Well, I’ve returned from Esteli, Nicaragua, and I’m going to do a series of short blogs about different aspects of my trip. I learned a ton, and I highly recommend going if you get the chance. Just check out cigarsafari.com and book a trip. For now, here are the top 5 most interesting or weird things I learned on my trip:

#5 Manufacturers take armed guards with them when they cross over into Honduras.

#4 Water makes the difference. Pepin uses his well water to cure and roll cigars. Padron catches rain water and uses that. One manufacturer on Cigar Aficionados top 10 cigars of 2009 uses chlorinated city tap water which is stored in a reused ether barrel. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

#3 Blending theory varies widely amongst manufacturers, but each theory is valid. Pepin uses his own tobacco and doesn’t buy any because he wants to have control of the quality of the supply chain from beginning to end. Padron uses only Nicaraguan tobacco because they think it’s the best. Drew Estate buys and uses tobacco from different parts of the world because it makes for more interesting blends, and because puros will taste different from year to year, just like wine. Blending enables the manufacturer to ensure that they are delivering a consistent tasting product from year to year. All different ideas, all good cigars!

#2 We only saw a draw test machine at one place (Perdomo) and we saw multiple places where the “draw-test” was a human sucking on the cigar pre-wrapper and deciding if it was acceptable or not.

#1 At Joya de Nicaragua, there is a person whose sole job it is is to face the cigar so that the pretty side is up. He then takes chalk and a ruler and draws a straight line over the cigars to indicate the face, and where the label should go. Then the lady who applies the label wipes the chalk off before the label is applied.