I hope it didn't seem like I was making a big deal of it!

Of course the weights of the different filler types would show the ratio when compared to each other and the total weight.

[CanuckSARTech]

What Stogieluver and then Ryan said. In that a master blender at location "A" organizes the bundles and whatnot, but then the individual master blenders at the various other locations works with the blending recipes and goes from there at each individual factory. Very cool to see that picture, Fuzz and/or Ryan. I've seen something similar at La Corona a number of years back, but wasn't going to try sneaking a photo, and also very tasteful with the blanking out. Thanks for sharing.

[Bartolomeo]

Thanks Andy for posting the info and video, maybe I missed it in the video but if one factory is rolling lets say 3 robustos(PSD4, Choix, RASS) for example, if all 3 have similar weights of tobacco as mentioned in chart above and video, I assume all 3 have different variations of the ligero, seco and volado to give them their 3 distinct profiles? All 3 have same weight as robustos but different "blends", correct?

Again, apologies in advance if I missed it from the postings so far

[pbibby]

I'm glad you asked, because I am trying to keep it straight as well. Great thread and info everyone!!

Thanks Andy for posting the info and video, maybe I missed it in the video but if one factory is rolling lets say 3 robustos(PSD4, Choix, RASS) for example, if all 3 have similar weights of tobacco as mentioned in chart above and video, I assume all 3 have different variations of the ligero, seco and volado to give them their 3 distinct profiles? All 3 have same weight as robustos but different "blends", correct?

Again, apologies in advance if I missed it from the postings so far

[Guest Robo]

I have no information to back this up, it's just what makes sense to me. Maybe someone can confirm or deny this?

My thought is that each factory is affiliated with one or many farms and sources their tobacco from their farms. So, a SDN4, RASS and BRC will have the same ratio of ligero, seco and volado but the SDN4 will be made with tobacco from farm #1, the RASS from farm #2 and the BRC from farm #3. There must be variations in the soil between farms that produces the unique flavours per marca (known as the 'terroir' in winemaking).

So, the H. Upmann factory can make SDN4 if it receives tobacco from farm #1.

Just a thought...

[Smallclub]

……

[Smallclub]

I have no information to back this up, it's just what makes sense to me. Maybe someone can confirm or deny this?

My thought is that each factory is affiliated with one or many farms and sources their tobacco from their farms. So, a SDN4, RASS and BRC will have the same ratio of ligero, seco and volado but the SDN4 will be made with tobacco from farm #1, the RASS from farm #2 and the BRC from farm #3. There must be variations in the soil between farms that produces the unique flavours per marca (known as the 'terroir' in winemaking).

So, the H. Upmann factory can make SDN4 if it receives tobacco from farm #1.

Just a thought...

No, not at all, since factories get their tobacco from sorting/selection centers (escogidas), not directly from the farms.