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When we are talking about cigars, it is very important to know everything about the part that gives them their recognizable taste and attracts millions of smokers out there. Of course, we are talking about tobacco. As the main part of the evergreen tobacco cigar, it is guilty of its popularity and overall existence. Depending upon its origin and other different factors, tobacco can be categorized into many different types. Concretely, our target is going to be green tobacco, also known as Candela tobacco leaf.

When you use the word Tobacco, it refers to more than 70 different kinds of plants from the Nicotiana genus and Solanaceae family as well as products evergreen tobacco that are made from dried tobacco leaves, such as cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and hookah tobacco. Also, chemical components from tobacco can be used for the production of pesticides or medicines.

The most characteristic ingredient of tobacco is alkaloid nicotine.

The cultivation of evergreen tobacco is very similar to the cultivation of any other agricultural product. The seed is sown in cold frames or hotspots to prevent attacks of the insects and after that, it is transplanted into the fields. Tobacco is an annual plant that is harvested mechanically or manually. After harvesting, it is stored to dry for some time, either by hanging, grouping, or placing in large piles with tubular openings so that the heat can escape from the center. Drying allows slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids. This allows the tobacco to acquire abilities that are usually attributed to the “smoothness” of the smoke.  Afterward, the evergreen tobacco is packed depending on the type of use, which includes smoking, chewing, etc.

Most cigarettes are using tobacco that is dried in special facilities with controlled air circulation because it makes the smoke softer and easier for inhaling.

History of tobacco

The first use of tobacco dates back to 1400-1000 years BC in Mexico. The native tribes from there were traditionally cultivating and using tobacco over the years. It was smoked and used for both social and ceremonial purposes. For example, when trade or peace agreements were concluded, the smoking of tobacco was done to represent some kind of a seal to the agreements.

Moreover, in some cultures, tobacco was seen as a gift from God, and the smoke from it was linked to the prayers and thoughts of the person who was smoking it. The first time when tobacco has shown up in Europe was in 1559 when a man named Hernández de Boncalo brought the seeds of evergreen tobacco on the orders of King Philip II of Spain. These seeds were sown in the outskirts of Toledo, also known as “Los Cigarrales” named after the continuous plagues of cicadas (cigarras in Spanish).

The smoke was too harsh to be inhaled before the growth of the lighter Virginia and white burley strains of tobacco.

At one time, small amounts were smoked using a pipe such as the midwakh or kiseru, or newly invented waterpipes such as the bong or the hookah. Tobacco became so popular that it was used as a currency by the English colony of Jamestown and it started to be exported as a cash crop. Over the years, the production of evergreen tobacco became one of the major industries in European countries and their colonies. By the end of the 19th century, as cigarettes became more and more popular, a man named James Bonsack invented a machine for the automatic construction of cigarettes. This invention has allowed extraordinary growth in the tobacco industry that has lasted even today.

 Green Tobacco

Now that we have gone through the basics of tobacco and a little bit of its history, let’s get back to our main theme.

So, what is Green Tobacco? Well, it is tobacco painted in green. End of the story!

Of course, it is a joke. It is much more than that and we will need to describe it in much more than a single sentence. So, let’s start with it.

This wrapper got its name from the process of making the leaves green, unlike tobacco wrappers such as Connecticut Shade or Ecuador Habano, which got their names from where they are grown or unlike naming the tobacco by the origin of its seed. Its moderate, leafy, almost floral in taste, and a soft, grassy fragrance are most commonly associated with the green hue of this tobacco. In all respects, this wrapper is genuinely special. The drying process of high speed and high temperature causes chlorophyll to be trapped in the tobacco leaf, thus giving this tobacco its distinctive green color.

In fact, the occurrence of the first green tobacco was a result of an accident.

In the 1940s, some Cuban farmers were using heat to warm up their curing barns in order to balance excess humidity.

When it got too hot, the tobacco leaves inside would turn green. The Local farmers noticed it and started making cigars from these leaves. It turned out to be the right move because people liked those cigars. Although it takes more work, much less time is needed to make cigars from this process than making them with the browner, more tasteful wrapper.

Normally, the evergreen tobacco leaf is picked before it has fully matured. After that, the leaves are placed in curing barns and left to cure for some period. It is about 30 to 50 days. Sometimes, it is needed to light charcoal fires or use propane burners to heat the barn, because of the bad weather conditions. This will help remove excess humidity which can rot the leaves. The workers adjust the fire, and after some time of drying, tobacco will slowly start to lose its green color and turns brown. The result of it will be darkened leaf that is ready for fermenting. The temperature in the barns should never exceed 90 degrees of Fahrenheit.

For making of green cigars, the story is a little different.       

Firstly, the barn has to be properly prepared and every effort is made to keep the sun out. In the barn walls, wallpaper or cardboard are used to seal any gaps. The barn is filled with fresh tobacco and the vents are kept completely open on top and bottom, allowing the air to freely flow in. The propane heaters or charcoal fires are lighted up and the heat slowly rises, taking the moisture out of the leaves. This is done in order to get air flowing through the tobacco.

The leaves are heated very slowly, and within 3 hours, the temperature will rise to 100 degrees. After that, the tobacco is left to get wilted for about 40 to 48 hours. When this is over, it is time to raise the temperature up. At this point, the leaf is dry enough but it is not the case with the stem. The temperature is raised to even 175 degrees in order to blast the remaining moisture from the stem.

This process lasts for 24 hours and tobacco is left in barns to get extremely dried.

After 60 to 72 hours in total, the chlorophyll traps in the leaf, and the tobacco is done with heating. But the process is not over yet. The next move is to rehydrate the tobacco to safely treat it and take it from the barn. The doors are opened and the night’s dew is used for making the leaves moist again. Steamers are used if there is not enough moisture in the air. Afterward, the leaves from there are taken down, sorted, and graded. For storage and rolling, they get packed into crates. The advantage of fire curing like this is that it eliminates the need for fermentation and aging, allowing the tobacco to be prepared in much less time than it is usually needed.

Green Cigars

The green cigars or more precisely cigars with green wrappers, also known as Candela cigars, as we already said originated in Cuba in the 1940s. They were an alternative to fuller-bodied cigars that were produced at that time. Later, there was a high demand for milder taste cigars in the U.S. The Candela cigars seemed like the perfect answer for it; well they were until they run out of green tobacco.

So, as the demand for Candela cigars was huge, they decided to freeze light-colored tobacco to keep it green instead of curing it properly. After that, curing with fire would turn it into a more green variant. In fact, the popularity of these cigars was so high that they were preferred by 90 percent of the smokers. When the other cigars producers saw how big is the influence of these cigars, they immediately started to produce them.

After the embargo on Cuba, which was imposed by the U.S in 1962, the popularity of these cigars has fallen down. Simply without sweet Cuban tobacco, candela cigars wouldn’t be the same. Although there were some efforts to make them with Dominican tobacco. The taste of cigars was sour and it just couldn’t replace the good old candela taste. So it remained just as we said, a try. As a result of that, over the years, Candela cigars fell into oblivion. Today, only a small amount of cigar lovers are smoking these cigars and keeping them from being forgotten. But besides that, their quality and taste should not be underestimated. In fact, candela wrapper is considered the mildest wrapper of all cigars, and it gives a grassy, sweet flavor.

The taste is more from the leaf than the soil and it is not strong at all.

Only a few candela cigars today are a bit stronger than normal ones. But it is nothing compared to some of the really strong-taste cigars. One of the examples of those candela cigars is Arturo Fuente Claro. Its wrapper is very green and it is filled with Dominican tobacco . Which is giving the aroma of the green tea and a sweet taste like butter. With all of its positive sides, the candela cigar is really a great cigar. But there is also a negative side to it. It is green tobacco sickness. Although there is a small chance to get it just from smoking a candela cigar, there is still a chance and we are going to tell you an interesting story about it.

A famous cigar maker Ernesto Perez-Carrillo got sick from his first experience with candela cigar. His father was producing them and they were really popular back in the 1950s.  Here is his story:

“I was about 18, and at that time, I was playing the drums and I had a Mustang. So, I got into my Mustang and lit a candela. He was smoking the whole time while he was driving, keeping the windows up. “I really wanted to get the aroma of the tobacco,” he said. All the way to the show, he smoked a cigar, and he started playing on stage. He made it almost an hour before realizing that he is sick.

So, in general, candela cigars are an interesting choice. They are very rare today, and if you are interested in trying special cigars, you should definitely start with them.