Originally Posted by
interview with Steve Saka , OLH
Steve Saka of Drew Estates on why the LP9 smokes so profusely while lit and resting. I asked this question in another forum and he answered. It's interesting...
Saka: I been meaning to answer this, even tried to but my computer locked up and I had to get a plane...
Q: Why do Liga Privadas and Undercrowns create so much smoke and stay burning?
There are more than a few things at play that result in why these cigars burn as they do.
1: Oil in the wrappers - in the case of all current LPs we utilize the thickest, most oily wrapper possible. We actually harvest and cure with the intent of the leaf being uber-oily which results in the tremendous production delays due to fermentation time required. Even our Otopan capa on the Undercrown is very thick when compared to other SAN leaves due to its intentional late harvest, longer cure and ferment times.
2: During fermentation in the pilon we introduce even more oils as a result of using a mojo to wet the leaves from water that has been steeped in tobacco stems. For our traditional cigars we ONLY utilize black tobacco and water.
3. Very well aged fillers are all we use in the LP blends.
4. We are very careful when blending to create not only recipes that taste good and smell delish, but to utilize materials that work well together. Combustion in our opinion is a cornerstone of achieving consistent flavor, so while wrapper x with binder y and filler z might taste great together, but if they don't burn well together there will come a time when they taste like something else. We want people to taste the blend the way we intended, therefore we must select materials that when combined create a scenario for consistent burn.
5. And probably the single biggest factor: How our liga pairs hand bunch our cigars.
There are 2 primary methods of hand bunching: Entubado and Estrujado
Entubado - aka Entubar, is a method where the filler tobacco is rolled into relatively tight tubes of tobacco and then laid into the bunch. This is the often called the "Cuban" method.
Estrujado - is a method where the leaves are folded over onto themselves and laid into the bunch. This method is utilized in the DR and Central America.
FYI - there are Nicaraguan factories that roll entubado and Cuban factories that roll estrujado - so you really can't generalized as a country of origin thing.
Now from here on DOWN this is ALL MY OPINION ONLY and every cigar maker will have their own opinion about the below.
There are benefits and downsides to each of the two primary methodology of hand bunching techniques.
Entubado - tubing the filler allows for great air channels and draw (when done right - regretfully many Cuban factories suck at their technique) but can result in funny burn patterns if the fillers do not burn at near identical rates... for example every see a cigar with like a nail spike of tobacco sticking out that is burning slower than the rest of the cigar? This is a perfect example of a entubado rolled cigar with slow burning ligero... And once the tobaccos are not burning together relatively evenly, the blend no longer tastes right.
Estrujado - the folding of the leaf allows typically for a better burn because unlike the entubado method, the end result is each of the filler leaves have more surface area contact with their neighboring leaves in the bunch which allows for the quicker burning ones to help along the slower burning ones which ultimately creates a better burn and a more consistent tasting blend. The downside to estrujado is it a method that can be rush through and result in a uneven burning cigars because the bunchero got too many of the folds to one side, aka booking, plus just a little bit too much leaf and the draw deteriorates quickly.
Now when both methods are implemented properly both are capable of producing an exceptional handmade cigar, but in my opinion both methods have inherent strengths and weaknesses. So when we were developing the first Liga Privada cigars we began working on a new methodology of hand bunching cigars to take the best properties of both methods while minimizing the negatives.
Essentially it is style where we roll the fillers in entubado-style, but in very loose, wide tubes of leaf then fold those in estrujado style into the hand which contains a "base' leaf that acts almost like a second binder leaf, but is actually part of the filler blend. We then break off the tips of the long leaf bunch and backfill the body of the bunch to get even compression throughout its length.
I often refer to this as "lazy entubado", JD typically refers to it as Escuado.
This hybrid method of hand bunching cigars is extremely time consuming and requires even our very best buncheros an additional six months to learn. Plus they must have a great sense of feel because by utilizing the the backfill we are essentially giving them the ability to micro-adjust each and every bunch by touch.
The resulting cigars end up being densely packed yet exhibit an amazingly effortless draw while burning and will burn not only more evenly, but longer left resting than others.
Our unique Escudao method produces, in my opinion, the very best burning, drawing and consistent tasting cigars possible. No other factory employs our methodology, yet...
So there you have it, this is why our LPs and UCs produce that never ending cloud of sweet, sweet smoke and burn like a mofo, yet remain dense and delish.
I hope this answers everyone's question, now I gotta run and go rake leaves before it snows again!
BR,
Steve
Still Prez, Drew Estate
LP9 Voluminous Smoke Experiment
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