06 - Journal

Notes from the manufactory.

Editorial pieces on Swiss tobacco, vintages, people and places. Written for those who want to listen.

Stacked tobacco leaves
Craft cigarette production at the manufactory in Steinach

N°10 · 4 min read

Who produces Sullana cigarettes?

Short and clear: Sullana cigarettes are produced by Heimat Manufaktur AG in Steinach on Lake Constance.

Swiss tobacco field at sunset

N°09 · 11 min

Swiss terroir - what soil, altitude and climate leave in the leaf

Terroir is well known from wine. In tobacco it remains barely studied - and nowhere in Europe does it show as clearly as here.

Brissago cigar with traditional straw mouthpiece

N°08 · 10 min

Stumpen and Brissago - a small Swiss tobacco culture

Two cigar formats, two cantons, an almost forgotten history.

Cream-coloured Swiss Burley leaf

N°07 · 8 min

Burley from Switzerland - a variety with character

Europe's northernmost serious Burley region - and what that latitude means in the glass.

Aerial view of the Broye valley with tobacco fields and a river bend

N°06 · 9 min

Broye - the heart of Swiss tobacco

Three quarters of all Swiss tobacco grows here. A close look at a landscape that almost hides itself.

Hands sorting tobacco leaves on a wooden table

N°05 · 7 min

From field to manufactory

A day with our growers and processors - what really happens between harvest and blend.

Swiss tobacco farmer in the field

N°04 · 10 min

The Swiss tobacco tradition

A short history of a quiet culture - from the Huguenots to today.

Tobacco field in golden afternoon light

N°03 · 6 min

The influence of a hot summer - vintage 2024

Vintage 2024 - a season that changed the leaf.

Stacked tobacco bales in a fermentation room

N°02 · 12 min

Why fermentation matters more than technique

On what cannot be sped up.

Stacked tobacco leaves in cool light

N°01 · 8 min

What makes good tobacco?

A small school of taste - and why the answer doesn't live in the lab.