By Mark Bernardo

As the art of premium cigar making continues to grow from its cradle in Cuba, a handful of little-noted nations are quietly producing some of the finest wrapper leaf available, and training a new generation of expert rollers. Brazil, Ecuador, and Costa Rica are ready for their close-up.

In the cigar business, as in nearly any form of team endeavor, there are stars and there are supporting players. The stars receive recognition and accolades, often at the expense of those who toil in relative obscurity behind the scenes. We sometimes have to be reminded of the contributions made by the unsung heroes; Michael Jordan, for example, didn’t win all of those NBA titles for Chicago without the contributions of teammates like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. Oscar-winning actors owe at least some of their honors to great writers and directors. And some of the finest cigars to come out of the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras are at least partially in debt to lesser-known tobacco countries like Brazil, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

In a demanding U.S. market constantly in search of the new and different, these “supporting player” nations are not only producing wrappers that are making cigar mavens take notice, but they just may be the hot cigar-making hubs of the future. After all, Kevin Spacey won a Best Supporting Actor before winning Best Actor, right?

BRAZIL
If cigars and tobacco are not the first images that spring to mind when Brazil is mentioned, you’re certainly not alone. The country’s prodigious output of bronzed, sculpted supermodels - often on display at the bacchanalia of Carnival or lounging on the lush beaches of Rio - is much more captivating than any of its agricultural exports, even the dark, flavorful leaves that are enhancing many of our favorite smokes. However, a closer analysis, bereft of alluring distractions, reveals a nation rapidly clearing itself space at the table as one of the world’s leading wrapper producers.

By far South America’s most populous country, and its leading economic power, Brazil borders nearly every other nation on the continent, with its 8,511,965 square kilometers of land mass - an area only slightly smaller than the continental U.S. Despite a large portion of its area being covered by dense Amazonian rain forest, the nation is a treasure trove of natural resources and agricultural products. In addition to swimsuit centerfolds, Brazil exports commodities as diverse as coffee, soybeans, sugarcane, beef, iron ore, timber, oil, and auto parts. But in the northeast, in the provinces of Bahia and Alagaos, tobacco is king. Companies like Danneman have been pumping out machine-made cigars for the European market for decades, and despite its relative newcomer status to this generation of American cigar smokers, Brazil’s history as a leaf producer stretches back further than most realize.

“In the 1860s, Brazil was one of the largest cigar producing countries in the world,” declares Will Rhodes, president of Victor Sinclair, a Dominican Republic-based manufacturer that has pioneered the cause of Brazilian wrappers for the past several years. Their Bohemian line of cigars, recently expanded to include the unique double-wrapper Revolution brand, is at least partially the result of the company’s extensive dabbling in Brazilian leaf varieties. “Brazil’s cigar leaf producing regions lie approximately the same distance south of the equator as Cuba’s are north,” Rhodes explains. “This means the soil and climate in those regions are ideal for growing cigar tobacco. The regions in the east central area, about 200 kilometers west of Salvador - Mata Fina, Reconcavo, Arapiraca - are among the best, along with Bahia and Santa Cruz. They produce a dark, rich, smooth and slightly sweet oscuro wrapper that turns a deep brown after fermentation.”

C.A.O.’s Jon Huber is equally excited about the marketplace potential of Brazilian wrapper. Better-known for its spicy Nicaraguan smokes, C.A.O. has become the first major company to build a whole new line, the C.A.O. Brazilia, on the strength of both their exclusive crop of Brazilian wrapper and the nation’s exotic cultural mystique. The cigars, made in Honduras by the Toraño family, proudly proclaim their heritage with frontmark names like Samba, Amazon, and Gol! - a reference to Brazilians’ obsession with soccer. “Brazil is actually the leading nation in tobacco export in South America,” Huber points out. “The climate is very tropical; the soil has a sandy, loamy quality. And there are actually two types of tobacco that grow here: the Bahia leaf that is very full-flavored, very rich, and aromatic; and the Ariparaca, which is characterized by its dark brown color and is typically not as aromatic.”

But how does Brazilian maduro wrapper compare to the market’s current “hot” wrapper, Connecticut broadleaf? According to Alan Rubin of Alec Bradley Cigar Company, who uses Ariparaca to wrap the Exotic Maduro style of his triangle-pressed Trilogy line, the overriding characteristic of Brazilian tobacco is smoothness balanced with a natural sweetness.

“The misconception of many is that maduro wrapper has to be strong or harsh,” Rubin says. “We were looking for a sweet, smooth flavor in a natural maduro wrapper. Broadleaf has a heavier flavor profile, and we felt that the Arapiraca would give us a variety of options to create a complex blend and still give us the strength we were trying to achieve. If other manufacturers are looking to produce a smoother, milder maduro, I believe Brazil is a good option [for wrapper].”

Victor Sinclair takes Brazil’s potential as the next sought-after wrapper source quite seriously, and has established a multi-year exclusive contract on the Brazilian corojo wrapper that has been so well received on their Bohemian 55 Red. “Cigar smokers are a fickle bunch, and love variety,” Rhodes says. “Maduro sales have been trending up for the past three years, and Brazilian maduro leaf is more cost-effective than broadleaf. As cigar makers look for new and more creative products, I expect more to develop lines using Brazilian wrapper.” And as for a cigar made in Brazil cracking the U.S. market? “It already exists, but good luck finding it. As Brazil becomes more accepted as a legitimate cigar making nation, we may see a major one emerge.”

At least one major name has indeed become associated with Brazil: Felix Menendez, son of Alonso, creator of the Cuban Montecristo; and brother of Benjamin, Senior VP of premium cigars at tobacco giant Altadis. His company, Menendez, Amerino & Cia (in which he is partnered with cousin Arturo Toraño) is gearing up for the release of the Aquarius, an all-Brazilian handmade cigar for the U.S. market. “What we are hoping for is that smokers, like wine drinkers or car buyers, have started to investigate seriously their products’ pedigree,” Menendez told The New York Times, while enthusiastically predicting, “If we can sell a half million Aquarius in the first year, I will be very happy.” The peace movement connotations of its Zodiac-inspired name aside, the Aquarius seems to be the first salvo in Brazil’s battle for cigar-making prominence.

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