Dressing the cigar box
Cuba was the first to introduce the classic labelled cigar box in the mid-19th Century, and it remains the best-known form of Habano packaging. The extravagant paper trimmings on the box are called habilitaciones, literally dressings. Each label has its own time-honoured name and all…
Applying cigar bands
Cigar bands were introduced in the 1860s by Don Gustavo Bock, a European who had arrived in Havana to make his fortune in cigars. Legend has it that the idea sprang from a desire to protect the white-gloved fingers of his more refined customers from…
Sorting wrapper colours
No product on earth enjoys a more painstaking treatment in its presentation and packaging, starting with the perfect colour-matching of the wrappers. Wrappers come in many finely distinguished shades of colour, and great care is taken to ensure that all of the cigars in any…
Strict quality control
Work is checked at all stages of hand-making cigars – cigars that fail the strict quality-control tests will never become Habanos. Every day the Workshop Manager supervises the work of the cigar rollers. At the same time, supervisors – who are themselves top-grade Torcedores –…
The craft of the Torcedor
Most Torcedores these days are women, and they make the biggest, most complicated Habanos. Habanos are made totally by hand – as they have always been – by the Torcedores and Torcedoras, whose practised hands no machine can ever match. How they do it For…
Other methods of cigar manufacture
In our previous article, we featured the making of a totally handmade long filler. Here, we look at two other methods of manufacture. Totally by hand, short filler technique The trimmings from the bunches of long-filler cigars are combined with other selected chopped tobaccos to…