Mexican Puros?

Originally Posted by bobarian

Hopefully Richard(tzaddi) will chime in here. Much of the filler/binder in many big name smokes comes from the San Andreas region of Mexico.

If I may be so bold as to quote myself from my original 03-03-2007 introduction…

…With my interest in genealogy/history I was first drawn to the cigars of the Valley of the Tuxtlas in Southern Veracruz, Mexico via Cigar Magazine, Summer 2005 edition, reading an article titled, "The Much-Maligned Mexican Cigar". So I smoked me some A. Turrent 2000 Coronas, not being able to get my hands on any of the family cabinet line that Miguel Turrent smokes, I also smoked some Santa Clara 1830s and of course some Te-Amos. Santa Clara makes some good cigars but as far as the Te-Amos... lately I have smoked some Aniversario Vintage 99 Perfecto (love the shape) and Robusto sticks that I liked. Concluding the Valley of the Tuxtlas rant I have ordered a sampler of 18 cigars from http://www.calidadtobaccos.com/cigars.html that are currently in transit.…

Well those cigars arrived and here is a link to one of my web pages showing the Toztli and Getomi cigars that I received in a later shipment
http://web.mac.com/tzaddi/Cordero/Nicotiana_2.html

As some of the BABOTL are aware I have received several shipments of whole leaf tobacco from Calidad Tobaccos. The last order I received included;
3 pounds of Moron (centro) 8 yrs.
2 pounds of Capote (banda) 6 yrs.
2 pounds of Capa (Habana) 6 yrs.

My experience with Mexican tobacco has been mainly positive but I completely understand the negative comments and experiences of others.

Summize to say that there is good Mexican tobacco as well as not so…

Here is a bit of information that I have uncovered in my research concerning my region of interest in Mexico. I have posted this on several other sites.

I recently came across this excerpt from a book titled "Resources and Development of Mexico" By Hubert Howe Bancroft. Published by The Bancroft company, 1893.

In it he speaks to the concept of soil composition and how it relates to the flavor & strength of the tobacco grown there and how these conditions exist in Mexico.

Speaking to the potentiality of Mexican tobacco I quote further research and a cool anecdotal story.

In the category of just because a reference book is old is not an indication of it's accuracy. I submit he following excerpt of self promotion.

Mexico and the United States: A Study of Subjects Affecting Their Political, Commercial, and Social Relations, Made with a View to Their Promotion
By Matías Romero
Published by G. P. Putnam, 1898
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized Feb 20, 2008
759 pages

Tobacco—Among the tropical products of superior quality that we raise in the hot zone, I should mention tobacco, the Mexican tobacco being, in General Grant's estimation, superior to the Havana article. The natural conditions of soil and temperature are the same in Cuba and Mexico, but we had not the superior experience of the Cubans in curing the leaf until the late insurrection broke out in Cuba, in 1868, when a great many Cubans went to Mexico to plant tobacco. As the land has been planted in Cuba with tobacco for nearly four hundred years, and as tobacco is a very exhausting crop, it has become indispensable to manure the land with guano, while in Mexico we have virgin land, and tobacco being a comparatively new industry, no guano needs to be used. General Grant, whom I consider a competent judge, detected the taste of guano in the Havana cigars, of which ours is free, and he, therefore, preferred to smoke the Mexican cigars.

In Cuba the exhausted soil cannot produce all the leaves that are required for the world's supply of Havana cigars, and the want can only be filled through the use of Mexico leaf tobacco, the weed produced in other countries having similar conditions. The Marquis de Cabanas sent to Sumatra a quantity of seed when it became obvious that the soil of the tobacco region of Cuba was fast being worn out. He sent seed also to Java and to the United States, but it was found that it was impossible to raise tobacco of the quality of that raised in Havana anywhere but in Mexico. That raised in Java from Havana seed was very coarse and rank, replete with nicotine and meconic acid, and devoid of those delicate essential oils that give the Havana and Mexican tobacco their fine aroma.

The tobacco plant is a native of the tropics, and thrives best in the hot lands. It is a hardy plant, however, and will grow well in northern latitudes in the summer time. It often happens that the land in the tropics is actually too rich for the successful cultivation of tobacco.

Further research provides a very different view of General Grant and his taste in cigars, in this case I submit the following cigar anecdote from
Ward, Ferdinand. General Grant as I Knew Him. New York Herald (magazine section)
December 19, 1909, pp. 1-2

Often I have been asked if General Grant was a drinking man. He was anything but that. He very seldom touched any liquor except ale, and he drank that sparingly and at rare intervals. As is well known, he smoked incessantly. I have known him to go to bed with a heavy Havana in his mouth, put out the lights and continue smoking for a time in the dark. He would never finish this nightcap cigar, but when it was about half done he would put it somewhere where it might be reached easily in the morning.
The first thing he did when he awakened was to get this stub and light it. Sometimes he would smoke another whole cigar before breakfast. Luncheon and dinner usually interrupted his smoking, and he would put his half finished cigar aside, to be resumed immediately upon finishing his mean. When he came to the office I always had twenty-five of his favorite three for fifty cent cigars ready for him, and invariably he smoked them all during the day.

A cigar anecdote, which, I believe, has never been written, will show another trait of his character, that of loyalty to friends.

The incident afforded several of us the greatest amusement at the time and we often teased the General about it. When he returned from his visit to Mexico he was enthusiastic about the possibilities of the country and a warm friend and admirer of General Diaz. He told us the General had promised to send him some Mexican cigars, and as he said the conditions for raising fine tobacco in Mexico were unexcelled he had no doubt they would be much better than even Havanas. He said he had not tried the Mexican cigars while on his visit, as the subject had not come up for discussion until he was leaving.

One day there arrived at the office a case of five thousand cigars made from pure Mexican tobacco, a present from Diaz. Before he opened the case the General was as excited about the gift as it was possible for him to get, and he told us that if there were any more of the Havanas on hand to give them away and that it would not be necessary to get any more for a while.

"We will probably like these much better any way," said the General, "and when they are gone we can order them in large lots direct from Mexico."

The cigars were packed one hundred each in fifty beautiful lacquered boxes. General Grant presented each of us in the office with a box and we began to smoke the new cigars. They were large, black and coarse, and to our educated taste exceedingly rank.

In deference to the seriousness with which the General took the gift we stuck it out as long as we could. U. S. Grant, Jr., managed to smoke about twenty-five of the Mexican cigars, I believe, before he was forced to discontinue them. Fred Grant and I managed somehow to finish out a hundred each, but declined positively to accept a second box.

The General manfully stuck it out for a while longer, chiding us for our lack of appreciation and telling us that we did not know good tobacco when we tasted it. Finally he, too, was forced to give up the unequal struggle and confess that, after all, the new cigars could not compare with the Havanas to which he had become accustomed.

To sum up… Mexican Puros have yet to consistently meet there potential, but I have not given up hope.

Wow, thanks for the interesting (and amusing) read.

[Mr B]

Nice read Richard. Thanks

[Lucky_Hippo]

WOW. Thanks for all tidbits Richard!

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by Lucky_Hippo

Besides Te-Amo what are some other Mexican puros out there? What am I missing?

Gary, in addition to Richards commentary, here's a site that you may want to peruse:

http://www.calidadtobaccos.com/

This may give you further knowledge as well...

[Lucky_Hippo]

Great info as well Mark. The information sections on the different factories are great!


Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by MarkinCA

Gary, in addition to Richards commentary, here's a site that you may want to peruse:

http://www.calidadtobaccos.com/

This may give you further knowledge as well...

Hey Mark, those are the guys I get my whole leaf, Getomi & Toztli cigars from.

Doug, one of the owners of Calidad has shared a few photos & stories with me over the past few years concerning Getomi and some of the other growers in the San Andres, Los Tuxtla, Mexico. Photos & captions courtesy of Doug.

Living large in San Andres


Left to right:
Armando Castillo (owner Getomi), Doug Redmond (owner Calidad), Guillermo Malaga (owner of Toztli),
Anastasio (Tacho) Temich (owner Flor de Matacapan)




Armando Castillo (right)and his father who was and perhaps still is the head irrigator for Turrent (Te Amo) for decades.



Left to right: Guillermo Malaga, Licenciado Jose Luis Fernandez (Mexico's top Federal Investigator of police corruption and a client of Guillermo Malaga's (Toztli) and, needless to say, a dear friend of all of us!), Armando Castillo.



Alberto (Beto) Turrent, owner of Te Amo tobacco production along with his chief engineer and myself (Doug) and the other photo of myself (Doug) with Alain White, President of the Union de Ejidos R. Valencia. Alain White is the really big guy with tremendous inventory from the independent growers in the region. Alain and I were neighbors in the village of La Victoria and I was his eldest son's "best friend" from his boyhood to this day.

In closing here is an article from Doug's local newspaper concerning his involvement as an International Fund-raiser for DEMATAC.





I hope this adds to the Mexico story, I know most everyone likes photos & stories.

[bobarian]

Great stuff Richard. I knew you were the man to see when the question about Mexican Puro's came up!

I smoked the corona you rolled up at our herf. Nice little smoke. Good toasty bread flavors, no harshness or bitterness.

Originally Posted by bobarian

Great stuff Richard. I knew you were the man to see when the question about Mexican Puro's came up!

I smoked the corona you rolled up at our herf. Nice little smoke. Good toasty bread flavors, no harshness or bitterness.

Yep, that was a Mexican Puro, I am rolling a few more for Sonic boy today. I am trying to be more selective of the tobacco hoping to get something special.

Thanks Bob.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by tzaddi

Hey Mark, those are the guys I get my whole leaf, Getomi & Toztli cigars from.

Doug, one of the owners of Calidad has shared a few photos & stories with me over the past few years concerning Getomi and some of the other growers in the San Andres, Los Tuxtla, Mexico. Photos & captions courtesy of Doug.

Nice addition Richard and it rounds out the whole meaning of this thread and Mexican tobacco. With anything, it's all about TLC from seed to the final product

[acarr]

[quote=kaisersozei;195849]I thought Cohibos were Mexican puros

You beat me to the punch, I was going to say the same thing. These are probably the most famous of any Mexican Puros.

[Texan in Mexico]

Great stuff Richard, thank you so much for sharing those stories.

I spent some years in Mexico growing up in Cozumel part of the year and now live in Cancun.

There is potential here, that much is sure. My beef with them is once they reach the Yucatan Peninsula they are so mistreated in transport that they typically lack flavor.

I will definately look for some of what you mention when I hit Vallarta for work in a couple weeks.

Travis

I used to always like Partagas, which has Mexican tobacco in it. But I never enjoyed a Te-Amo. Maybe the blending of Mexican tobacco with others is what I enjoyed, but defiinitely not a Mexican puro.

Originally Posted by uptown_isy

I used to always like Partagas, which has Mexican tobacco in it. But I never enjoyed a Te-Amo. Maybe the blending of Mexican tobacco with others is what I enjoyed, but defiinitely not a Mexican puro.

Give one of these a go if you get a chance.