Davidoff’s Schneider farm in Villa Gonzalez is named after company founder Dr. Ernst Schneider
As the morning haze began to lift, the sky over Villa Gonzales became a decisive shade of blue putting each leaf of tobacco on the Schneider farm into sharper focus. Scenes like this are common at the ProCigar Festival in the Dominican Republic, and on the first day, I visited the verdant fields and efficient facilities of Davidoff of Geneva. The tour was hosted by Hamlet Espinal, vice president and head of global production. His knowledge of Davidoff’s tobacco and premium cigar operation is vast, and this is not surprising. Espinal has been with the company for nearly 30 years, and the weight of Davidoff’s entire Dominican enterprise falls squarely on his shoulders.
The tour began at the 25-acre Schneider farm, with its perfect PH level and black, sandy soil. Here, Davidoff cultivates a hybrid-seed tobacco used for special editions like the Year of the Horse. Named after the company founder, Dr. Ernst Schneider, Davidoff considers this particular field a “mother farm” because it produces leaf with all the organoleptic characteristics deemed necessary for the brand. About 16 miles away in Jicomé, the processing facilities were the second part of the tour. Seeing the many macro and micro steps involved in the sorting, fermentation and aging process reinforce Davidoff’s commitment to quality.
Hamlet Espinal, vice president and head of global production for Davidoff, leads the tour. He’s been with the company for nearly 30 years.
This tobacco on the Schneider Farm is 70 days old but still has another 20 days left before harvest. Each plant can produce 16 to 18 leaves.
Espinal explains the process of creating new seed hybrids and varietals. He’s joined by chief agronomist Carlos Alcantara.
A field agronomist cross-pollinates tobacco flowers. This is vital for new seed development.
It’s an interactive tour. Members are given the chance to try their hand at planting a seedling.
In the tobacco barn, harvested leaves begin their transformation process. After 45 days each leaf loses about 80 percent of its water and the tobacco’s flavor and aroma take shape. This is the microbial genesis that turns tobacco from vegetal matter to magic.
Fermentation is a key step for fine tobacco. Once the pilón of wrapper leaf is fully stacked, it can spend up to a year fermenting, naturally creating heat and pressure under its own weight. This step helps to displace unfavorable characteristics such as bitterness and acidity for desirable elements like sweetness. The tobacco is periodically rotated once a certain temperature is reached.
A leaf sorter with a keen eye separates fermented tobacco leaves by size and color before they’re wrapped in bales for aging.
Tobacco is pressed into a block and wrapped in burlap covering for its long sleep. A factory worker sews up the seams and will send the bale off to a storage area for aging.
These bales of tobacco have been aging for anywhere from five to 10 years, some even longer. The aging period rounds out the tobacco’s flavor and is another key element in the transformation process.
It all comes down to the final product. These cigars were handed out during the tour and are the refined result of many labor-intensive steps.
