Cuban cigars are well-known for their precisely blended and complex flavor, and that’s exactly what Black Note captures in its Concerto vaping liquid. As with all Black Note e-juice, the Concerto blend is crafted using only naturally extracted tobacco, with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives to provide authentic taste.

Capturing the essences of different tobacco varieties for our standard blends is laborious work, and capturing the essences of a Cuban cigar is even more of a challenge. To best understand how we do it, it’s essential to start by understanding the anatomy of cigars.

Anatomy of a Cigar

One of the reasons cigars have such a complex taste is because they have complex anatomy. Unlike traditional cigarettes that contain a tobacco blend housed in an outer layer of paper, cigars consist of four distinct types of tobacco leaves. Three of those leaf types make up the cigar filler, and they’re categorized based on their location on the tobacco plant. The fourth type of leaf is used as the cigar’s outer wrapper.

The three leaf types used as filler are:

• Ligero: Top 40 percent of tobacco plant leaves, where you find the nicotine
• Seco: Middle 50 percent of tobacco plant leaves, where you find the flavor
• Volado: Bottom 10 percent of tobacco plant leaves, where you’ll get the best-burning leaves

The tobacco leaf type used as the wrapper is:

• Capa: Typically from the middle of the tobacco plan, these leaves are chosen for beauty rather than taste

Creating Cigar Filler

When combined, the three different leaf types used as cigar filler are known as tripa. Each leaf type can be of different fermented varieties in cigars, as long as they correspond with the designated part of the tobacco plant.

The cigar blender is in charge of the composition and placement of the tripa, advising on the percentage of each leaf type to include, as well as the order in which to include them. The tripa typically consists of three distinct sections:

• The innermost section, often consisting of ligero
• The middle section, typically consisting of seco
• The outermost section, usually made up of volado

Once the tripa is formed and shaped, the binder holds the tripa together in its desired shape until the wrapper can be applied.

Crafting the Wrapper

The leaf chosen as the capa, or cigar wrapper, is laid over the binder to keep the tripa firmly in place while it delivers and enhances the cigar’s overall bouquet. And leaves chosen for the job must be absolutely flawless in every way.

They must first be flawless in their looks, with only a few perfect leaves available from any single tobacco plant. Leaves chosen for capa are typically among the largest leaves of the tobacco plant, which are positioned in the middle of the plant.

To make it into the capa category, tobacco leaves must be free of defects and mechanical damage, such as holes or insect bites. They also must be primed at just the right stage of ripeness.

Once selected for use as capa, the leaves must then be flawlessly cured and processed. Curing first dries the leaves, which are then hand-selected for a bulk fermentation process where they’re aged to the proper ripeness.

The next step is to put the wrapper in place over the binding to retain the shape while providing the cigar with a distinguishing bouquet.

The Concerto Extraction Process

Transforming a Cuban cigar into our Concerto vaping liquid is a meticulous process that involves a combination of careful selection, precision and consistency. Creating the initial recipe for the blend likewise required rigorous research, testing and honing of methods to produce the complex taste expected from a Cuban cigar.

Concerto contains a percentage of each type of tobacco leaf used in cigar-making, which means you’ll find a specific percentage of:

• Ligaro
• Seco
• Volado
• Capa

The first and most important part of the process begins by choosing the right amount of each leaf type that meets essential criteria. The chosen leaves must:

• Submit easily to extraction
• Readily combine with other selected leaves to create the perfect blend
• Produce an extract that enhances the overall desired taste of the finished product

While Cuban cigars may contain more than one variety of tobacco, Concerto is made using the leaves of the same variety and seed to consistently maintain the vaping liquid’s desired and expected result.

The Overall Concerto Creation Process

Once leaves are chosen in their proper percentage, they undergo the same steps used in the creation process for all Black Note vaping liquids. The process takes two to three years to complete, and the overall nine-step process involves:

• Selecting the cigar tobacco variety that meets Concerto’s essential criteria
• Growing the tobacco, with our cigar blend requiring a moist, tropic climate
• Curing the leaf, which is done through air-curing in dark barns
• Moistening, stripping and sorting the leaves
• Conditioning and aging the leaves
• Blending the carefully chosen leaves in proper proportions
• Extracting the delicate tobacco essences through a cold maceration process
• Filtering the extract to remove impurities
• Bottling and packaging

Concerto Final Result

The final result is a high-quality cigar tobacco vaping liquid with a pleasant and aromatic flavor. The flavor notes range from mildly sweet to slightly spicy, all enhanced with rich and subtle smoky undertones. Concerto both tastes like and uses the same types of tobacco found in high-end Cuban cigars.

Now that you know exactly how our Concerto cigar tobacco vaping liquid is made, your next step is to give it a try. The same precisely chosen and complex taste that makes people fall in love with Cuban cigars is the hallmark of Black Note Concerto vaping liquid.