Cuban Tobacco

Cuban tobacco is renowned the world over for its quality, and while grown across the island, the best-of-the-best is produced in the eastern province of Pinar del Rio. Tobacco has been grown there for centuries, but the first large plantations were founded in the 18th century, and tobacco quickly became are large part of the Cuban economy - the second largest export after sugar.

For the most part Cuban tobacco is still grown in very traditional ways, using oxen to plough the...
more »

Cuban tobacco is renowned the world over for its quality, and while grown across the island, the best-of-the-best is produced in the eastern province of Pinar del Rio. Tobacco has been grown there for centuries, but the first large plantations were founded in the 18th century, and tobacco quickly became are large part of the Cuban economy - the second largest export after sugar.

For the most part Cuban tobacco is still grown in very traditional ways, using oxen to plough the land, as not to compact the soil, and cultivated by hand. After harvesting it's hung in barns to dry and cure before being shipped to factories in Havana.

During the 2008 hurricane season Pinar del Rio was hit particularly hard, and while the storms didn't strike during the growing season, they destroyed most of the tobacco barns in the region. At the the start of the 2009 growing season the Cuban government provided farmers with the timbers to raise new barns, and throughout the season workers rushed to complete the work before the tobacco needed to be harvested.
« less