Jump to full article: San Francisco Chronicle, 2009-03-01
Author: Peter Coyote
Intro: Today I'm visiting El Laguito, the Cohiba factory where only Castro's own cigars and his gifts for diplomats and heads of state were once made. The factory is in a lovely pale-yellow mansion, formerly owned by a sugar magnate, has marble floors, stained glass windows, high ceilings and perfectly cared for grounds. . . .
Abuzz with coffee and anticipation, I set off to review the manufacture of Cohibas. It takes approximately 150 steps from the first planting of the seed until the final sealing of a box of finished cigars. . . .
Miguel takes one from the box and guides me through the proper steps to light it:
First moisten the tip in your mouth. . . .
It is finally ready and I inhale the mildest, sweetest, most fragrant smoke I think I have ever tasted. I smoked 25-year-old Churchill's in London, Partagas and Upmanns older than my children, and though I am far from a connoisseur, this is special. . . .
Looking at my interlocutor seriously, I say gravely, "Imagine placing your lips against those of an angel and inhaling her breath." . . .
The smokers of cigars will tell you that cigars are healthier than cigarette tobacco and I believe it. There are no chemicals or sprays on the leaves, and I read that an American cigarette has over 400 chemical additives
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