Also in this issue:

• Good Life Guide
  Rosewood Mayakobá
• Top 25
  The 25 Best Cigars of 2008
• Good Life Guide
  Ice Fishing Comes in From the Cold
• Cigar Stars
  Te-Amo's Alberto and Alejandro Turrent
• Good Life Guide
  Navigon 7200T
• More from this Issue

After the Storms

Two hurricanes ravaged Cuba's main tobacco growing regions last summer, clouding the outlook for the future supply of cigars

From the Print Edition:
Cuba, January/February 2009

The Robainas, like other tobacco farmers, have more important worries than unsuccessful tobacco hybrids. The day I was at their farm, they were elated that 300 liters of diesel had arrived at their door. "We can finally do some work with the tractor at the farm!" Robaina yelled, when he heard the news during lunch. "It's been really hard to find diesel and just about anything else since the hurricanes, including food."

The Robainas seem to be some of the lucky farmers. Most of the campesinos on the island are struggling to make ends meet. I stopped at a small filler tobacco farm on the outskirts of the town of Piloto about a half hour's drive east of the town of Pinar del Río. There was very little there other than a couple of wooden shacks and a small dilapidated pink mortar house. It was called Finca Vista Hermosa. Interestingly, the peeling pink house was the birthplace of the great cigarmaker of Nicaragua, José Orlando Padrón. He has never been back to Vista Hermosa since he left the island almost 50 years ago. His cousins are now working the land.

But they, like others in the hurricane-affected region, were contemplating whether they were going to plant tobacco in 2008. "We are still thinking about [it]," said a woman on the plantation. "We are not sure we can manage this year."

They were hesitant to commit to planting tobacco primarily because they had no place to cure the leaves after the harvest. Their two curing barns collapsed during Hurricane Ike, and little or no wood was available to rebuild them, not to mention carpenters or nails. The large wooden structures had been at Finca Vista Hermosa for as long as the family could remember. Even Padrón, who lives in Miami, remembers the barns. "It must have been one hell of a storm," he told me when we smoked a cigar in his offices in Miami before I left for Havana. In fact, the two storms were the worst to hit Cuba since 1944. Most farmers in the Semi-Vuelta are now planting food such as beans or vegetables. It was doubtful that they would plant tobacco. They need to grow products that they can eat or sell in farmer's markets throughout the island.

But what about the rest of the thousands of workers who are involved in the process of cigar marking from leaf processing to rolling to boxing? The hurricanes had very little effect on Havana, as far as I could tell. So the half dozen or so factories in the center and outskirts should have no problem producing cigars as long as the tobacco reserves hold out. Almost all the production of those factories is earmarked for export. The other 50 or so factories throughout the island are a big question mark.

In the meantime, Habanos has raised prices on Cuban cigars about 10 percent due to increased costs. As one Habanos representative said, "Everything is more expensive now on the island, from gasoline to food. It costs more to make Cuban cigars. What are we supposed to do?" Just as an example, low-grade gasoline has increased to about $1.40 a gallon compared to half that just a year ago. Prices for extra food staples, other than what the government hands out as rations, are about the same as supermarkets in the States are charging.

There's no way to gauge the long-term impact of this crisis. I lit up a new regional cigar that was made exclusively for the Italian market. The belicoso-shaped smoke (5 inches by 52 ring) delivered plenty of cedar and spicy character with a full body and a smooth texture. It was an outstanding cigar, 90 points, non-blind. The small torpedo smoke was just one of more than two dozen regional cigars released last year in the global market. More releases are expected this year.

There's no predicting the demand for these cigars, given the global economic situation, but despite Habanos' confidence, there are also real question marks about the future supply of Cuban cigars for 2009. Cuban-cigar smokers might be wise to stock up on their favorite Habanos over the next few months.

< 1 2