August 20, 2026 • 18 mins
Fermentation is where great tobacco becomes exceptional, and it’s also the step most cigar fans rarely get to see up close. We’re Nick and Nicholas Perdomo, and we’re taking you on a virtual ride from our Perdomo Podcast studio in Miami to our pre-industry operation in Esteli, Nicaragua to show how premium cigar tobacco is transformed long before it ever reaches a rolling table.
We walk through what tobacco looks, feels, and even smells like when it comes out of the curing barns: tacky with natural sugars and resins, with an aroma we describe as honey wheat bread. Then we step into the fermentation floor to break down pilones, the fermentation piles that act like a carefully controlled composting process. We explain our “low and slow” philosophy, why we build heat naturally to about 105 to 107 degrees Fahrenheit, and how turning the pile top to bottom and inside to outside keeps fermentation even and prevents harsh, uneven flavors.
We also get practical about moisture, because fermentation depends on it. You’ll hear how the first sweat works, why we humidify with fine mist instead of soaking, and why shaking out droplets matters if you want clean, spot-free leaf. Finally, we connect the craft to consistency, showing how clinical charts, sensors, probes, and old-school senses all work together so the cigar you love tastes the way it should, year after year. Subscribe, share with a fellow cigar nerd, and leave a review or a comment with your biggest fermentation question.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the world of Perdomo Cigars.
We deliver the most authenticin-depth cigar education to you,
the cigar enthusiast.
Recorded at the Perdomo Studioin Miami, Florida, brought to
you by third and fourthgeneration master cigar makers.
This is the Perdomo Podcast.
(00:22):
Your hosts, Nick and NicholasPerdomo.
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
Welcome back, everybody, to the Perdomo
Podcast.
I am Nicholas Perdomo, and I'malongside my dad, Nick Perdomo.
And today we have a reallyspecial one for everybody, Dad.
Today we're going to talk aboutwhy fermentation is so important
with tobacco, but we're going todo something very different.
We're actually going to be doinga new theme within, just like
within the Perdomo Podcast, justlike the Perdomo Podcast Cigar
(00:49):
Mythbusters, today we're goingto be doing our virtual
experience where we're going totake you to Estely, Nicaragua
with us.
And specifically, Dad, one ofthe things that we're going to
be talking about and showingeverybody is we're going to take
today, we're going to take youinside one of the most
important, but really one of themost least understood parts of
premium cigar making, and thatis fermentation.
(01:12):
And fermentation is where greattobacco becomes exceptional.
And that's really, I look at youas the fermentation king, and
you guys are going to understandwhy I say that.
I I love fermentation.
It's it's a big thing.
It is.
It is.
It's everything.
It's going to be fun.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
And we're going to show youexactly what happens to tobacco
way before it ever even becomesa cigar.
(01:34):
And you guys are going to come,like I said earlier, you guys
are going to come with us toNicaragua.
And so, Dad, I want to give alittle bit of a backstory before
we all jump to Nicaragua.
First, what are you smoking?
I just come in.
That's fine.
I'm smoking a beautiful PodomoLegacy, Nicaraguan Shade Grown,
Gran Bellicoso six by 48 by 60.
How about yourself?
Me too.
Yeah, me desk.
(01:54):
We got great taste.
And so basically, you know, oneof the things, Dad, like going
back, you know, fermentation andthe backstory of the virtual
podcast, right?
Going into this virtualexperience.
And I want to give the backstoryreally where we sit down two to
three days a week, and we'realways brainstorming because we
(02:17):
want to give our audience moreand more.
And so we sit down with penciland paper, and you said, hey,
why not take the show toeverybody?
You know, and I think it's agreat opportunity too for people
to inquire about the PronomoFactory Tour.
So we have many differentsegments that we're going to be
showing you guys and bringingyou guys with us to Estely,
Nicaragua.
And but we want we want guys tosee our factory.
(02:40):
I want everybody to see how howbig, how the quality of all our
different pre-industries, ourour all our different our
rolling facility, all thedifferent areas that we have,
all our different processes.
And I think it's gonna I think alot of people are gonna be
intrigued about going to Estley,Nicaragua on our factory tour.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of people that
that love it and are verypassionate as much as we are.
SPEAKER_02 (03:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:03):
And I see it throughout all the years that
we've done the trips and howmuch you know people really
enjoy it.
And it fires me up when thecustomers and the consumers come
out and and come out and see us,and everybody's welcome and we
love it.
SPEAKER_02 (03:16):
Yeah.
So without further ado, Dad, Ithink it's time.
I think it's time we jump on ourlittle pad.
Let's go to Nicaragua.
Let's take you guys with us.
We'll see you guys in a minute.
See you soon.
Hey everybody, welcome toEstely, Nicaragua.
We're here at Tobacco AirProdomo.
This is our pre-industry.
And today, as we were talkingabout on our Prodomo podcast,
why fermentation is soimportant.
(03:36):
I'm gonna let my dad talk aboutit, but we wanted to bring you
guys here to Nesteli, Nicaragua,and see it.
So you're I'm glad you guys arehere with us.
So, Dad, we want to talk aboutfermentation and really why it's
so important.
So, if you can go through thesteps in terms of what makes our
cigar so special, but really whyfermentation is so important.
SPEAKER_01 (03:53):
Absolutely.
What better place to be righthere in Nicaragua where you can
see it firsthand?
So basically, when we get totobaccos here, you'll notice
these are what we call farmerbales, and these are the
tobaccos that come once they'recured in the curing barns.
And this is different than thefermentation process.
But if you look, the colors arebeautiful.
They're they're reddish-browncolors, but these tobaccos are
(04:14):
real tacky.
And if you smell them, theysmell almost like honey wheat
bread.
Beautiful.
A lot of sugars, resins, they'renice and sticky, they smell
great.
But what we want to do is wewant to build the fermentation
process.
So, what we do is when we bringthem in from the curing barns,
we're gonna go into the initialfermentation, give us first
fever, like like the Cubans sayall the time.
And what we do is we build thesefor fermentation piles that we
(04:36):
call pilones.
In the old days, we would takeour hands in there, and my dad
would say, Boy, this tobacco'sready.
This we need to turn thisbecause we have to keep this
fermentation.
It's basically like a compostpile that keeps fermenting.
And what we want to do is wewant to build the heat up
naturally to about 105 degrees.
My mother always said that greatpot roast is low and slow, and
(04:57):
we believe tobacco should be lowand slow.
We don't really like to tax itby giving it a tremendous amount
of pressure.
And really, it's like greatbarbecue.
The lower and slower, and thetime, more time you give it, the
tender the more tender the meatis, and the tobacco becomes more
and more flavorful.
So that we're a big believer inthat.
Then we had big thermometers,now we have lasers where we can
go in.
(05:17):
So as the tobacco startsevolving, you'll notice it
starts getting a little darker,right?
So, Nicholas, give me a handhere.
And this is the succession isthis tobacco.
What happens starts getting alittle darker brown versus those
lighter blonde colors.
And what happens is we havethese clinical charts, just like
you would see in a hospital.
(05:37):
So this is tobacco from Esteli.
This came in last year inJanuary from one of our farms,
Consuelo.
This is from the 24-25 crop,this is a seed variety, and this
is the total weight, 3,376pounds.
Once the tobacco hits between105 and 107 degrees, what we do
is we deconstruct this puzzle.
(05:58):
And the reason we do it is tobuild equal fermentation.
Tops go to the bottom, bottomsgo to the tops, insides go to
the outsides, outsides go to theinside.
Equal distribution of pressure.
Remember when Nichols was eightyears old, we had him building
some of these fermentationpiles.
And my father always said, ifyou're gonna walk the walk, you
gotta talk to talk.
And if you look at theevolution, you start seeing
(06:18):
these tobaccos getting evendarker.
They're getting now a morereddish-brown color.
See how we have little spots ofoil and stuff going here.
We need to make sure we blendthat into the tobacco leaf.
And the secret of tobacco,believe it or not, Nicholas, and
we know about this, but it's thetips of your fingers, it's your
(06:38):
nose and your eyes.
If those fingers touch thattobacco and they tack, that
means that tobacco needs morefermentation.
The smell, when we get thatsolid tobacco core of smell, we
know it's ready, and the eyeswill show us when we finally
come up and look at tobacco likethis.
It's a little over four yearsold.
And look at these beautifulcolors.
(06:59):
Now they're a reddish brown, notackiness.
And when you open up and smell,what's it smell like?
SPEAKER_02 (07:05):
Well, this is our darker tobacco, it smells sweet,
it's got a bunch of just yousmell all those flavors,
everything that you imagine whenwe make those cigars and we use
these special filler tobaccosfrom Estelie, because this is
all tobacco from Estelie, likemy dad mentioned.
It's just got a tremendousamount of richness.
It's going to be super, superspecial.
SPEAKER_01 (07:22):
But you break down all those sugars, those resin,
those olds, and that's where youget the flavor.
And then finally, we come here,and this tobacco is actually
five years old.
And if you look at thesetobaccos, you'll see they're
like thick, they're reallyheavy.
This is what we call our lightertobaccos.
And if you see these tobaccosare just perfect, and these are
(07:43):
ready, and this is what totalfermentation is all about.
And depending on what valley thetobacco comes from, is how long
it's going to take.
So secos, which are lighttobaccos, we talked about
previously in the previouspodcast, takes anywhere between
18 and 24 months.
Visos take anywhere between 32and 36 months, and lietos like
this take or upwards to 60months or five years.
(08:06):
It's very important that thefermentation process is done
right.
And I think it's what makes ourtobacco so special.
We take a longer time than most,but because my father always
believed that we should fermenttobacco low and slow, it's
worked really good for us.
SPEAKER_02 (08:18):
It has worked really good for us.
So we've already talked about,you know, in fermentation, we
talked about tobacco comingthat's cured, right?
And then going into the piles tobe fermented.
So prior, it's a great point.
One of the things we wanted toshow was how tobacco, when it
comes from the curing barns, howwe properly moisten the tobacco
and why we do it.
So if you could talk about that,how we wet it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
So the the first thing is a great question.
The first thing we do is whenthe tobacco comes from the
farmer bales, we actually giveit what we call its first sweat.
And what do we do is we take thefluids that are embedded into
the tobacco leaves from thecuring barns and we give it its
first sweat.
That sweat takes between 72 and96 hours.
So what happens is that tobaccoheats up slowly to about 95 to
(09:00):
100 degrees, but it loses allits moisture.
Right.
The fermentation stops.
Now we have to go into theinitial second fermentation
where the tobaccos are going tobe fermented and age anywhere
between two to five years,depending on the types of
tobaccos and the textures.
So the first thing we do here iswe're going to take the hands of
tobacco with these fine mistingsprinklers, and we're going to
(09:22):
wet the tobacco.
So what we do is we take thehands of the tobacco, and
basically what we're doing is,you'll see here in a moment,
you'll see the sprinklers.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to turn them in a
306-degree radius so we can havea consistent amount of moisture.
Then what you're going to see isthe guys are going to shake the
tobacco out three times.
The reason we shake that tobaccoout is so we don't have live
(09:45):
water droplets.
We want to humidify the tobacco.
We don't want to, we don't wantto punish the tobacco.
So what happens is we won't havethose spots that you see in a
lot of cigars where you'll seelike a green spot or a white
spot.
That's because the tobacco hadlive water on it.
And it basically, underfermentation, because they
didn't shake it out completely,you're going to get those marks,
and we don't want to have them.
(10:05):
And then what happens is afterthey do that, they tie them in
hands of 144 leaves and we standthem up.
And the reason we stand them upand we tie them is so the water
goes down.
And basically what we're doingis we're building kind of like a
vortex of humidity, right?
Where we're building an updraftand a downdraft.
And what happens is it basicallyradiates completely around those
(10:27):
hands.
And what we do is we tie themand we put burlap over the top
so they can breathe.
The reason we're sitting on thisqueen is because we want that
moisture to go down, but we knowthe concrete is porous, but we
want to maintain that moisture.
So what happens is because it'snon-permeable here in this
plastic, we'll get thoseupdrafts of humidity and
downdrafts.
(10:47):
We'll leave this in for 24hours, and tomorrow morning
it'll be perfectly supple,completely humidified.
We're ready to put in thepilons.
And that's what we do.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Awesome.
This is great.
Really great information.
We wanted to share this with youguys.
I'm glad that we brought this toyou guys.
And, you know, today with ourPodomo podcast being on
fermentation.
We have our podcast.
We're about to all go back toMiami together pretty soon.
But it's one of those things wewanted to bring you here.
This is what we call our virtualpodcast.
This is one of the first of manythat we're going to be doing
where we show you guys the stepsand really what makes tobacco
(11:19):
and great cigars so special, butspecifically Podomo cigars and
why we're so great.
So thank you guys so much.
Let's get back to Miami.
Well, we're back and welcomeback to Miami, Florida, here at
the Podomo Podcast Studio herein Miami Lakes, Florida.
So, Dad, there's a lot to takeaway.
So, going through everythingfrom how we ferment and how we
(11:39):
take the cured tobaccos and allthose colors that we went
through and we showed everybody,all the powerhouse tobaccos, the
hide primings, which are higherup in the plant, all those
tobaccos from Esteli.
And I think that we showed someincredible, just the progression
of the leaf, the progression oftexture, of color, of smell.
(11:59):
And like how you said with thatcured tobacco, it smells like
that honey wheat bread, and itgoes to that rich, dark
chocolate color that we use forour Lejo tobaccos.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
This is really cool.
I love it.
I mean, it's what we do for aliving, and I'm glad you guys
got to see it firsthand.
SPEAKER_02 (12:16):
Yeah, and I think at the end of the day, you know,
going back to when we started,where it's probably one of the
most misunderstood processes,because everybody knows and
they've seen so many videos ofhow cigars get made, of you
know, tobacco in the fields andthings like that.
But really, fermentation is somisunderstood and really not
understood at best, and to behonest with you.
(12:38):
And I think our audience, Ithink you guys understand it
better.
But if there's some points I'dlike to leave you guys with, and
really I want you guys to thinkabout, is that fermentation,
again, it transforms all thecured tobaccos through
fermentation into that flavorfultype of high-quality tobaccos
that premium cigars are knownfor, specifically Perdomo
cigars, of course.
(12:59):
And if anything, it createssmooth flavors, the complexity
and the aroma that you guyscrave when you guys look to
smoke a prodomo cigar.
And Dad, it's it's one of thosethings I I remember when you,
you know, you always taught mefermentation, you got to treat
it like a baby.
You know, when you fermenttobacco, you gotta watch those
pilones, those piles of tobaccothat we looked at.
(13:19):
And I remember you told me yougotta you, it's like putting the
baby to sleep, a newborn.
You gotta come in, you check it,make sure the baby, it's like
when I was a kid, used to airout my blankets, make sure I
wasn't too hot because I wouldhave maybe caught on fire like a
like a pilone.
Just kidding.
And you know, so it's one ofthose things, the constant
attention to detail, all thosethings that you that that you've
created and all the differentprocesses that you've created
(13:42):
within our our company throughfermentation and all the
standards.
SPEAKER_01 (13:47):
Yeah, it's kind of funny you talk about lifting up
your blanket to cool you down.
It's the same thing withtobacco.
So when we break down thosepilones, believe it or not, we
have to shake that tobacco outbecause we have to dissipate the
heat that it's already beenbuilt naturally.
And the reason we want todissipate that heat is because
when we rebuild those pilones,we can actually get a
combustible fire because they'reso hot that we want to we don't
(14:09):
want to keep accelerating that.
So we cool all those tobaccosdown before we rebuild them,
even though we only bring thattemperature up, like you saw
when we were in Nicaragua at 105degrees.
I just believe in low and slow,and I don't believe in taxing
that tobacco, and you get moresugars, more resins, more oils,
and more flavor at the end.
And when you really look at inconclusion, you just get an
incredible tasting cigar whenyou'll see later when we go into
(14:31):
the barrel aging and so on.
So I'm excited that I'm gladeverybody got to see what we do
here.
SPEAKER_02 (14:36):
Yeah, and I think one of the biggest things, I
think one of the biggesttakeaways that you guys will
see, and it was a little detail,but it's a huge detail, like our
clinical chart, basically, whereyou show the date, all the
temperature controls, how manytimes it's been turned, how many
times that tobacco in the pilesand the bilonas have gone from
the outside in, the inside out,top to bottom, bottom to top.
(14:58):
And so all of that work, justand just that that marinating of
all those flavors and roundingout the harshness.
And those are the points.
So when you guys think aboutfermentation, you really don't
understand, just remember it'sabout refinement, it's about
making tobacco smoother, aboutbringing those oils, all those
sugars really into the tobaccoand making it come up and make
(15:20):
that cigar so refined and sojust flavorful.
SPEAKER_01 (15:24):
But and another thing, too, is it's a 24-hour,
seven-day-a-week operationbecause those pilonas are gonna
fire up at 11 o'clock at night,at three in the morning, or at
seven in the morning.
And we have new technology withthe sensors, the iPads, even the
the temperature probes, when wego in, we know whether it'd be
Saturday afternoon with Pilone182 is gonna hit 105 degrees,
(15:48):
and that's how we can keep it soconsistent.
So a lot of times we keep upwith old traditional methods
that we've all learned from fromour family.
But at the same time, too,there's some new technology
that's made us even better.
And one of the good things iswe've been very open-minded
technology, and and some of thetechnology we we we we didn't
feel that it was worth it, butthat this is is definitely a
(16:10):
great thing.
And I think my dad would bereally proud at how we really
have zeroed in on incrediblefermentation, and everybody
wins.
SPEAKER_02 (16:18):
100%.
And look, great tobacco, likeyou taught me, always starts at
the seed.
Absolutely.
We'll get into that, especiallyas we start going into our
growing season later on in theyear.
And we and I think this isreally fun.
I loved going down to Nicaragua,you know, for of course, for you
know, just working on futureprojects, stuff that we have
coming out in 27, 28, and even29.
(16:38):
And I think there's a projectcoming out for 2032 as well.
So we continue to work on, andwe're doing it for you, our
consumers, and our retailers,our loyal and faithful retailers
as well.
But I think it's you know, it'sagain, great tobacco starts at
the seed, but fermentation, andwhen you when you do everything
right, fermentation just bringsthe best out of the tobaccos.
(16:58):
It really does, and it makes thetobaccos that that refinement,
the balance, the aroma, andreally the biggest key word is
the consistency.
And and I appreciate all thecompliments, and I know my dad
does as well, of the complimentsof consistency that we're well
known for in Perdomo Cigars.
I think today we just showed youguys one of the biggest reasons
why we're so consistent.
When you look at theorganization, the methods that
(17:20):
we use to properly ferment allour tobaccos.
I'm just so glad that you guyswere able to see that.
And Dad, I I think it's time tothank everybody for joining us
today.
And if you like it, pleasesubscribe.
Also leave some comments.
SPEAKER_01 (17:32):
Leave some comments for us and Yeah, we we actually
read them and we're the ones whoactually answer every one of
them.
Look, we feel that if you takethe time out to comment and give
us your input, we should havethe right time too.
You know, we have someknuckleheads out there that come
up and say some stupid stuff.
For the most part, though,everybody's been really
phenomenal.
And I want to thank all of youthat are letting spreading the
(17:54):
word.
We've gotten a tremendous amountof down hits.
SPEAKER_02 (17:56):
Well, I love the knuckleheads too, because they
help the algorithm.
So the more you guys comment,even if it's good, bad, or
indifferent, whatever it is,we'll we'll also comment to you
guys too on your stupidity.
But it's okay.
But we appreciate all the greatcomments that you guys have
given us, and we're gonnacontinue to answer you guys too.
But also follow us on Facebookon Perdomo Cigars, also our
Perdomo Cigars Instagram page.
Follow us at NickPerdomo Jr.
(18:18):
on Instagram, NicholasPerdomothe third on Instagram, also on
our Facebook pages, of course,as well.
But again, please leave us thecomments.
We love you guys, and we lookforward to commenting and
talking with you guys more andmore.
So thanks so much.
We'll see you next time.
See ya.
That was good.
Welcome to the world of Perdomo Cigars.
We deliver the most authenticin-depth cigar education to you,
the cigar enthusiast.
Recorded at the Perdomo Studioin Miami, Florida, brought to
you by third and fourthgeneration master cigar makers.
This is the Perdomo Podcast.
(00:22):
Your hosts, Nick and NicholasPerdomo.
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
Welcome back, everybody, to the Perdomo
Podcast.
I am Nicholas Perdomo, and I'malongside my dad, Nick Perdomo.
And today we have a reallyspecial one for everybody, Dad.
Today we're going to talk aboutwhy fermentation is so important
with tobacco, but we're going todo something very different.
We're actually going to be doinga new theme within, just like
within the Perdomo Podcast, justlike the Perdomo Podcast Cigar
(00:49):
Mythbusters, today we're goingto be doing our virtual
experience where we're going totake you to Estely, Nicaragua
with us.
And specifically, Dad, one ofthe things that we're going to
be talking about and showingeverybody is we're going to take
today, we're going to take youinside one of the most
important, but really one of themost least understood parts of
premium cigar making, and thatis fermentation.
(01:12):
And fermentation is where greattobacco becomes exceptional.
And that's really, I look at youas the fermentation king, and
you guys are going to understandwhy I say that.
I I love fermentation.
It's it's a big thing.
It is.
It is.
It's everything.
It's going to be fun.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
And we're going to show youexactly what happens to tobacco
way before it ever even becomesa cigar.
(01:34):
And you guys are going to come,like I said earlier, you guys
are going to come with us toNicaragua.
And so, Dad, I want to give alittle bit of a backstory before
we all jump to Nicaragua.
First, what are you smoking?
I just come in.
That's fine.
I'm smoking a beautiful PodomoLegacy, Nicaraguan Shade Grown,
Gran Bellicoso six by 48 by 60.
How about yourself?
Me too.
Yeah, me desk.
(01:54):
We got great taste.
And so basically, you know, oneof the things, Dad, like going
back, you know, fermentation andthe backstory of the virtual
podcast, right?
Going into this virtualexperience.
And I want to give the backstoryreally where we sit down two to
three days a week, and we'realways brainstorming because we
(02:17):
want to give our audience moreand more.
And so we sit down with penciland paper, and you said, hey,
why not take the show toeverybody?
You know, and I think it's agreat opportunity too for people
to inquire about the PronomoFactory Tour.
So we have many differentsegments that we're going to be
showing you guys and bringingyou guys with us to Estely,
Nicaragua.
And but we want we want guys tosee our factory.
(02:40):
I want everybody to see how howbig, how the quality of all our
different pre-industries, ourour all our different our
rolling facility, all thedifferent areas that we have,
all our different processes.
And I think it's gonna I think alot of people are gonna be
intrigued about going to Estley,Nicaragua on our factory tour.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of people that
that love it and are verypassionate as much as we are.
SPEAKER_02 (03:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:03):
And I see it throughout all the years that
we've done the trips and howmuch you know people really
enjoy it.
And it fires me up when thecustomers and the consumers come
out and and come out and see us,and everybody's welcome and we
love it.
SPEAKER_02 (03:16):
Yeah.
So without further ado, Dad, Ithink it's time.
I think it's time we jump on ourlittle pad.
Let's go to Nicaragua.
Let's take you guys with us.
We'll see you guys in a minute.
See you soon.
Hey everybody, welcome toEstely, Nicaragua.
We're here at Tobacco AirProdomo.
This is our pre-industry.
And today, as we were talkingabout on our Prodomo podcast,
why fermentation is soimportant.
(03:36):
I'm gonna let my dad talk aboutit, but we wanted to bring you
guys here to Nesteli, Nicaragua,and see it.
So you're I'm glad you guys arehere with us.
So, Dad, we want to talk aboutfermentation and really why it's
so important.
So, if you can go through thesteps in terms of what makes our
cigar so special, but really whyfermentation is so important.
SPEAKER_01 (03:53):
Absolutely.
What better place to be righthere in Nicaragua where you can
see it firsthand?
So basically, when we get totobaccos here, you'll notice
these are what we call farmerbales, and these are the
tobaccos that come once they'recured in the curing barns.
And this is different than thefermentation process.
But if you look, the colors arebeautiful.
They're they're reddish-browncolors, but these tobaccos are
(04:14):
real tacky.
And if you smell them, theysmell almost like honey wheat
bread.
Beautiful.
A lot of sugars, resins, they'renice and sticky, they smell
great.
But what we want to do is wewant to build the fermentation
process.
So, what we do is when we bringthem in from the curing barns,
we're gonna go into the initialfermentation, give us first
fever, like like the Cubans sayall the time.
And what we do is we build thesefor fermentation piles that we
(04:36):
call pilones.
In the old days, we would takeour hands in there, and my dad
would say, Boy, this tobacco'sready.
This we need to turn thisbecause we have to keep this
fermentation.
It's basically like a compostpile that keeps fermenting.
And what we want to do is wewant to build the heat up
naturally to about 105 degrees.
My mother always said that greatpot roast is low and slow, and
(04:57):
we believe tobacco should be lowand slow.
We don't really like to tax itby giving it a tremendous amount
of pressure.
And really, it's like greatbarbecue.
The lower and slower, and thetime, more time you give it, the
tender the more tender the meatis, and the tobacco becomes more
and more flavorful.
So that we're a big believer inthat.
Then we had big thermometers,now we have lasers where we can
go in.
(05:17):
So as the tobacco startsevolving, you'll notice it
starts getting a little darker,right?
So, Nicholas, give me a handhere.
And this is the succession isthis tobacco.
What happens starts getting alittle darker brown versus those
lighter blonde colors.
And what happens is we havethese clinical charts, just like
you would see in a hospital.
(05:37):
So this is tobacco from Esteli.
This came in last year inJanuary from one of our farms,
Consuelo.
This is from the 24-25 crop,this is a seed variety, and this
is the total weight, 3,376pounds.
Once the tobacco hits between105 and 107 degrees, what we do
is we deconstruct this puzzle.
(05:58):
And the reason we do it is tobuild equal fermentation.
Tops go to the bottom, bottomsgo to the tops, insides go to
the outsides, outsides go to theinside.
Equal distribution of pressure.
Remember when Nichols was eightyears old, we had him building
some of these fermentationpiles.
And my father always said, ifyou're gonna walk the walk, you
gotta talk to talk.
And if you look at theevolution, you start seeing
(06:18):
these tobaccos getting evendarker.
They're getting now a morereddish-brown color.
See how we have little spots ofoil and stuff going here.
We need to make sure we blendthat into the tobacco leaf.
And the secret of tobacco,believe it or not, Nicholas, and
we know about this, but it's thetips of your fingers, it's your
(06:38):
nose and your eyes.
If those fingers touch thattobacco and they tack, that
means that tobacco needs morefermentation.
The smell, when we get thatsolid tobacco core of smell, we
know it's ready, and the eyeswill show us when we finally
come up and look at tobacco likethis.
It's a little over four yearsold.
And look at these beautifulcolors.
(06:59):
Now they're a reddish brown, notackiness.
And when you open up and smell,what's it smell like?
SPEAKER_02 (07:05):
Well, this is our darker tobacco, it smells sweet,
it's got a bunch of just yousmell all those flavors,
everything that you imagine whenwe make those cigars and we use
these special filler tobaccosfrom Estelie, because this is
all tobacco from Estelie, likemy dad mentioned.
It's just got a tremendousamount of richness.
It's going to be super, superspecial.
SPEAKER_01 (07:22):
But you break down all those sugars, those resin,
those olds, and that's where youget the flavor.
And then finally, we come here,and this tobacco is actually
five years old.
And if you look at thesetobaccos, you'll see they're
like thick, they're reallyheavy.
This is what we call our lightertobaccos.
And if you see these tobaccosare just perfect, and these are
(07:43):
ready, and this is what totalfermentation is all about.
And depending on what valley thetobacco comes from, is how long
it's going to take.
So secos, which are lighttobaccos, we talked about
previously in the previouspodcast, takes anywhere between
18 and 24 months.
Visos take anywhere between 32and 36 months, and lietos like
this take or upwards to 60months or five years.
(08:06):
It's very important that thefermentation process is done
right.
And I think it's what makes ourtobacco so special.
We take a longer time than most,but because my father always
believed that we should fermenttobacco low and slow, it's
worked really good for us.
SPEAKER_02 (08:18):
It has worked really good for us.
So we've already talked about,you know, in fermentation, we
talked about tobacco comingthat's cured, right?
And then going into the piles tobe fermented.
So prior, it's a great point.
One of the things we wanted toshow was how tobacco, when it
comes from the curing barns, howwe properly moisten the tobacco
and why we do it.
So if you could talk about that,how we wet it.
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
So the the first thing is a great question.
The first thing we do is whenthe tobacco comes from the
farmer bales, we actually giveit what we call its first sweat.
And what do we do is we take thefluids that are embedded into
the tobacco leaves from thecuring barns and we give it its
first sweat.
That sweat takes between 72 and96 hours.
So what happens is that tobaccoheats up slowly to about 95 to
(09:00):
100 degrees, but it loses allits moisture.
Right.
The fermentation stops.
Now we have to go into theinitial second fermentation
where the tobaccos are going tobe fermented and age anywhere
between two to five years,depending on the types of
tobaccos and the textures.
So the first thing we do here iswe're going to take the hands of
tobacco with these fine mistingsprinklers, and we're going to
(09:22):
wet the tobacco.
So what we do is we take thehands of the tobacco, and
basically what we're doing is,you'll see here in a moment,
you'll see the sprinklers.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to turn them in a
306-degree radius so we can havea consistent amount of moisture.
Then what you're going to see isthe guys are going to shake the
tobacco out three times.
The reason we shake that tobaccoout is so we don't have live
(09:45):
water droplets.
We want to humidify the tobacco.
We don't want to, we don't wantto punish the tobacco.
So what happens is we won't havethose spots that you see in a
lot of cigars where you'll seelike a green spot or a white
spot.
That's because the tobacco hadlive water on it.
And it basically, underfermentation, because they
didn't shake it out completely,you're going to get those marks,
and we don't want to have them.
(10:05):
And then what happens is afterthey do that, they tie them in
hands of 144 leaves and we standthem up.
And the reason we stand them upand we tie them is so the water
goes down.
And basically what we're doingis we're building kind of like a
vortex of humidity, right?
Where we're building an updraftand a downdraft.
And what happens is it basicallyradiates completely around those
(10:27):
hands.
And what we do is we tie themand we put burlap over the top
so they can breathe.
The reason we're sitting on thisqueen is because we want that
moisture to go down, but we knowthe concrete is porous, but we
want to maintain that moisture.
So what happens is because it'snon-permeable here in this
plastic, we'll get thoseupdrafts of humidity and
downdrafts.
(10:47):
We'll leave this in for 24hours, and tomorrow morning
it'll be perfectly supple,completely humidified.
We're ready to put in thepilons.
And that's what we do.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Awesome.
This is great.
Really great information.
We wanted to share this with youguys.
I'm glad that we brought this toyou guys.
And, you know, today with ourPodomo podcast being on
fermentation.
We have our podcast.
We're about to all go back toMiami together pretty soon.
But it's one of those things wewanted to bring you here.
This is what we call our virtualpodcast.
This is one of the first of manythat we're going to be doing
where we show you guys the stepsand really what makes tobacco
(11:19):
and great cigars so special, butspecifically Podomo cigars and
why we're so great.
So thank you guys so much.
Let's get back to Miami.
Well, we're back and welcomeback to Miami, Florida, here at
the Podomo Podcast Studio herein Miami Lakes, Florida.
So, Dad, there's a lot to takeaway.
So, going through everythingfrom how we ferment and how we
(11:39):
take the cured tobaccos and allthose colors that we went
through and we showed everybody,all the powerhouse tobaccos, the
hide primings, which are higherup in the plant, all those
tobaccos from Esteli.
And I think that we showed someincredible, just the progression
of the leaf, the progression oftexture, of color, of smell.
(11:59):
And like how you said with thatcured tobacco, it smells like
that honey wheat bread, and itgoes to that rich, dark
chocolate color that we use forour Lejo tobaccos.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
This is really cool.
I love it.
I mean, it's what we do for aliving, and I'm glad you guys
got to see it firsthand.
SPEAKER_02 (12:16):
Yeah, and I think at the end of the day, you know,
going back to when we started,where it's probably one of the
most misunderstood processes,because everybody knows and
they've seen so many videos ofhow cigars get made, of you
know, tobacco in the fields andthings like that.
But really, fermentation is somisunderstood and really not
understood at best, and to behonest with you.
(12:38):
And I think our audience, Ithink you guys understand it
better.
But if there's some points I'dlike to leave you guys with, and
really I want you guys to thinkabout, is that fermentation,
again, it transforms all thecured tobaccos through
fermentation into that flavorfultype of high-quality tobaccos
that premium cigars are knownfor, specifically Perdomo
cigars, of course.
(12:59):
And if anything, it createssmooth flavors, the complexity
and the aroma that you guyscrave when you guys look to
smoke a prodomo cigar.
And Dad, it's it's one of thosethings I I remember when you,
you know, you always taught mefermentation, you got to treat
it like a baby.
You know, when you fermenttobacco, you gotta watch those
pilones, those piles of tobaccothat we looked at.
(13:19):
And I remember you told me yougotta you, it's like putting the
baby to sleep, a newborn.
You gotta come in, you check it,make sure the baby, it's like
when I was a kid, used to airout my blankets, make sure I
wasn't too hot because I wouldhave maybe caught on fire like a
like a pilone.
Just kidding.
And you know, so it's one ofthose things, the constant
attention to detail, all thosethings that you that that you've
created and all the differentprocesses that you've created
(13:42):
within our our company throughfermentation and all the
standards.
SPEAKER_01 (13:47):
Yeah, it's kind of funny you talk about lifting up
your blanket to cool you down.
It's the same thing withtobacco.
So when we break down thosepilones, believe it or not, we
have to shake that tobacco outbecause we have to dissipate the
heat that it's already beenbuilt naturally.
And the reason we want todissipate that heat is because
when we rebuild those pilones,we can actually get a
combustible fire because they'reso hot that we want to we don't
(14:09):
want to keep accelerating that.
So we cool all those tobaccosdown before we rebuild them,
even though we only bring thattemperature up, like you saw
when we were in Nicaragua at 105degrees.
I just believe in low and slow,and I don't believe in taxing
that tobacco, and you get moresugars, more resins, more oils,
and more flavor at the end.
And when you really look at inconclusion, you just get an
incredible tasting cigar whenyou'll see later when we go into
(14:31):
the barrel aging and so on.
So I'm excited that I'm gladeverybody got to see what we do
here.
SPEAKER_02 (14:36):
Yeah, and I think one of the biggest things, I
think one of the biggesttakeaways that you guys will
see, and it was a little detail,but it's a huge detail, like our
clinical chart, basically, whereyou show the date, all the
temperature controls, how manytimes it's been turned, how many
times that tobacco in the pilesand the bilonas have gone from
the outside in, the inside out,top to bottom, bottom to top.
(14:58):
And so all of that work, justand just that that marinating of
all those flavors and roundingout the harshness.
And those are the points.
So when you guys think aboutfermentation, you really don't
understand, just remember it'sabout refinement, it's about
making tobacco smoother, aboutbringing those oils, all those
sugars really into the tobaccoand making it come up and make
(15:20):
that cigar so refined and sojust flavorful.
SPEAKER_01 (15:24):
But and another thing, too, is it's a 24-hour,
seven-day-a-week operationbecause those pilonas are gonna
fire up at 11 o'clock at night,at three in the morning, or at
seven in the morning.
And we have new technology withthe sensors, the iPads, even the
the temperature probes, when wego in, we know whether it'd be
Saturday afternoon with Pilone182 is gonna hit 105 degrees,
(15:48):
and that's how we can keep it soconsistent.
So a lot of times we keep upwith old traditional methods
that we've all learned from fromour family.
But at the same time, too,there's some new technology
that's made us even better.
And one of the good things iswe've been very open-minded
technology, and and some of thetechnology we we we we didn't
feel that it was worth it, butthat this is is definitely a
(16:10):
great thing.
And I think my dad would bereally proud at how we really
have zeroed in on incrediblefermentation, and everybody
wins.
SPEAKER_02 (16:18):
100%.
And look, great tobacco, likeyou taught me, always starts at
the seed.
Absolutely.
We'll get into that, especiallyas we start going into our
growing season later on in theyear.
And we and I think this isreally fun.
I loved going down to Nicaragua,you know, for of course, for you
know, just working on futureprojects, stuff that we have
coming out in 27, 28, and even29.
(16:38):
And I think there's a projectcoming out for 2032 as well.
So we continue to work on, andwe're doing it for you, our
consumers, and our retailers,our loyal and faithful retailers
as well.
But I think it's you know, it'sagain, great tobacco starts at
the seed, but fermentation, andwhen you when you do everything
right, fermentation just bringsthe best out of the tobaccos.
(16:58):
It really does, and it makes thetobaccos that that refinement,
the balance, the aroma, andreally the biggest key word is
the consistency.
And and I appreciate all thecompliments, and I know my dad
does as well, of the complimentsof consistency that we're well
known for in Perdomo Cigars.
I think today we just showed youguys one of the biggest reasons
why we're so consistent.
When you look at theorganization, the methods that
(17:20):
we use to properly ferment allour tobaccos.
I'm just so glad that you guyswere able to see that.
And Dad, I I think it's time tothank everybody for joining us
today.
And if you like it, pleasesubscribe.
Also leave some comments.
SPEAKER_01 (17:32):
Leave some comments for us and Yeah, we we actually
read them and we're the ones whoactually answer every one of
them.
Look, we feel that if you takethe time out to comment and give
us your input, we should havethe right time too.
You know, we have someknuckleheads out there that come
up and say some stupid stuff.
For the most part, though,everybody's been really
phenomenal.
And I want to thank all of youthat are letting spreading the
(17:54):
word.
We've gotten a tremendous amountof down hits.
SPEAKER_02 (17:56):
Well, I love the knuckleheads too, because they
help the algorithm.
So the more you guys comment,even if it's good, bad, or
indifferent, whatever it is,we'll we'll also comment to you
guys too on your stupidity.
But it's okay.
But we appreciate all the greatcomments that you guys have
given us, and we're gonnacontinue to answer you guys too.
But also follow us on Facebookon Perdomo Cigars, also our
Perdomo Cigars Instagram page.
Follow us at NickPerdomo Jr.
(18:18):
on Instagram, NicholasPerdomothe third on Instagram, also on
our Facebook pages, of course,as well.
But again, please leave us thecomments.
We love you guys, and we lookforward to commenting and
talking with you guys more andmore.
So thanks so much.
We'll see you next time.
See ya.
That was good.
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