Our Process

A cigar is only as good as the tobacco that goes into the blend. That’s why we use only the finest hand-picked tobacco from Kentucky and Tennessee. Characteristics of the leaf include thick body, oil, stretch and good absorption capacity. And to achieve the perfect blend, we age tobacco for at least 2 years and we use tobacco from at least three different crop years.

When Avanti crops are harvested, the tobacco leaves are hung to dry inside special barns. During this critical period, the leaves are smoked using select Hickory and Oak logs, a process known as fire curing. The leaves go through a fermentation process to develop their full, hearty and robust flavors. This curing removes 85% of the moisture, allowing the leaves to burn evenly when lit.

During fermentation, tobacco bales are left under the pressure of its own weight at specific temperatures that increase as the transformation starts. We’ve been running this process since the beginning, and the specific temperature and humidity parameters we set and carefully control along the process are the result of over 100 years experience. At the end of this slow transformation, the tobacco results enhanced in its organoleptic qualities and has released its natural sugars- for a “sweeter” and more balanced flavor.

At our plant, special rolling machines combine the wrapper and fill tobacco to form the cigar. We use two types of tobacco: a master blend that is used to “fill” the cigar, and special leaves used as wrappers. No binder is required because the wrapper encases the cut master tobacco twice. Each end is then hand-clipped. The wet cigars are carefully placed into long wooden trays inside drying rooms.

The aging process takes four to five weeks. The first week of aging allows the filler and wrapper to marry and combine through a multitude of micro- fermentations. After the first week of marrying, micro-fermentations continue and the “real” aging process will begin. The aging process allows the cigars to naturally evolve, perfecting the balanced and harmonic taste.

After the cigars are rolled, they are inspected. The perfect ones rest in our drying rooms for six weeks so the flavors of the tobacco are permanently retained. As they dry, the cigars take a slight curve. Then, they are packaged by hand for your enjoyment.