Cuba’s premier tobacco farm continues the Robaina tradition

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One of the greatest pleasures of researching my Moon Cuba Handbook has been my visits to Finca Pinar El San Luís—the tobacco farm of the late Alejandro Robaina, who I used to enjoy chatting to while we smoked cigars together while rocking on chairs on the veranda of his home overlooking the tobacco fields of Pinar del Río.

As I reported on my blog post of April 26, 2010—“Alejandro Robaina, Cuba's legendary cigar ambassador dies” —Cuba’s most famous tobacco farmer and semi-official cigar ambassador passed away at the age of 91. The tradition lives on, however, thanks to Alejandro’s 35-year-old grandson, Hirochi Robaina.

A visit to Finca Pinar El San Luís is a highlight of any visit to Pinar del Río province. Individual travelers will have no problem calling by impromptu, although a reservation would be appreciated. Today I returned from escorting the first National Geographic Expeditions’ 10-day “Cuba: Discover its People and Culture” tour, in which a visit was scheduled. Alas, only one hour before arriving, the Communist bureaucracy interjected and we were informed that group visits to the private finca arranged by Cuba’s state-run Havanatur tour agency (or any other state agency) would not be permitted.

So, if you’re going alone…

Hirochi, who speaks English well, inherited his grandfather’s legendary knowledge and skills. During a recent visit to the farm, I asked Hirochi to explain the secret behind the superior quality of the farm’s tobacco, considered the finest produced in all Cuba.

“Every September 21, at midnight, my grandfather would sit in his rocking chair and wait for the wind to blow,” said Hirochi. “If the wind blows from the north, it will be a good year for the crop—a wind from the northeast is best. If the wind is blowing from the south, that indicates a problematic year. That’s why we say all good things come from the north,” he added, a light-hearted allusion to the United States.

Such knowledge, handed down from his grandfather, helps Hirochi decide when to begin planting tobacco seedlings in the fields. The farm lies directly in the track of hurricanes that sweep north from the Gulf of Mexico as late as November. Most farms begin planting tobacco in mid-November, when the hurricane season is over.

Hirochi led us out to the fields, where workers were planting the first seedlings.

What distinguishes his farm for that of his neighbors, I asked.

“I always made notes of things my grandfather taught me,” he replied. “I remember his talking about how in the old days, natural fertilizers such as peanuts and cotton seeds had been used, especially by the U.S. companies that had large farms here before the Revolution,” he replied.

Apparently, the tradition died out when peanuts ceased to be available. Recently, Hirochi was able to obtain some peanut plant seeds, he explained. Today, the farm grows its own peanuts, which are ground into powder and sprinkled in the fields, rekindling a long-lost tradition intended to maintain the Robaina legend.

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Disclosure: I occasionally accept free or discounted travel when it coincides with my editorial goals. However, my opinion is never for sale. The opinions you see in Cuba & Costa Rica Journal are my unbiased reflection of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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This blog post by travel writer and photographer, and Cuba expert, Christopher P Baker describes recent changes at Havana's cigar factories open for tours.