Apes Hill featured in Cigar Aficionado for on-site tobacco project

The feature explores how a chance discovery of wild tobacco plants across the Apes Hill estate has grown into a long-term, on-site initiative rooted in curiosity, care and respect for the land.

 

Cigar Aficionado details how the plants were first found growing naturally across the 470-acre property by golf superintendent Ed Paskins, and how they now form a carefully tended crop alongside the resort’s wider Farm to Fork programme. The article notes how this approach mirrors the way Apes Hill grows much of its own produce to reduce its carbon footprint and maintain quality across the resort.

The piece also reflects on Barbados’ historic relationship with tobacco, explaining how Aztec and Virginia varieties first arrived on the island centuries ago, with descendants still growing wild today. Haskins is quoted describing a thoughtful, unhurried process of experimentation, allowing different plants to mature, seed and reveal which are best suited to local conditions.

Cigar Aficionado notes that the project is designed exclusively for Apes Hill guests and residents, with no plans for export or commercial sale beyond the resort. The goal is simple: to create a distinctly local cigar that feels as grounded as the place it comes from.

The article concludes by positioning the Tobacco Project as a natural extension of life at Apes Hill shaped by patience, humour and the island itself, with the first finished cigars expected within the next few years.

Read the full article here.

For press  and media enquiries please contact:

Roddy Williams:  Roddy@theazaleagroup.com

Sean Noble:  sean.noble@theazaleagroup.com