Tobacco Growing and Cigar Producing Regions in Central America

One of the premiere tobacco growing regions in the world is Cuba. Cuban cigars are still considered as some of the finest in the world despite the decades of deterioration caused by Fidel Castro’s regime.

Located in the Pinar del Rio area in Western Cuba, the Vuelta Abajo retains a high rank in the tobacco industry because of its natural conditions and skilled tobacconists. The factories which attract the best labor needed for the production of the country’s outstanding exports are those which are located in Havana.

The import of the great Habanos into the US has been illegal since 1962 but Americans still continue to find ways just to enjoy that Cuban tobacco. Cuban cigars are full-bodied, spicy, and robust cigars that produces a very strong smoke.

After 1959, a lot of Cubans left the country to settle and to continue their tobacco cigar business elsewhere. They passed on their knowledge to their sons and grandsons so that the tradition of producing fine tobacco and quality cigars will be continued by the later generations. Most Cuban tobacco growers and cigar makers have expanded their businesses to Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, and other Central America and the Caribbean countries.

Ecuador now has an entire line of tobacco products which are used to make fillers and wrappers. The tobacco growers in Ecuador use both sun-grown and shade-grown techniques to produce a wide range of flavor profiles. In Ecuador, some of the seeds used for the growing of tobacco are from Cuba or Sumatra. They also use Connecticut seeds from the Connecticut River Valley.

Another country that uses Connecticut seeds is Honduras. Hondurans produce shade-grown wrapper leaf and grow Cuban-seed tobaccos. The tobacco industry there still continues to fight back despite the troubles caused by the blue mold infestations in the area.

Along with the neighboring Nicaraguans, the Hondurans suffer from the odds experienced from the effects of a 10-year long Civil War. It had a significant effect on the entire tobacco industry in both countries but it didn’t stop the people to produce strong and spicy tobaccos that are very reminiscent of the native Cuban products.

Next to Cuba, the Central American country that is home to some of the finest cigars is probably the Dominican Republic. They base their products largely on Cuban seed ancestors and they grow tobaccos in the northern part of the country. The complex and full-flavored cigars of the Dominican Republic resulted from the country’s favorable climate and the grower’s impressive skills.

The Central America and Caribbean region is still considered to be the best in the world when it comes to growing tobaccos and producing cigars. It is very fortunate that the production of quality cigars doesn’t require modern machinery and infrastructure.