And then, at the end, Napoleon walking past on two legs with an aromatic cigar.
Even a slight variation can affect whether the leaves dry into a light, aromatic cigar wrapper or become nothing more than rot.
It's defined by aromatic cigar and coffee shops, a perpetual blare of salsa trumpets wafting from the distance, and the domino and chess games of older men who gather daily in tiny Maximo Gómez Park.
Most tobaccos, except aromatic and cigar, are regraded if necessary and usually redried after purchase; then the exact amount of moisture needed for aging is added and the tobacco is securely packed in cases or hogsheads.
"But I've come to think the better man won," said Mr. Nelson, owner of the Humidor Cigar Shop, an aromatic haven of pipes, blended tobaccos and customers on a first-name basis.
Aromatic tobaccos, also used for cigars, are spaced in rows 38 to 60 cm (15 to 24 inches) apart with 8 to 20 cm (3 to 8 inches) between plants in the row.
The leaves of cigar-wrapper and aromatic tobaccos are strung using a needle, and leaves to be flue-cured are looped, using a string tied to a lath or stick that is hung in a curing barn.
The diaper-service man comes down the street with his big plastic bags, smoking a cigar to provide an aromatic screen for his daily task -- and they're all over him and his steamy bag.
Made at the revered Craggy Range winery, it's beautifully aromatic, like sticking your nose in an old cigar box while having your mouth full of smooth, savoury, luscious, dense red wine.
"We have a lot of ladies who come for the first time," says Edita Nemethova, Manchester Street's cigar sommelier and a connoisseur of the aromatic pastime.
Alexandra yields a kaleidoscopic swirl of aromatic and flavor impressions: smoke, sweet oak from barrels, cigar box, firm but softening tannins, cassis, lead pencil (a famous characteristic of Bordeaux) and a sprinkle of herbs.
