Most cigar smokers understand that tobacco for premium cigars is grown in far away places like the Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. But I would bet that not many people know that there are producers growing tobacco in the state of Kentucky, specifically for use in premium cigars. Eric McAnallen is one of those producers. In fact, to my knowledge, he is the only person using Kentucky-grown Broadleaf as a wrapper in a premium handmade cigar.

Eric McAnallen standing in 7' tall Kenbano, crop of 2007

Recently, I had the opportunity to converse with Eric about his background in the tobacco business, the tobacco industry in Kentucky, and about the cigars that he is producing under the Black Patch cigar label. I wanted to understand what kind of passion was driving this man to hazard a venture into the complex world of premium cigars and to grow cigar tobacco in, of all places, Western Kentucky. I think you will be astounded by the historical information shared by Eric and also by his passion for making premium cigars.

DOC: The premium cigar industry is often a multi-generation business. Did you have family in this business and/or how did you develop your knowledge of tobacco?

Below: Eric sports the new perfecto 5 x 54, Select Blend with positive result

ERIC: My father-in-law introduced me to tobacco agronomy in 1988. He raised 3 types of tobacco on his farm in Caldwell County Kentucky in the Black Patch region of Western Kentucky. Over a 36-year period, until he quit in 2003, he raised Burley, Fire Cured, and Dark Air leaf tobaccos. The Dark Air he raised was under contract to a leaf broker who in turn told him it was being used in the production of cigars. With considerable time and knowledge gained since I began my quest in creating my own blends of cigars, I am convinced that this particular variety of Dark Air more than likely was used as filler in machine made cigars, or used as homogenized sheeting.

Anyway, I was intrigued by my father-in-law’s involvement in the tobacco business and after 9 years of witnessing his farming and harvesting techniques, I developed the urge to create my own cigars.

I received a Biology degree from the University of Kentucky, so the genetics and researching of tobacco was understandable and not so taxing. Also, my father-in-law worked with the UK tobacco experimental station in Princeton Kentucky, so good contacts and helpful information was only a phone call away.

Below: View of Black Patch proprietary LC-1959  broadleaf tobacco

As a history buff, the historical background of the region, in general, and tobacco in specific consumed me. I learned that cigar production was quite prevalent in Western Kentucky in the mid 1800’s to the turn of the century. The knowledge I gained of the Black Patch area gave me a new appreciation of its rich tobacco heritage and fueled my quest for making my own cigars.

DOC: Kentucky has been growing Burley tobacco for cigarettes for generations, but what prompted you to start growing tobacco for premium cigars in Kentucky?

ERIC: Western Kentucky has been growing broadleaf for over 150 years. Our first strains of tobacco indigenous to this continent were a broadleaf variety. University and Corporate research has further developed virus and soil resistant strains and hybrids to the present.

The parentage of Burley was a freak of nature. It was a mutation of broadleaf in the late 1800’s in Ohio, I believe. Then later, when Burley was introduced into Kentucky, it flourished. Even later, it was grown in Virginia and North Carolina.

Below: Eric in Black Patch tobacco field of F-1 generation seed of Kenbano  

Then lo and behold mechanization paved the way to large-scale production of cigarettes. Burley was a great tobacco variety to blend in the rag cut (i.e., cutting the tobacco into thin strips). Care of Burley tobacco and harvesting is quite easy and the grading of the leaf is not that detailed since the leaf was cut into bits. So when cigarette manufacturing demanded more of the leaf, the market for Burley exploded. Farmers switched gears and gravitated to the Burley variety and the demand for cigar and pipe tobaccos dropped considerably.

Now back to cigar production in Western Kentucky. The history of cigar making in the 1800’s seemed to be on or near waterways; like the Mississippi River and Ohio River and their confluences. After the civil war in 1865, hard currency was scarce and commerce continued utilizing the bartering system in earnest. In Western Kentucky there are documents relating to the trade of Hemp, Whiskey, and Corn for Sugar, Rice, and Carribe tobacco from the port of Louisiana. In the trade port of Paducah Kentucky, penny cigars were blended and sold. So, someone back then was taking Western Kentucky broadleaf and Carribe (i.e., Cuban or Dom Rep) tobaccos and making cigars.

So, I took it upon myself to start overseeing the raising of necessary tobacco varieties for premium cigar production. I am just reinventing the wheel, so to speak. The only difference now is that I export my leaf to where the art of cigar making never ceased. I am utilizing centuries of tradition and experience to blend and produce my cigars in the Dominican Republic, with a family who has been raising tobacco and producing cigars for a documented 109 years.

DOC: Tell us a bit about your Black Patch cigar blends and, what makes them unique in the cigar industry?

ERIC: In 1999, my goal was to make a cigar using Kentucky tobacco only. This was a huge blunder. The first of many curve balls I missed. I was introduced to a small manufacturer in Miami who made cigars on Flagler Avenue. In the spring of 2000 in Miami, Florida we blended the first of many prototypes. As I said, we first tried all Kentucky leaf, and then tried blending Nicaraguan and Honduran leaf into the mix with Kentucky leaf. These blends didn’t create enough difference in residues or taste to differentiate the different soil signatures.

Below: Jorge Carbonell sharing his wisdom and insights; November 2007

Upon the insistence of Nestor Ramirez Benedict, we sent some of my tobacco down to the Dominican Republic to a contact of his (Jorge Carbonell). After having some prototypes made at their factory, they called me and said they needed to see me immediately. So a planned two-day trip to Santiago, Dominican Republic turned into 8 days of resurrection. Then and there is when I went back to school. The mantra of the patriarch was “patience, passion, and persistence”.

It was near the end of the cigar boom and Jorge Carbonell said, “Many have come and many will leave or have left.” He understood that I wasn’t just another “Businessman” who wanted to pick out a pre-made blend from a catalog and private label the next “new thing.” The foundation of our friendship and relationship, which continues to this day, is based on Jorge’s early advice.

On this first visit, I learned that the same blends from many factory wholesalers were more than likely being presented in multiple markets under quadruple the number of different labels and companies as “their own private creation.” My involvement and desire was to truly produce something unique, using proprietary tobaccos that I raised as an integral component in the recipes. Though I have been able to realize this goal, I must now balance the patience and time requirements with the hard realities of monetary commitment.

Below: Eric in the Carbonell plantation in the Cibao Valley.

Tobacco is a Dominican Olor varietal

Since that inaugural visit, I have raised 5 different varieties of tobacco. We discontinued the original seed I started in 1998. I sold my harvested tobacco from 1999 and 2000 to a broker. In 2001 I raised a small experimental patch. I did not raise anything in 2002, but I introduced an “old” broadleaf seed (LC-1959) in 2003 and am still using this proprietary variety of seed.

All of my current production is blended using this 2003 harvested tobacco. It is a sun grown broadleaf, which I think is industry marketing jargon since all tobacco is raised in the sun, or at least the tobacco we raise is.

As for our blends, we have three. The Reserve blend is a long filler constructed cigar that uses the wrapper grade leaf that I raise. This maduro leaf is triple fermented. The fermenting of my tobacco is overseen in the Dominican Republic. In the Select blend, another long filler cigar, uses the tips of the tobacco plant, or ligero, in the center of the bunched filler. The Classic cigars are medium filler hand made cigars using the cut from the wrapper leaf as filler. Of course, I utilize other tobaccos in the 3 blends for the final product.

Below: Eric enjoying the smooth finish of the Select Blend perfecto

The LC-1959 broadleaf was raised in 2004, and in 2006. I skipped the 2005 season. I also raised a super crop of the LC-1959 broadleaf in 2007. We also successfully cultivated a Cuban seed variety, which I have since trademarked with the US Patent office as “Kenbano,” in 2007. The Kenbano will go into production in 2010. How and what components will be in the construction of a final blend using the Kenbano leaf is still unknown.

This year, I am raising 3 varieties of seed. The first, being the LC-1959 hybrid. The second, a proprietary seed used in Connecticut as a sun grown broadleaf. And the third is the F-1 generation of Kenbano. The Kenbano can either be raised under sheets or natural. For practical purposes we raise all our tobacco under natural conditions. The Kenbano variety of tobacco is raised naturally and is harvested by the priming method, which demands close scrutiny and attention. This is very labor intensive. As the production run on the 2003 harvest is finished, I now have the most awaited luxury of using tobacco harvested in 2004 for future blending.

I am fortunate to have developed a close working relationship with the necessary individuals in the Dominican Republic, who have become more than just business associates. They are walking Almanacs and people of the soil. The industry and the complexity, I have come to realize, are closely guarded in tradition. The backbone of raising tobacco and producing cigars is honed through centuries of tradition and from a cottage industry. I have been fortunate to learn just a few of these insights and secrets from this insular world, but I am far from possessing the same level of in-depth knowledge. It’s about the soil, the ph, the timing of the seasons. Way beyond just making cigars, it’s about the respect of what nature throws at us and how we cope and exist in it.

I have the greatest admiration for the people in this business, especially those who toil in the sun and soil. This is where it starts. Without this fortitude, there just simply aren’t cigars. This is what I wish to offer, the passion and commitment from the beginning to the finish of the final product.

DOC: As a small cigar company, what can you offer customers that a large company cannot?

ERIC: I want to impress myself. This sounds selfish. But I am easily embarrassed by virtue of who I am. I truly want to make a solid cigar and offer different characteristics of taste and aroma in distinct fashion.

I am revisiting the heritage of Kentucky’s past in cigar production. I look at tobacco as a spice. I am adding this new spice that is being raised in Kentucky soil, along with tobaccos from other locales, into a new offering of sensation. As in all final construction and makeup of a cigar, it begins with consistency of the blend for the long term. The final decision made is what stamps each blend its signature taste and body.

Below: Rollers apply Java shade wrapper to the Select Blend cigars

My goal is to create an aroma and taste that is infinite and unique. Seasonal weather differences while growing and curing will alter the definition of flavor, which also defines the vintage or run. These are conditions that can’t be altered or manipulated. There will be subtle differences from harvest to harvest into perpetuity but the essence I have established will be the same. I am currently offering 3 foundation blends that I am confident in now and for the future. There will be new introductions but only when time allows it. I have created a manageable spectrum of choices for the cigar smoker ranging from a mild-to-medium, medium, and medium-to-full persuasion in taste and body in my current offerings.

DOC: What are your immediate goals for Black Patch Cigars and how do you plan to achieve them?

ERIC: I am a small batch producer, so every time one of my cigars is smoked I am battling extreme prejudice and scrutiny from the aficionado. I know that if I can offer a cigar where a person does not experience roof burn, acrid sensations or a nauseating smell, I have delivered a well-blended cigar. It’s the individual smoker who has to determine if the experience is worth repeating. Some people enjoy light beer, some enjoy beer with body, and some even vow that “their” choice is the right one. It doesn’t mean that the multiple beers available are bad. It means that each person must find the connection that will warrant repeat business and loyalty for the long term. This is the gratifying resultant I wish to achieve.

Besides the foundation blends that I offer my focus of late has been involved with seed development. My efforts this season in the fields will not be realized for years. So patience and optimism is necessary for future success. I will not be offering any new blends until 2010. I need to take a breather and enjoy what I have to offer in the present.

Contact Information:

Eric McAnallen: info@blackpatchcigarco.com

Black Patch Cigars: http://www.blackpatchcigarco.com/

Phone: 859.948.0487