A process of producing a smoking article, preferably a cigar is described. After harvest, whole tobacco leaves are cured. Post-curing the leaves are threshed such that the leaf components are separated and the lamina is turned into strips. Tobacco strips are dipped and fermented for a period of time before being dried. The dried tobacco provides a filler for the cigar, which filler is wrapped in tobacco leaf to produce the smoking article , which is matured for a period.
