{"id":14275,"date":"2017-03-27T14:00:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/?p=14275\/"},"modified":"2017-04-06T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T15:02:07","slug":"reserva-organica-the-worlds-first-organic-cigar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/reserva-organica-the-worlds-first-organic-cigar\/","title":{"rendered":"Reserva Org\u00e1nica – The World’s first Organic Cigar"},"content":{"rendered":"

N\u00e9stor Andr\u00e9s Plasencia\u2019s passion for sustainable farming took hold while he was studying agriculture. In 1998, when he began working in his father\u2019s company, he was already planning what would become a labor of love: Reserva Org\u00e1nica, the world\u2019s first completely organically grown cigar.<\/p>\n

In 2002, his project became reality. \u201cWe tried and tried different ways in the beginning and it was a challenge,\u201d Plasencia says. \u201cTobacco is a very violent plant that grows fast and can be affected by many diseases. So if it\u2019s hard to grow tobacco, it\u2019s even harder to grow organic tobacco. But it\u2019s fascinating. We\u2019re using traditional methods with new knowledge, and some of it we implement in our normal production as well \u2013 any way we can be more sustainable. We\u2019ve also started using organic tobacco in other cigars.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo: Simon Lundh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

From start to finish, the cigar has absolutely no contact with any chemicals. Earthworm castings or humus, propagated on the company earthworm farms, are used for fertilizing. \u201cWe use horse and cow manure, tobacco leaf remains from the deveining, plants and we feed that to the worms. This all works as fertilizer in itself, but when it goes through the worms it makes the nutrients more accessible to the plants.\u201d<\/p>\n

After this, everything, from a certain type of fungus to garlic, is used to fight different forms of pests. \u201cYou can do a lot before you start spraying,\u201d Plasencia explains. \u201cWe use a fungus called trichoderma on the root system to prevent diseases like black shank. In between crops we grow frijoles terciopelo (velvet bean) because it extracts nitrogen from the air. When it blooms you cut it down and put it back in the soil. By rotating crops and using these plants, black shank and blue mold can\u2019t survive, so it\u2019s gone next time you grow tobacco. We use garlic because the bad insects don\u2019t like the smell; an organic insecticide called Neem; and sunflowers, which attract beneficial insects that eat the bad ones. Also, the more organic material you use, the less water you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result, according to Plasencia himself, is a full-flavored cigar without any trace of chemicals.\u2028\u201cIt\u2019s got a clean taste. It\u2019s mild, full-flavored and the aftertaste is very clean. It\u2019s not for all smokers, but if you do your own brand, why not be different? We wanted to make a cigar with meaning. If you like strong cigars, this might not be for you, but we\u2019re actually working on a stronger variant for those who prefer that. We realize there\u2019s a demand for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo: Simon Lundh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now, Plasencia Cigars is taking it to a new level. Since they started manufacturing cigars in 1985, the company\u2019s main focus has been on private labels, producing cigars for others. Plasencia\u2019s own lines, which also include Cl\u00e1sico and Reserva 1898, have been side projects. \u201c The Reserva Org\u00e1nica is nothing we make a lot of money on … but we\u2019re not doing it for money. We need and want to be more sustainable. It\u2019s better for the soil and the environment in general.\u201d As of this year, however, the company\u2019s own brands have become part of the main focus. \u201cThe time is right, [with] the way that social media works now. If we do well with our own brands, it benefits the private labels, and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Reserva Org\u00e1nica that not only means an addition to the line, but an overhaul of its appearance as well. \u201cWe\u2019re developing new packaging,\u201d explains Plasencia. \u201cI like the old one but it\u2019s traditional and we want something that stands out, like the cigar. It has to be eye-catching.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company is also expanding locally and globally.\u2028 \u201cAt the moment, we\u2019re growing organic tobacco in Estel\u00ed and Jalapa, but this year we\u2019ll also try growing in Condega. A section of the factory will be set aside just for the Reserva Org\u00e1nica. We\u2019ve got a guy in Europe to get the brand out over there, as well as in Asia and the Middle East. We probably have to inform people about what we\u2019re trying to accomplish, but we want to see if there\u2019s support for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new packaging and maybe even a new cigar could be presented at this year\u2019s InterTabac in Dortmund this fall. Now Plasencia is hoping for others to follow their sustainable example. \u201cI know some companies use earthworms and some use beans, but not all the way, like us. I\u2019d love for others to get into this. Our industry grows together. We\u2019ve been around for five generations, and I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished so far. But the way I see it, we\u2019ve just got started. This is the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was published in the Cigar Journal Autumn Edition 2016. Read more<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N\u00e9stor Andr\u00e9s Plasencia\u2019s passion for sustainable farming took hold while he was studying agriculture. In 2002, the first completely organically grown cigar was born, the Reserva Org\u00e1nica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":14270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[53,49,2808,4155,68,692,44],"tags":[2975,4261,3006,3080],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}