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Yauco.- The explosion of flavors he felt on his palate when he tasted tobacco for the first time was what motivated artisan José Antonio Vélez Burgos to search across the island for a mentor who would teach him how to work the almost extinct craft of tobacco.

He visited Quebradillas, Isabela, Añasco, Guayanilla, Ponce, Naguabo, and Cayey, but the cigars he found along the way did not meet his expectations. After searching far and wide, Vélez Burgos finally found the person who taught him the secrets of the art of good tobacco in Old San Juan.

“The first impression of tobacco was for me, an exquisite experience... the aroma, the taste, the feeling, it blew my taste buds away. Incredible flavors. That’s when I started looking for people who worked with tobacco, because I wanted to learn. I went all over Puerto Rico, literally, but it was at a square in Old San Juan where some artisans were meeting where I met tobacco master Rafael Ramos. He taught me a lot and impressed me with his character,” recalled the artisan, a native of the Palomas barrio in Yauco.

“He pulled out a table, placed two chairs facing each other and put several tobacco leaves on the table and asked me: ‘What is this?’ But I didn’t know what it was, and he gave me a lecture on what each leaf was, and how the leaf is removed from the plant,” he explained.

It was through this master craftsman, in the year 2000, that Vélez Burgos, a trained draftsman, learned about the tastings that he now recreates through his brand, “Pasiones de mi Tierra” (Passions of my Land).

“He said to me, ‘you’re going to take this leaf,’ he broke off a piece and said ‘chew it for about two minutes.’ That’s when I started to learn the differences between tobacco leaves and what flavors I could get from the leaf,” he said.

He also explained that the process of drying a tobacco leaf can take from two to three months, as it involves a curing stage.

“Years ago, in the countryside, there were huts where tobacco was hung to dry. A bonfire was lit and inside it, liquors, wood and spices were poured, all so that the aroma would permeate the tobacco leaf. Tobacco, although it is a dead leaf because it is dry, retains and releases flavors and smells. That is why when you smoke a cigar, you can taste different types of aromas and flavors. You’re going to find pepper, wood flavors, it’s basically like wine, you find a lot of flavors; instead of grapes, though, it’s a leaf,” he explained.

He also highlighted the way in which he ages his leaves, which he buys in limited quantities due to the scarcity of tobacco farmers.

“I buy them, store them, and I work with the few I have in hand. I double age them to achieve what I want. Tobacco cultivation can be tedious, because there is a caterpillar that can kill a plant in one night; a whole plant, no matter its size,” he said.

Vélez Burgos stands out because he also makes pipe tobacco, a process that can take several months to complete.

“My forte is cigars, but I have the knowledge to make spun cut tobacco and pipe tobacco. The only one who makes organic pipe tobacco is me. I prefer pipe tobacco because it is more aromatic. I can flavor it with tamarind, cherry, honey. It can take one to two days to get the flavor I want. As soon as the leaf reaches the point I prefer, I cut it into very small pieces, I put it in a plastic bag or container, I start mixing it and then set it aside for aging. Then I return to it a week later, I move it and then put it away again, and that can go on for two or three months.”

The artisan, whose biography is on display at the Museo del Tabaco in Caguas, regretted the destruction of the island’s fruitful tobacco industry as other types of manufacturing industries were imported.

“The tobacco industry was destroyed in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico stood out for being ranked the number five tobacco harvester in the world. Even among other tobacco-growing countries, our cigars could compete against those from anywhere else in the world,” he argued.

“Now there are few of us who have knowledge in tobacco and there are almost no tobacco farmers anymore, because the last one died about four years ago. There are some guys in the Coamo and Villalba area who raise tobacco plants. In Orocovis and Morovis there are a few left. These are small crops,” he added.

But this does not discourage this artisan, who enjoys crafting a variety of mixtures to delight those who try his tobacco.

*Artisan José Antonio Vélez Burgos does not have a fixed establishment. Instead, he moves around the various craft fairs held across the island. For more information on his products, call 787-648-2858.