Quepos Cigars - Best in Costa Rica

Just our good luck to happen upon Norma's Cigar Shop in Quepos! We stopped in to pick up some cigars for Chris and ended up making a new friend.

Chris with Norma

Norma has lived in Quepos for many years and she turned out to be a wealth of information about the area, where to find parts and anything else we needed. Her husband works on AC systems and was able to assist us in repairing our air conditioning on board Sirena, a necessity in this hot, humid climate.

One day Norma demonstrated how cigars are rolled. First she laid out a wrapper leaf, usually from Costa Rica, or Nicaragua. Removing the central vein in order to keep the wrapper smooth for a uniform burn, she stretched it out diagonally on a flat surface.

Removing the vein from the wrapper leaf, cutting and wetting it for wrapping.

Selecting long leaf filler tobacco. Some are mild and others more robust in flavor.

Next she selected long leaf filler tobacco and bunched it very tightly together. Laying the filler across the wrapper she began to roll the cigar, tucking in the filler leaves as she proceeded.

Once completely rolled, the wrapped cigar is tightly packed into a mold and placed in a press to allow the cigar to dry into the proper shape and uniform size.

Once out of the mold, the end is cut to the desired length and the other end is covered with a small circular cutout of wrapper leaf.

The sample was not in the mold long enough so it's a little wrinkled, but the other cigars were also hand rolled by Norma and they're some of the best we've had!

Be sure to stop by if you find yourself in Quepos and in need of a good cigar!