Those pilons (a.k.a. bulks) are huge - 1300 kilos I remember reading somewhere, I think. That's a lot of pressure. If you built a kiln (pronounced 'kill,' and no relation to what people fire ceramics in) shed/box, you could probably go smaller, but it would still be a few hundred pounds of tobacco needed, I suspect - but I don't know.

I guess that you could try what the Cubans do with wrapper - or used to do, according to some sources) - not ferment the wrapper at all (just cure it).