What is double fermentation

[bohdan.zaremba]

Saw some cigars have "double/triple fermentation" as part of the description. (like San Cristobal Golden Hour and Ovation)

Is it just a marketing term, or is there some process behind it? Perhaps an extra long time in the fermentation chamber?

 

[jclif43]

I’m no expert, but at some point it’s probably more a marketing ploy than something that affects the flavor profile. If it was a big factor you would have seen all the big players doing it.

 

[Wombat_smokes]

I agree. Probably a marketing ploy to detail the extra years spent laying around waiting to be rolled into cigars.

 

[WillQuantrill]

I have seen video of different factories that start with the Pilon method, rest the tobacco then the hands will hang in a sauna for a time AJF comes to mind and Plasencia has a crazy water wheel method. This may be what they are hinting toward. I do know "double aged" usually refers to barrel aged leaf that spends an amount of time in the barrel then the rolled cigars are aged in the barrel again.

 

[deluxestogie]

I have genuine "Library Aged" cigar tobacco. After kilning, a number of varieties of leaf that I grew over a decade ago have been sitting in bags, protected within a huge box in my study, absorbing the nuances and profound insights of thousands of books.

Bob

 

[The Haroo ln]

I also think it is a marketing strategy ploy. I know cohiba say they do a third/triple fermentation in oak barrels at around 60%-65% RH and cooler temps than standard fermentation. Not sure on the duration but i've heard its 2 years? Apparently thats what gives their cigars/tobacco the richer more nuanced flavours. My experience tells me its just a marketing term for aging, Because aging also does exactly that at around those temp and humidity levels. Its just a con to hike prices like with the behike line. I've never smoked a behike and dont wanna badmouth them, but their statement of saying they put the extra special medio tiempo leaves that only grows on a fraction of plants is a con. To me its just a ligero leaf or what the rest of the world called the corona or top corona leaves.
Business tactics ....

 

[bohdan.zaremba]

I agree. Probably a marketing ploy to detail the extra years spent laying around waiting to be rolled into cigars.

I’m no expert, but at some point it’s probably more a marketing ploy than something that affects the flavor profile. If it was a big factor you would have seen all the big players doing it.

Gotta justify the price tag I guess

 

[bohdan.zaremba]

I have seen video of different factories that start with the Pilon method, rest the tobacco then the hands will hang in a sauna for a time AJF comes to mind and Plasencia has a crazy water wheel method. This may be what they are hinting toward. I do know "double aged" usually refers to barrel aged leaf that spends an amount of time in the barrel then the rolled cigars are aged in the barrel again.

I wonder if those methods have any noticeable effect on the final product, or if it's done mainly to enhance the mystique of the process

 

[bohdan.zaremba]

Wh

I have genuine "Library Aged" cigar tobacco. After kilning, a number of varieties of leaf that I grew over a decade ago have been sitting in bags, protected within a huge box in my study, absorbing the nuances and profound insights of thousands of books.

Bob

When will you release this Limited Bookworm edition, and how many zeros will you add to the markup?

 

[bohdan.zaremba]

I also think it is a marketing strategy ploy. I know cohiba say they do a third/triple fermentation in oak barrels at around 60%-65% RH and cooler temps than standard fermentation. Not sure on the duration but i've heard its 2 years? Apparently thats what gives their cigars/tobacco the richer more nuanced flavours. My experience tells me its just a marketing term for aging, Because aging also does exactly that at around those temp and humidity levels. Its just a con to hike prices like with the behike line. I've never smoked a behike and dont wanna badmouth them, but their statement of saying they put the extra special medio tiempo leaves that only grows on a fraction of plants is a con. To me its just a ligero leaf or what the rest of the world called the corona or top corona leaves.
Business tactics ....

To me, "leaves grow only on a fraction of plants" says that their field workers are extremely careless when topping tobacco plants

 

[Juxtaposer-]

It seems in the world of pipe tobacco that steaming is considered a fermentation process and so leaf that was kilned/fermented and then steamed gets to be called double fermented. This is popular with flue cured tobacco for a delicious Black Cavendish. It‘s unfortunate that ”cavendish” gets associated with goopy aromatics causing many to overlook the good stuff.

 

[WillQuantrill]

I also think it is a marketing strategy ploy. I know cohiba say they do a third/triple fermentation in oak barrels at around 60%-65% RH and cooler temps than standard fermentation. Not sure on the duration but i've heard its 2 years? Apparently thats what gives their cigars/tobacco the richer more nuanced flavours. My experience tells me its just a marketing term for aging, Because aging also does exactly that at around those temp and humidity levels. Its just a con to hike prices like with the behike line. I've never smoked a behike and dont wanna badmouth them, but their statement of saying they put the extra special medio tiempo leaves that only grows on a fraction of plants is a con. To me its just a ligero leaf or what the rest of the world called the corona or top corona leaves.
Business tactics ....

Ahh yes, medio tiempo that lives in the mystic realm. As elusive as the Sasquatch and "the little man in the boat". Haha. Whats more vague about it is priming levels start from bottom up. And I know there are farms that number each level as you go up the stock which can be only 2 to 4 leaves per level. At what number is it Medio Tiempo? Seems to me in order to classify it you would have to start from top down because its just 2 leaves. I realize there are no "set in stone" classes of primings but to class something a certain name just because thats what we call it so we can charge more has marketing fingerprints all over it. In my own grows I use 3 primings Seco, Viso, Ligero. Maybe 20% of the Seco is Volado but thats because usually first and some second tier I discard. But while blending its intuitive what position the leaf is i.e. the smallest Ligero leaves "could" be called Corona or Medio Tiempo.

 

[burge]

I am into an old bag of lemon. It's so much better this is from 2016. It's not a marketing ploy and good tobacco gets better with time and it doesn't go bad. I would call it more of a gimmicky term. But this lemon is fantastic. In that sense it's more than a marketing ploy.