Whether destined for Brazilian puros or adding distinct character to international blends, the rich, sweet-and-spicy Mata Fina tobacco from Brazil is the cigar world's best secret.
Every now and then I like going to Cruz das Almas. Not that the city offers much; it does not: only one restaurant and one sandwich joint. There is nothing to do or see during the day and definitely nothing to do at night. One would argue that there is no good reason to visit the place unless, that is, you are a tobacco buff. In that case, you are visiting the tobacco Mecca of the South. The most beautiful plantations I have ever visited are there along with the small factories that make mouth-watering cigars.
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Cruz das Almas is the main city of the Mata Fina Region in the Reconcavo Bahiano, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The city of Cruz das Almas is 150 kilometers away from Salvador, the capital of the state. The Mata Fina region gets its name from the native vegetation (mata means "vegetation," and fina, "thin"). Mata Fina is a strip of land between the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic Rain Forest) and the Caatinga (very dry and sandy). The vegetation in this area is thin and tall, like the rain forest, but the treetops are small and bushy, like the Caatinga. Tobacco was found naturally growing and sharing the land with this thin, tall, and bushy vegetation, which led to the generic name for Brazil's dark tobacco - Tabaco Mata Fina.
[b]Natural Tobacco[/b]
In Brazil, tobacco is still processed and packed the same way it has been since early colonial days.
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Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil in 1500. The country has been producing dark tobacco since its early days of colonization. The natives used it and the Portuguese and Dutch realized the possibility of great profit in this beautiful dark and flavorful tobacco. Brazil quickly became a leading exporter of dark tobacco and holds the number one position to this day. Brazil is one of the only countries where you can actually roll a puro. From that small region, you have quality tobacco to use as filler, binder, and wrapper. And once rolled, it will be a great cigar full of flavor, of a good strength and with great evolution.
It was not until the late 18th century when the production of cigars grew into considerable numbers. The bellies of the caravelas (trading ships) that were previously filled with tobacco, now also carried hand rolled cigars. Soon the European markets were flooded with Brazilian dark tobacco. By 1900, Brazil was producing 120 million cigars every year. The production of cigars fell drastically all the way through the 20th century while the production of dark tobacco continued to grow. The days of the great cigar rolling factories like Suerdick are gone, and Cruz das Almas is blessed with small factories that did not cave into mass production. There are about eight factories in the region producing quality cigars and consuming about two percent of the dark tobacco grown there.
But wait, where is the remaining 98 percent of this rich and tasty tobacco destined? Apparently, the Brazilians are the only ones that did not realize that the tobacco grown in the Mata Fina is gold. The exported tobacco has two destinations: to cigar makers in Latin America and the Caribbean for premium, long filler cigars, while the rest (the majority) is shipped to Europe and find their way into machine-made, short filler cigars.
All of the dark tobacco planted in Bahia is of the Mata Fina variety. Even though we are talking about the same plant, the microclimates, treatment of the plant, and harvesting techniques make tobacco grown on the sides of the same road taste completely different. Each different tobacco used in a Brazilian cigar gets its name from its location rather than from the kind of plant.
[b]The Regions and the Tobacco[/b]
Mata Fina - Mata Fina is Brazil's main region producing tobacco today. Its sandy and grainy soil gets an average of 47 inches of rain per year. All of the Mata Fina grown in this region is sun grown. Wrappers are hand cut one by one and barn dried. The filler and binder leaves are harvested by stalk cutting (cutting the whole plant and hanging it to dry without removing the leaves from the stalk). While wrappers are grown by the big multinationals, binder and filler leaves are predominantly grown by small producers that harvest by stalk cutting, many times drying the tobacco in improvised barns and even on their own porches. The tobacco from this area is of the finest quality allowing for a very smooth, sweet, and aromatic, medium-bodied smoke.
Mata Norte - The rain is not so abundant in this region north of Cruz das Almas, and the soil varies from sandy to clay-like. Here, the tobacco is planted later than in other regions and all of it is sun grown and stalk harvested. What makes Mata Norte different from Mata Fina is that the leaves are left to dry in open air, fully exposed to sun, wind, and rain. This drying method allows the Mata Norte to yield a very full-bodied smoke. This tobacco is used to compose the cigar blend by lending its strength and all of its rich nutty, roasted and bitter coffee notes. However, since the leaves are exposed to the weather and all of its elements to dry, they are not suitable for wrappers, thus making it impossible to enjoy a cigar made from 100 percent Mata Norte.
Mata S?o Gon?alo - Around the small village of S?o Gon?alo, the tobacco planters are more careful when harvesting and this region is famous for its wrappers. The best wrappers come from this town located in the Mata Fina region. The farmers use cocoa mush as fertilizer and this gives the wrappers from this region a beautiful sheen. This area - and the greater Mata Fina area in general - have very similar characteristics in soil and its tobacco in taste.
Mata Sul - Even though this region is blessed with good rain and very rich soil, most of the land in this southern part of the Mata Fina is sloped, making it difficult to harvest. The workers must double their care when planting and harvesting tobacco in this area, but this extra attention yields tobacco of good quality and of good mild-bodied flavor. The tobacco production in this region has been drastically falling while farmers make more money out of planting cocoa.
Caatinga - The Caatinga has a dry climate and the soil is very sandy. The farmers in this region have very little resources, natural and financial, to produce tobacco. The tobacco in this region offers little in taste and strength making it hard to sell the crops. The production of tobacco in this area depends on landlords providing a piece of land and manure for farmers to produce. In return, the landlords get a share of the tobacco, which is of poor quality, and is hard to sell. This is what cheap cigars are made of.
Other Regions - Sumatra is also grown in the Mata Fina region. Despite not being a native Brazilian tobacco, it yields a bland but very silky wrapper. All of the Sumatra is shade grown. In Sergipe, a state neighboring Bahia, Mata Fina is also grown in the Arapiraca region. The Arapiraca is of poor quality and taste offering a metallic smoke that makes your nose itch. It is an acidic tobacco widely used by cigar makers in the Caribbean and Central America to boost up the strength of a particular cigar.
[b]Coveted Around the World[/b]
But why is all this flavorful tobacco being exported? The answer lies in the fact that ever since the days of the colonies, all of the dark tobacco plantations have been in the hands of European companies.
Tobacco is a commodity, quoted and sold in U.S. dollars. A pound of Mata Fina wrapper can fetch as much as $55, the most expensive tobacco in the world. Local cigar makers do not have the financial capacity to invest in this pricey tobacco and have to limit their production.
On the other hand, the Brazilian market is flooded with Cuban cigars. While Cuban cigars are exempt from importing duties, Brazilian-made cigars pay about 95 percent in tax! On the shelves of your average Brazilian retailer, you will notice that the price tag on a Brazilian and a Cuban cigar of the same size is very similar. Culturally, your average uneducated smoker will prefer an imported Cuban cigar to a Brazilian smoke. Whether the Cuban is short filler or counterfeit, it does not make much of a difference, this smoker enjoys smoking the label.
Still, Mata Fina is one of the finest tobaccos for cigars. There are many cigar enthusiasts throughout the world that enjoy the fine taste of this leaf. If you have never tried any Mata Fina, next time you visit your tobacconist, make sure you ask for a fine Brazilian smoke. Enditem
