On the Farm with Nick Perdomo

Trip To Tabacalera Perdomo – Part Two of a Three Part Series by Mr. Jonathan

Last week, Mr. Jonathan and David Garofalo were guests of Nick Perdomo in Nicaragua at this factory. This is the second installment of a three-part series on the trip as submitted by Mr. Jonathan.

Arriving At Tabacalera Perdomo:
Day one of our tour introduced us to Nicks second in command at Tobacalera Perdomo, Silvio. Silvio walked us through many of the 3054 steps that it takes to make every one of their cigars. As well as a quick history lesson on the tobacco plant itself. One point I found interesting is that tobacco’s roots are traced back to Mexico and not Cuba like I once thought. Also, because of its three main growing regions, Jalapa, Condega, and Esteli, Nicaragua has developed many of the new (past 60 years) seed varieties. Each variety grows best under certain soil conditions found in each of these regions. The seed variety allows the plant to grow under certain conditions. Shorter plants grow best in windy areas such as areas that have less drainage need plants that naturally resist mold and locations with natural barriers against the wind that have a lot of sun can have plants that grow taller. The seed has very little to do with how the tobacco tastes and everything to do with how it performs under certain weather conditions.

Jalapa resides at an elevation of 500 feet lower than Esteli… between the strong sun light and sandy soil, which has good drainage, this region grows great wrapper and the tobacco cultivated there has a natural sweetness. In contrast Condega has a good cloud cover with ultra fertile soil. The combination produces a solid middle grade tobacco that acts as a good accent when blending. The crown jewel of the Nicaraguan trifecta is Esteli. The very fertile top soil can be up to 100 feet deep and combined with the strong sunlight produces strong, thick, and leathery tobacco that Perdomo likes to use for his sun grown and maduro wrappers.

Many factory tours focus their energy mostly on the rolling which is what I expected going into this trip. Silvio spent just over one hour educating us on the seeds alone. The company believes that if you put garbage in, you get garbage out so they eliminate 99.9% of the garbage and start with only the perfect seeds. He showed us a machine, which Nick invented, that eliminates organic matter, seed particles, and seeds with any imperfections. The goal being to end up with 3 million plus tobacco seeds that resemble miniature marbles. The seeds are then sent off site to a lab to be analyzed to make sure that the seeds he puts in the ground are truly as perfect as possible. Perdomo believes that clean seeds have a higher likelihood of germination than seeds that are competing against other seeds, debris, pollen, or mold spores. His planting department aims to germinate 96% of its planted seeds and at first you may think that 93% looks like they missed the mark but the industry standard is 3 out of 4 or 75%. With that we are a little over one hour in and we have good clean seeds the size of a poppy so the next logical step is to plant them right? Not according to Silvio!

Once you have clean seeds you need to consider which growing region they are to be planted in. Nick and Silvio take turns at this point in explaining how little the seed strain itself plays into how the tobacco tastes. Since the flavor of each tobacco in a blend is predominantly dictated by the soil you must start with soil that is replete with all the macro and micro nutrients to grow rich, healthy, and large leaves. Just like all the detail paid attention to in the cleansing of the seeds Tabacalera Perdomo looks at every inch of every field by taking samples out of the soil and by using inferred satellite imaging which can identify mineral hot spots or deficiencies down to blocks of only ten inches. In fact, In just one field he has as many as 68 different soil classifications.

While every field is being tested, prepped, and ph balanced another department is planting seeds. Much like his seed separator Nick invented his way out of a problem. Tobacco seeds are very small and as a result are extremely difficult to handle. Using a combination of suction and  vibration, followed by a high-powered burst of air the Perdomo team can isolate, hold, and shoot 96 single seeds, 1 centimeter into the starter soil. Starter soil is comprised of worm castings, rice husks from a near by farm, and a nutrient rich proprietary soil blend made specifically for Perdomo starter soil. At the 45 days mark the germinated plants are ready to be transplanted via man and machine into the already prepped soil.

Everything from the starter soil right up until to first priming (picking of the first row of leaves) is all about driving the root system of this plant as deep into the soil as possible and avoiding the naturally occurring pests that afflict tobacco. Nick and his team do not wait for problems to occur they try to stay ahead of the curve in every way from using Prime Plus (a solution to petrify the sucker leaves that grow after a priming is removed) instead of picking sucker leaves to developing a tractor in a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz of Germany, that ways 30lbs less than an ox so the soil doesn’t get compacted. Of all the tobacco plants in Nicaragua, Perdomo plants are the least stressed and produce the largest yields. While Nick and his team are not afraid to put in the time and do the work, they also continue to innovate so that efficiency is at a maximum.

Our final stop on day 1 is a visit paid to Aristides Garcia, the 20 cigar a day 86-year-old man (who still has sex every day) in charge of all things fermentation and is responsible for a 62 month supply of Perdomo tobacco. If I had one take away from my time with Aristides, who has over 70 years of experience working with tobacco, it is that life is short and its vital that we do it right the first time. Although tobaccos take many fermentation cycles, how they are treated during this time is very important. Pilons do not reach internal temperatures of more than 103 degrees and are checked using laser thermometers. The room is held at the proper humidity with the help of a computer controlled micro burst fogging system. While many factories add heat to the fermentation process, Nick treats his tobacco like the Texans treat their BBQ…Slow and low. Over the course of the 60-120 day process the starches are broken down and the flavors are enhanced producing full-bodied and full flavored tobaccos that also have a good portion of sweetness.

Tomorrow: Our second day at Tabacalera Perdomo
Yesterday: Part 1 of our 3-Part Series

Aristides Garcia

Aristides Garcia

More Tobacco Curing

More Tobacco Curing

Inside The Curing Barn

Inside The Curing Barn

Perdomo Green House

Perdomo Green House

On the Farm with Nick Perdomo

On the Farm with Nick Perdomo

Tobacco Pilons

Tobacco Pilons

Seed Plater

Seed Plater

Tobacco Seeds

Tobacco Seeds

Seed Separator

Seed Separator

Specialty Planter

Specialty Planter

Sorting by Size, Thickness and Texture

Sorting by Size, Thickness and Texture

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