Safari Journal, Part 2

Originally published at Tiki Bar Online

FRIDAY

Steve Saka demonstrating the proper way to handle your leaf

We started off Friday with a visit to one of the many buildings around Estelí that Drew Estate has leased for the purpose of aging pilónes of tobacco. This large warehouse has narrow aisles, but enough room for many bulks of leaf of several different varieties. Steve Saka gave us a history lesson on what different people have thought was going on in the fermentation process through the years, but the bottom line is: nobody really knows exactly what happens to tobacco in the process or why. What we know is this: when leaves are stacked in a certain way, to a certain height, and achieving a certain mass, it generates heat in the center of that mass, causing the leaves to shed nicotine and some other elements, and allowing flavor changes to commence. The bulk is rotated, top to bottom, inside to out, etc. several times over the course of 6 or 8 or 18 months (depending on varietal), and while there are some important scientific theories in this process, the end point for the leaf is an art…the right person will know when the right time has come.

We then headed to the Drew Estate Construction Zone, a large area where the company is expanding their operations across the street from the current factory. In order to stop needing to lease building all over town, they are building one very large warehouse that will house all of their pre-production tobacco…for now. Despite the size and the amount of money going into it, they expect to have the building at maximum capacity within two years of completion.

They are also working on building a large open-air cafeteria for their many workers as well as a medical clinic where they hope to employ a doctor full-time.

Jonathan Drew, Daring to Dream

It is important to know that Drew Estate does take care of their workers, not because some government regulation says they have to, but because happy workers are more loyal and efficient…it’s just good business! The Nicaraguan government does mandate that any employee working a year for one company must get a “13th Month” of pay as a bonus. Each additional year they work, they are guaranteed a decreasing bonus check. Most employers end up firing everyone after 11 months so they never have to pay the 13th month. Drew not only pays the 13th Month after the first year, but continues for each additional year an employee stays with them. You think they have loyal employees? I would be!

Drew Estate main rolling room

After a large lunch of steak AND chicken, we finally got to tour the actual Drew Estate Cigar Factory itself. We started off with “The Gallery,” a large rolling floor where dozens…maybe over 100…bunchers and rollers work hard, producing the bulk of Drew’s lines. We spent time in the room where tobacco is stored in bales, probably the quietest room in the building.

We were taught two methods of stripping the veins from tobacco leaves by hand, then one of the company’s top bunchers showed us how they do all their bunching by hand…no Lieberman machines (a bunching machine that many factories do use). Willy Herrera then showed us his more traditional method of bunching and he and Saka talked about the advantages of each method. Then we had to sit down and pass wrapper on some cigars ourselves.

Yours truly, finally getting it right with the rolling thing

Now, I’ve applied wrapper to cigars several times in the past, and I’ll admit…I’ve never been good at it. This time it seemed to click, though. My first cigar looked pretty bad. But my second looked better…by the end of 6 I was actually doing very well, with the exception of the final cap, which I just wasn’t doing right.

We looked in on Quality Control where they randomly test cigars to make sure everything is good before it leaves the factory. Each bundle of cigars is barcoded as it makes its way through the factory so the QC people can identify who touched the cigars on their way. Liga Privadas are rolled in a special room with a special group of rollers. We visited briefly.

At the end of the tour, we got to spend close to 2 hours in “the blending room.” That’s what I call it anyway. We had choices to make…namely, filler, binder and wrapper…plus vitola and finishing for head and foot. That’s a lot of control to give a bunch of bloggers but the Drew Crew is crazy enough to do that. My choice was Connecticut Broadleaf for the wrapper with a Mexican San Andres Negro binder, Nicaragua Jalapa Criollo 98 Seco, Nicaraguan Ometepe Viso, Brazilian Mata Fina, Nicaraguan Estelí Ligero, and a half leaf of Kentucky Fire Cured, something new and totally different. I was the first one from our group to jump up, grab a leaf of the Kentucky and ask Willy to roll something I could smoke and taste it. The first thing that jumps out and grabs you is hickory…lots and lots of hickory…but there are some other interesting elements present as well. I have already tasted one and my blend turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself (and I do). It was only 2 days removed from the rolling bench, so who knows what it will taste like in another couple months. I will force myself to wait, though, and then I will do a review on my own cigar…because I can!

Our last stop for the day was Subculture Studios, the graphics shop that Drew Estate set up. They are responsible for all the artwork you will see in the pictures I’ve posted…the Dirty Rat graphics, Flying Pig designs, the mural, the bands, the boxes, t-shirts, graffiti…pretty much everything. Walking in reminded me of my days working in a print shop as the smell of screen print ink washed over us.

CyB Lancero, pre-release

We had one more dinner and one more time to socialize with Jonathan Drew, Steve Saka and everyone else. Jose Blanco handed out samples of the upcoming CyB Lancero release, coming to TAA stores within the next month or so. We received a bundle of 10 of our own blend of sticks and a sample of the Kentucky Fire Cured MUWAT that will find its way into stores later this year. The KFC is definitely very interesting and Jon Drew is all fired up about it. The blend we got to try was not the “final blend” but it is close…no reviews allowed yet, but I’ll just say, this might just turn out to be the most interesting thing you smoke this year.

COMING HOME

Jose Blanco always finds time to enjoy a good smoke

Another 3 hours bus ride on Saturday morning and we were back at the Managua airport. During the ride, Jose Blanco asked questions and debated the answers with us. It was practically a Master Class on Wheels. Big ring vs. small ring. How much flavor does the wrapper impart? Should manufacturers disclose what countries their tobaccos come from? And it wasn’t just “Yes” or “No” answers, but essay questions and lively debate about the issues.

I’ve been through Miami International twice before when entering the country and found Passport Control, Baggage Pickup, and Customs to be an almost interminable nightmare. This time, it went much smoother. Passport Control was probably the lengthiest part. By the time we finished that our luggage was waiting next to the carousel and the line for Customs was very short. I have to give MIA props for stepping up their game in getting people funneled through the airport in a much more efficient manner. Well done.

You should go. That’s the one big takeaway I have about this trip. I’ve been on a couple other factory tour trips and they are not ones that the average consumer can actually repeat. This one is open to you and it really doesn’t cost much. Drew Estate will probably mix in a little more Nicaraguan culture and history into your trip, but the basics are the same–if you want to learn a lot about cigars in a little amount of time, this is the way to do it. Go to the countries where the leaf is grown, cured, fermented, aged, and rolled. Talk to company owners and folks that have been in the business for decades. Ask questions. Some of this you can do without leaving the comfort of your own home using Twitter, Facebook and reading this blog and others, but if you are physically and financially capable, there is no substitute for having boots on the ground.

OTHER PERSPECTIVES

I’ve noted that I did not go on this trip alone, and that this was not the only trip. If you want more information, visit these fine cigar-related websites and read, listen and watch:

• Stogie Fresh
• RobbyRasReviews
• halfwheel
• Stogie Guys
• Smoking Hot Cigar Chick
• Toasted Foot
• Stogie Review
• Casas Fumando
• Cigar-Coop

Part 3 of the Safari Journal will post Thursday, May 16, and will include a collection of the photos I was able to capture on the trip.