Growing cigar leaf in central Italy: @UmbriaFarmer

[UmbriaFarmer]

Hi there
I'm an old guy who's lived in central Italy for 25 or so years. I have 5 hectares of sunny, south facing land which includes a vineyard I planted myself with 1100 pinot nero vines. I've grown and cured leaf for pipe tobacco but this year decided to produce some cigar leaf partly because my usual Cuban cigars are now priced out of my reach but also because the quality of them has gone downhill so far they are just a complete waste of money these days.
Sooo...I planted 96 criollo plants this spring, 86 in full sun, 10 under shade cloth. The cultivation was successful and all but the very last priming of ligero are now curing in my very airy barn. I think the conditions are very good as the temp/rh variation goes from about 22°c/75% at 3am to 36°c/25% at 3pm and there is plenty of natural airflow through the barn. Currently I have the first 5 priming curing, about 1500 leaves, all in various stages of cure, but now I need to get ready for fermentation.
After much deliberation I've decided to ferment my leaf in various sizes of stainless steel barrels in hands of 25. I can control the temp and humidity fairly easily, I have almost unlimited free solar electricity and this method saves me the work of building a walk in fermentation chamber and also allows me to ferment the different primings at different temps, rh and duration.
And this is where I need the help of the many in this group who are far more knowledgeable than me...
The leaf ranges from ultra thin shade grown wrapper to (surprisingly big) very gnarly ligero and I believe very need substantially different fermentation protocols. Is anybody able to tell me optimum temps/rh levels/fermentation duration for these different priming?
If it has any bearing on the processing, I like strong, full bodied cigars, so that's the type of finished leaf I'd like to end up with.
This year is just me dipping my toe in the water, next year I plan on growing maybe 4 different Cuban varieties to create more complex cigars.
I'd really appreciate and help you can give me as obviously I don't want to fuck this up, having got this far!

 

[deluxestogie]

I disagree with most cigar marketeers, and the cigar "expert" commentators. My impression, over the years, is that the temperature and humidity of kilning leaf (that is already fully color-cured) is not dependent on tobacco variety or priming level (or on shade-grown or sun-grown). I don't know if seco kilning (fermentation) runs faster than ligero kilning, but I do know that kilning a leaf for a longer duration than it requires does not damage it. And all leaf needs to rest for at least a few weeks after kilning. Some harsher varieties need to rest for a few years.

Regardless of kilning, tobacco continues to naturally ferment (age) for maybe 10 years, slowly eliminating the last of its albuminous proteins, and losing some volatile terpenes. Natural aging is facilitated by the intrinsic oxidase enzymes within the leaf lamina. "Strength" and harshness are directly determined by the tobacco variety, the leaf priming level, and the seasonal variations in growing conditions.

So, my standard recommendation is to kiln at 123°F to 128°F (relative humidity greater than 70%) for 6 to 8 weeks. Then allow the leaf to rest.

Bob

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

I disagree with most cigar marketeers, and the cigar "expert" commentators. My impression, over the years, is that the temperature and humidity of kilning leaf (that is already fully color-cured) is not dependent on tobacco variety or priming level (or on shade-grown or sun-grown). I don't know if seco kilning (fermentation) runs faster than ligero kilning, but I do know that kilning a leaf for a longer duration than it requires does not damage it. And all leaf needs to rest for at least a few weeks after kilning. Some harsher varieties need to rest for a few years.

Regardless of kilning, tobacco continues to naturally ferment (age) for maybe 10 years, slowly eliminating the last of its albuminous proteins, and losing some volatile terpenes. Natural aging is facilitated by the intrinsic oxidase enzymes within the leaf lamina. "Strength" and harshness are directly determined by the tobacco variety, the leaf priming level, and the seasonal variations in growing conditions.

So, my standard recommendation is to kiln at 123°F to 128°F (relative humidity greater than 70%) for 6 to 8 weeks. Then allow the leaf to rest.

Bob

Well jeez, that's such a nice, simple to follow regime. Thanks so much. Very easy for me to achieve especially as it means I can do all the priming together or worst case in two separate s/steel cans as I will be processing about 70 hands and have one 50 and one 100 litre can. Presumably I will need to unpack, air out and if necessary recase every couple of days?

 

[deluxestogie]

I have never packed leaf into a can, so I can't answer that question.

Bob

 

[Wombat_smokes]

Make sure to read up on kilns and curing processes in the Key Forums thread.

Also, making your own pilones (esp. in a container of any sort) will risk molding if not maintained at the prescribed temperature (125°F/50°C with 3°F variance Bob mentioned). You will need to rotate the leaves regularly to "air out" and inspect for mold.

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Make sure to read up on kilns and curing processes in the Key Forums thread.

Also, making your own pilones (esp. in a container of any sort) will risk molding if not maintained at the prescribed temperature (125°F/50°C with 3°F variance Bob mentioned). You will need to rotate the leaves regularly to "air out" and inspect for mold.

Indeed, I had come to believe from what I'd read (I've been doing as much research as possible) that I should be reasonable safe from mold as long as I maintain 50°C, as I believe it's pretty hard for mold to survive at that temp. Yes, I shall be airing out and repacking frequently.

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

I disagree with most cigar marketeers, and the cigar "expert" commentators. My impression, over the years, is that the temperature and humidity of kilning leaf (that is already fully color-cured) is not dependent on tobacco variety or priming level (or on shade-grown or sun-grown). I don't know if seco kilning (fermentation) runs faster than ligero kilning, but I do know that kilning a leaf for a longer duration than it requires does not damage it. And all leaf needs to rest for at least a few weeks after kilning. Some harsher varieties need to rest for a few years.

Regardless of kilning, tobacco continues to naturally ferment (age) for maybe 10 years, slowly eliminating the last of its albuminous proteins, and losing some volatile terpenes. Natural aging is facilitated by the intrinsic oxidase enzymes within the leaf lamina. "Strength" and harshness are directly determined by the tobacco variety, the leaf priming level, and the seasonal variations in growing conditions.

So, my standard recommendation is to kiln at 123°F to 128°F (relative humidity greater than 70%) for 6 to 8 weeks. Then allow the leaf to rest.

Bob

I wanted to ask you too, what are the right conditions for resting after fermentation, level of case, aerobic versus anaerobic etc. And in physical terms, imagine you are dealing with 70 hands? Would you undo the hands, frogleg the filler leaf and pack it flat, for example? Store it in burlap or vacuum bags?

 

[deluxestogie]

what are the right conditions

I usually do not tie tobacco into hands, except for show. And I usually kiln leaf as either hanging strings of leaf within the kiln, or within open plastic bags inside the kiln. As far as storage conditions afterwards, I either leave or place them into large bags, then store the bags in whatever ambient conditions exist within a spare bedroom of my house, which is not air-conditioned, but is heated in winter. If the leaf is in low case, then I close the bag. If it is in a higher case, then I leave the bag open until it dries down a bit.

Summary: I don't pay much attention to the conditions for aging. It just gets older as it sits in the same temps and humidity that I sit in (—and I too get older). In the primitive days before the advent of electricity, those poor folks didn't even have digital controllers! And yet they managed to produce excellent tobacco.

Bob

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

I usually do not tie tobacco into hands, except for show. And I usually kiln leaf as either hanging strings of leaf within the kiln, or within open plastic bags inside the kiln. As far as storage conditions afterwards, I either leave or place them into large bags, then store the bags in whatever ambient conditions exist within a spare bedroom of my house, which is not air-conditioned, but is heated in winter. If the leaf is in low case, then I close the bag. If it is in a higher case, then I leave the bag open until it dries down a bit.

Summary: I don't pay much attention to the conditions for aging. It just gets older as it sits in the same temps and humidity that I sit in (—and I too get older). In the primitive days before the advent of electricity, those poor folks didn't even have digital controllers! And yet they managed to produce excellent tobacco.

Bob

And in the trade, at what point in all this process does froglegging take place, do you know? Presumably at some point post-fermentation? Because I'm thinking the leaf would store much more nicely with the midriff removed, much flatter.

 

[deluxestogie]

I just store the intact leaves. Large leaf varieties are just randomly piled into a big bag. With small, Oriental leaves, I bring them into low case, flatten and stack them, then bag them. I frog-leg filler leaves only when I'm about to roll them into a cigar.

Some forum members frog-leg leaf for storage. I do not.

Bob

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

I just store the intact leaves. Large leaf varieties are just randomly piled into a big bag. With small, Oriental leaves, I bring them into low case, flatten and stack them, then bag them. I frog-leg filler leaves only when I'm about to roll them into a cigar.

Some forum members frog-leg leaf for storage. I do not.

Bob

Out of interest, are you in the Cigar Rollers group on fb? Maybe we know each other!

 

[deluxestogie]

FTT is my only group.

Bob