Without further adieu, let’s get right into it shall we?

Day 3

After a very restful evening (the staff gave us all extra pillows cause we are special) and a wonderful breakfast (seriously, you will gain about 20 lbs. on this trip) we were back at it. This time, we were spending the day with the Drew Estate team touring their facilities and learning their processes.

We started out by visiting one of Drew Estate’s tobacco bodegas. One of many. In fact, Saka actually told us they have about 7 spread out through Esteli. He also went on to explain that land in Esteli is getting more expensive and harder to come by. They would love to consolidate and expand, but it’s tough due to cost and location. Drew Estate is about to take their bodegas from 7 down to about 2. I’ll touch more on that later though.

The bodega was a simple, crude building filled with millions of dollars in tobacco. Not joking, millions. As I talked about in the previous post, tobacco is stored here in pilons for a number of years while the tobacco ferments. As the tobacco generates heat it is then broken down and rotated. This process happens over and over and over until the tobacco reaches a storing point where it is no longer fermenting and can go on to be used in cigars or stored for future use. Here is an example of the detail in the process. The following picture illustrates a number of pilons, their daily temperature reads, and when the pilon had been rotated.

We headed to a facility next door where there was a number of women sorting tobacco leaves which was ready to go on to other processes. One note is that you see mostly women doing the sorting as well as the rolling while men handle the bunching. This is due to the idea that women tend to have a gentler, more matriculate composure making it easier for them to be more accurate. Again, tobacco here was sorted by type, weight, size and texture.

After that we were brought to the newest addition to the Drew Estate family. Basically it’s a massive, MASSIVE, project under development. Once done (later this year) the facility located directly across from the Drew Estate factory will house 6 out of 7 of the previous tobacco bodegas. Big right? My first thought was “Yay more room! That means, more production!”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Saka went on to explain that even with the addition of this facility, since they would be combining bodegas, it really wasn’t going to be adding more room or space for production. In fact, Saka went on to tell us that they are pretty much maxed out as far as production and storage goes at the moment. That’s great for the company. Basically every single brand that they have right now is growing in profit each year. Even brands as small as Ambrosia are turning profit. Keep it up guys.

After a quick stop at the new facility we headed to the Drew Estate factory. This factory too has changed quite a bit since the last time we visited. An outdoor cafeteria area that I remember walking through last year now houses a rolling room where eager rollers master their craft before hitting the production floor. The cafeteria has since been moved to the new facility across the street.

We didn’t spend too much time at the factory as the guys knew we had all already seen it so we took a quick tour and went straight into blending. We hit the factory floor to observe bunching and rolling, then took a stroll through their tobacco storage and sorting operations. It’s worth mentioning that even now Drew Estate houses the largest production floor that I have ever been on. Not only that, but the employees are encouraged to enjoy a smoke, rock out to music, laugh and talk. You don’t see that too often.

Before stopping at the blending room we took a quick stop at the new rolling room and tried our hands at the process. Needless to say, mine were terrible. These chubby, stubby fingers just do not understand how to roll a cigar. It was fun though and I think the rollers had a good time laughing at our expense. We also got a quick lesson on the difference between standard bunching/rolling and the entubado technique (rolling each leaf into small tubes while bunching) which Willy is famous for.

The blending session was great. Drew Estate hooked it up with new, awesomely designed tobacco menus which give detailed descriptions of each of the tobaccos we could use. The room also contains huge bins with each different leaf sorted so that you can smell, burn, and some each different leaf before you make your decisions.

From there, it was a quick stop over to see Jessie Flores the Heart and soul of Subculture Studios and pretty much all of Drew Estate’s look and feel. This man and his team are responsible for the marketing, merchandise, and design that you see coming out of the factory. Jessie showed us boxes they were screen printing (that’s right! They screen print some of their own boxes), shirts they were pressing, stickers and magnets they were creating. It’s basically and artist’s dream workshop. A lot of the Subculture Studio was actually blocked off as they were working on this year’s booth set up for IPCPR and if you have ever seen one of their booth’s you will know just how crazy those get.

 That evening we spent some time together in the lounge with Steve Saka, Jonathan Drew, and Jose Blanco. It’s always a bit sad to know that you are going home the next day and that it will be a long while before you see everyone again. We shared stories and heard many more before receiving out personal blends and saying our goodbyes. We headed out early the next morning.

If you have not ever been on a Cigar Safari tour I cannot stress how amazing it is. The culture, the land, the views, and the knowledge you take in is incredible. Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua are generous hosts and my deepest thanks goes out to them and their crew for inviting us to come along on yet another adventure.

Dates for the 2014 Cigar Safari Tours will be released soon. You can keep up with the tour as well as book your own here: www.cigarsafari.com

Again, the following gallery may be a bit cumbersome. You can view the entire photo set over at our facebook by clicking this link (no need for an account).

[nggallery id=3]

The post Drew Estate Cigar Safari 2013 – Day 3 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

I am going to do something slightly different this time around. Instead of splitting it up between 3 separate posts I am going to try to generalize the trip and pack it all into two different posts, combining a few of the days. I hope you guys are ready to read!

This trip included:

Me
Dan Reeve from Cigar Press
Jay L. from Cigar Photo
Ben Lee from Stogie Review
Brian Hewitt from Stogie Review
Stace Berkland from Leaf and Grape
William Cooper from Cigar Coop
Craig Vanderslice from Cigar Craig
Stephen Ross from Tobacconist Magazine
And Johnny Brooke’s little brother, the Vet.

Day 1:

The first day was travel day. Since I was flying in a bit further than the other guys I had stayed in Houston the night prior. I met up with Ben Lee at the airport. We shared a romantic breakfast before our 4 hour flight to Managua. We were scheduled to get in before the rest of the guys flying in from Miami, but we were delayed and they were all already there along with Pedro, our Drew Estate tour guide, waiting. Within minutes from landing in Nicaragua we were packed into the bus, handed Liga Privadas and on our way!

We had lunch at this incredible outdoor restaurant. Steak, potatoes, plantains, veggies, salad, and lots of Tona (Nicaraguan beer). We were met there by Jose Blanco of Joya de Nicaragua, Dr. Alejando Cuenca from Joya de Nicaragua, Steve Saka from Drew Estate, Willy Herrera from Drew Estate, Johnny Brooke from Drew Estate, and Jessie Flores from Subculture studios. The food was excellent and the conversation and company were even better. After a long lunch we were off to Esteli.

Esteli is about 2 – 2.5 hours north of Managua. The bus ride is interesting as it gives you plenty of time to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of Nicaragua. Rain season is just around the corner so many of the roads had small fires going just off to the side of them. Most of these fires were created to burn trash and debris before the moisture moved in. The Nicaraguan roads were also covered in kids playing soccer, locals selling fruits, and tons of stray cattle and dogs.

Upon our arrival to the Drew Estate factory we were sent off to settle into our rooms ( I shared mine with Jay ) before eating a nice, hearty dinner and a relaxing evening at the Drew Estate poolside lounge. Steve Saka, Jose Blanco, and Pedro joined us. We also had the pleasure of participating in a rum tasting showcasing each different blend of the Nicaragua created “Flor de Cana” rum. I’m not much of a rum guy but I really enjoyed getting to try each blend. The 12 year had to be my favorite. After a nice relaxing evening we all went to bed early as we knew how big of a day we had a head of us tomorrow.

The following photo gallery may be a bit cumbersome. You can view the entire set over on our facebook (I don’t think you need an account to see them). 

[nggallery id=1]

Day 2:

Anyone who has been on this trips knows how important it is to get a good night rest, which I still feel bad for. Seems like I kept Jay up with my snoring the night prior, but we all woke early and after having a nice breakfast, headed out to Oliva Tobacco Company’s farm, “Finca la Joya” or The Jewel Farm. Last year we didn’t get to see much of the farms so we were all pretty excited. Oliva Tobacco Company is not to be confused with Oliva Family Cigars. Oliva Tobacco Company is actually one of the largest tobacco growers in the world alongside ASP and the Plasencia Family.

We spent the first leg of the tour checking out their curing barns. Basically when tobacco is pulled from the plant it gets transported to these huge barns where they are then sorted by texture and size before being hung in twos across large rods. Workers then take these rods and hang them from the ceiling down to about 3 – 4 feet from the ground (Note: They will never touch the ground during this process). The tobacco stays in these barns for a number days while the tobacco begins to cure and dry out. We actually got to see a barn that contained tobacco that was above the humidity desired for the curing process. In this barn there was small pits dug into the floor which contained large amounts of burning charcoal which is used to draw the humidity out of the leaves.

After the curing process the tobacco is packed up and sold off to various companies or stored to carry forth through other various processes. One interesting fact I picked up while we were at the field was that during the tobacco off-season the farm actually plants red beans in place of the tobacco. These plants release nutrients into the soil which then carry over to the next batch of tobacco the following season.

From the farm we headed to Oliva Tobacco Company’s sorting and fermenting facility. This place is HUGE. After months (and sometimes years) of storage, tobacco is taken here where it is fermented, sorted, and then sold off or stored.

Once the tobacco comes in the door it is sorted yet again by size, type, and texture. They are then bunched into “hands” of tobacco (containing around 10 leaves) and then stacked into massive stacks called “pilons”. Pilons are about 3 feet wide and about 4 feet tall weighing around 5000 lbs. each. Inside the pilons the tobacco with start to generate heat causing the tobacco to ferment. The fermentation process is a tedious one. The pilons are monitored for temperature daily and once the tobacco reaches a certain temperature (different depending on tobacco type and desired outcome) the pilon is then broken down and resorted, and rebuilt disbursing the heat to other leaves in the stack. This process happens many, many times.  It’s insane how hot the tobacco gets while it’s fermenting. In some cases well over 100 degrees. This process is actually known to spontaneously combust creating large fires if it isn’t handled properly.

Once the tobacco is ready it’s then sorted yet again, packaged up, and ready to sell or store before being rolled into the cigars that we all love. After a break for lunch we headed back out on the town. This time, visiting our friend over at the Joya de Nicaragua factory. You may remember this visit from last trip, but the factory was so different this time around. Joya de Nicaragua is in the midst of a huge change and it was insane seeing just how much they had changes over the last year.

First of all, if you look at the photos from last year you can see that the front of the factory was a bright yellow. This year we were greeted with a beautiful red brick. During a presentation at the factory we learned that the yellow paint was actually carefully chiseled off to showcase the original brick underneath. Not only was it pretty, but it held significance as well. Once you get closer to the brick you can actually see that much of it showcases burn marks and bullet holes. During Nicaraguan revolution Joya de Nicaragua was actually burned down as it was in the center of all the commotion. Since then the factory was completely rebuilt from the inside out.

Letting the true colors show is only one step to the regeneration process. The company recently picked up the master blender Jose Blanco and Joya de Nicaragua has also changed hands and is now in the hands of Dr. Cuenca’s son, Juan Martinez. Juan’s professionalism and young blood is being strung through the factory, the marketing, and pretty much every factor of the company. We got to spend some time with Juan and his marketing team and I can personally say that I love the direction this company is heading. Keep your eye on them.

The Joya de Nicaragua factory tour was conducted once again by Jose Bland and Mario Perez, the head of production at the factory. As stated earlier, the tour started out with a presentation by the staff that demonstrated Joya de Nicaragua’s roots and where the company is headed. We also got to take a sneak peek at a room we didn’t see on our last tour. This room was filled with every blend, exclusive, and historical release that Joya de Nicaragua has gotten then hands on including a box of Joya de Nicaragua from 1970.

We then took a look at the production floor. Why the floor looked similar to the way it did last trip, with the exception of new paint and touch-ups as well as a raised roof with lots of new natural light being brought into the building. After the production floor we quickly toured the sorting facility which is combined with their packaging department.

After the tour we were brought to an outside facility for one of Jose Blanco’s world famous blending seminars. Jose had us smoke multiple “puro” cigars (cigars made with only 1 tobacco type) while sharing out thoughts on the blend, burn, body, strength, and even guessing the ago, tobacco type, and country of origin. Needless to say, I bombed that. No matter how much we think we know about cigars, it’s always humbling to be part of these seminars. We finished the Joya de Nicaragua factory tour off with a “Nicaraguan shot” which was basically a shot of Nicaraguan rum chased with mango dipped into spicy chili and salt. The rum was good, but I went a bit crazy with the salt. It’s all I could taste for a few hours.

We headed back for dinner at the Drew Estate Factory and was greeted by the presence of Jonathan Drew. We were also surprised with a full pork roast (apple in the mouth and everything) and live Mariachi’s. We had a few drinks by the pool before calling it a night. We had another early morning ahead of us.

The following photo gallery may be a bit cumbersome. You can view the entire set over on our facebook (I don’t think you need an account to see them). 

[nggallery id=2]

The post Drew Estate Cigar Safari 2013 – Days 1 – 2 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.