When tobacco comes out of the curing barn it is brown, dry to the touch, and still not fit to smoke. It smells sharp, it burns harshly, and it carries ammonia and other compounds that a finished cigar should not have. Fermentation is the step that changes that. Cigar Aficionado's glossary calls it perhaps the most important step in preparing cigar tobacco, and it notes that smoking unfermented tobacco can make a smoker ill. This chapter of Cigars 101 covers how the leaf is piled, heated, turned, and piled again until it is ready for the factory. For where this step sits in the whole sequence, see how cigars are made.
Why cured leaf is not finished
Curing and fermentation are often mentioned together, but they do different jobs. Curing happens in the barn, where leaves hang on poles and slowly dry as they turn from green to yellow to brown. Fermentation happens afterward, usually in a warehouse, and it works on the leaf from the inside. The leaf is moistened, packed tightly, and left to heat up under its own weight.
That heat comes from the leaf itself. Moisture and pressure set off chemical and microbial activity inside the pile, and the activity raises the temperature. As the pile warms, ammonia escapes. Visitors to fermentation rooms often remark on the strong smell. The leaf also becomes more even in color, usually darker, and milder in taste.
Building a pilón
After curing, workers tie the leaves into bundles called hands. The Spanish word is gavilla. Factories differ on how many leaves go into a hand: Holt's and Tobacconist University describe five or more, and one Nicaraguan grower writing for Famous Smoke Shop describes hands of 35 leaves.
The hands are laid flat, one on top of another, to form a pilón. Cigar Aficionado describes the leaves resting on boards, cardboard, or old tobacco stems, and says that workers may add moisture before the pile is built. Building the pile is called empilonando.
The size of a pilón depends on the factory and the stage. Tobacconist University describes first-fermentation pilones as short piles one to three feet tall. Cigar Aficionado describes pilones that can weigh 3,500 to 4,000 pounds or more. Both describe the same idea: a dense stack of leaf that holds its own heat. Some factories use the word pilón for every fermentation pile. Others use it for the first, smaller piles and call the larger piles of the second fermentation burros.
Heat, thermometers, and turning
A fermenting pile has to be watched. Workers push a thermometer into the center, often inside a long tube, and check it regularly. When the core reaches the temperature the factory wants, the pile is taken apart before it can overheat.
This is called turning the pile, or working the bulk. Workers lift each hand, shake it to let out heat and excess moisture, and build a new pile beside the old one. The leaf is rearranged as it goes. The grower writing for Famous Smoke Shop describes a complete rotation: hands from the top of the old pile go to the bottom of the new one, the bottom goes to the top, and leaf from the center moves to the outside while the outside moves in. The aim is for every leaf to spend time in the hot core so that the whole pile ferments evenly.
There is no fixed number of turns. A pile is turned as many times as it needs, and the cycle can go on for months. That grower describes the first fermentation as finished when the pile holds its temperature for a period without rising further.
First and second fermentation
Many factories ferment cigar tobacco in two main stages, and some leaf goes through a third.
The first fermentation is the gentler one. Holt's and Tobacconist University both describe pilones being taken apart and rebuilt when the center reaches about 95°F, over roughly 30 days. Other growers report working at somewhat higher temperatures in this stage. The first fermentation evens out the color and starts removing the harsh compounds.
Between the stages, the leaf is sorted by type, color, and texture into wrapper, binder, and filler. The thick part of the stem is removed from binder and filler leaves. Factories differ on exactly when this happens. The leaf is then moistened again, often with a fine spray of water.
The second fermentation is the stronger one. The sorted, moistened leaf is built into larger piles, which Tobacconist University describes as four to six feet tall and weighing thousands of pounds. The greater mass and the added water make the pile hotter, and this stage often lasts about 60 days or longer. Holt's and Tobacconist University both say it has the largest effect on the flavor and aroma of the finished cigar.
Why ligero and maduro take longer
Not every leaf ferments at the same pace. The thick, oily ligero from the top of the plant takes the longest. Thinner seco and volado leaves from lower on the plant need less time. Fermenting each type separately is one reason the leaf is sorted before it is piled again. Ligero carries the most strength in a blend, as wrapper, binder, and filler explains, and it is also the leaf that tastes the most raw if it is rushed.
A maduro wrapper is the clearest example of fermentation changing a leaf. Maduro is made by fermenting thick wrapper leaf longer and hotter until it turns dark brown. La Flor Dominicana's Litto Gomez has been reported by Cigar Press as saying that his company may ferment tobacco at about 125°F but lets maduro wrapper reach about 150°F. Only sturdy leaf survives that treatment. Thin leaf would break down too far. For that reason, maduro wrappers usually come from thick leaf such as ligero primings, Connecticut broadleaf, or Mexican San Andrés. Wrapper types and colors covers the full color scale, from claro to oscuro.
A dark wrapper is a sign of long fermentation, not of strength. The longer process often makes the leaf taste sweeter, and the strength of the cigar still comes mostly from the filler. Strength, body, and flavor explains the difference.
Too hot, or not enough
Fermentation has limits on both sides. If the center of a pile gets too hot, the tobacco can burn out. Cigar Aficionado's glossary says temperatures may rise to around 140°F before the bulk is broken down. Holt's and Tobacconist University give a range of about 108°F to 140°F as the critical point for the second fermentation, and say that piles reaching it are taken apart and rebuilt.
Too little fermentation leaves the leaf harsh, with ammonia still in it. No amount of aging in a home humidor fixes that. Aging finished cigars is a slower and gentler process, and it cannot replace fermentation at the factory.
After fermentation
When the leaf is fully fermented, it is sorted again, packed into bales, and aged in the warehouse, sometimes for years, before it goes to the rolling room. Brands such as Padrón are known for long aging of their tobacco before rolling. From there the leaf goes to the blender, covered in how a blender builds a cigar, and then to the rolling table, covered in bunching and rolling by hand.
Where to go next
- The full sequence from seed to box: how cigars are made.
- How the plant is grown before harvest: growing cigar tobacco.
- The three leaves and what each does: wrapper, binder, and filler.
- Why maduro is dark: wrapper types and colors.
- Terms: fermentation, pilón, gavilla, burro, ligero, maduro, and the rest of the glossary.
- The full course: Cigars 101.
Smoke Rings sells the tools and not the tobacco: cutters, lighters, and humidors, sold through eBay (seller us-grai), plus empty cigar boxes for collectors. For the cigars themselves, our sponsor AbsoluteCigars.com is your best source.
Sources: Cigar Aficionado glossary: Pilón (hands, boards/stems beneath, added moisture, empilonando, pilones of 3,500-4,000+ lb, broken down and rebuilt for months) and Fermentation (up to ~140°F before the bulk is rebuilt; working the bulk releases ammonia; unfermented tobacco can make a smoker ill). Holt's Clubhouse, The Process of Fermenting Tobacco, and Tobacconist University, Curing & Fermentation (gavillas of five or more leaves; first fermentation in short pilones turned at ~95°F for ~30 days; sorting and destemming; second fermentation in 4-6 ft burros for ~60 days or more with the most effect on flavor and aroma; ligero longest; burn-out above ~108-140°F). Famous Smoke Shop Cigar Advisor, Tobacco Farming Part 4 (hands of 35 leaves, thermometers, complete rotation, first fermentation ends when temperature stabilizes, misting before second fermentation). Cigar Press, Maduro Tobacco: It's Not Just a Color (Litto Gomez: ~125°F normal vs ~150°F for maduro; thick leaf needed). No invented statistics, scores, quotes, or tasting notes.