Every February at Cigar.com we run an employee training trip to Nicaragua where our staff of experts learn all the detailed aspects of making a premium cigar, from seed to finished product. By far, the most exciting part of the trip is the opportunity to create a personal blend and pick each and every tobacco leaf by hand. We’ve spent years searching for a way to bring this challenging yet rewarding opportunity to you. With help from prominent cigar maker George Rico and his new Miami factory, you can create a masterpiece from comfort of your own living room. Premium aged tobaccos, a select group of master rollers, and thousands of possible blends are now at your fingertips.
In the beginning, creating a custom blend from home was only a dream. But a few months back we were approached by George Rico, widely known for his successful Gran Habano lines, about forming an exclusive partnership to deliver custom cigars to our loyal customers. George spoke about his brand new G.R. Tabacaleras Co. Cigar Factory, located in “Little Havana,” Miami. He expressed his vision to not only create fantastic new cigars brands made in the USA, but also to create a portion of the factory called G.A.R. Deli that would be dedicated to producing boxes of cigars made to order. In so many words, the “have it your way” of cigars.
If you share a similar obsession for cigars, then you’re probably dying to know how it works and how soon you can place an order. The process begins with purchasing a Custom Blending Kit which contains 10-20 puritos of each tobacco leaf available at the time, a welcome letter, a detailed menu of the tobaccos included, and a blending sheet. From there, the process is simple but the possibilities are near endless. There are roughly six full leaves needed to make a cigar: one wrapper leaf, one binder leaf, and 3-4 filler leaves. This may not seem like much, but considering you can use half leaves to make up the fillers, it allows for up to 10 different tobaccos to make up your own personal blend.
To begin, you’ll taste a few puffs of each purito, taking note of which offer flavors you enjoy. The varied puritos are small enough to relight and taste simultaneously to simulate the flavor and strength of the final product. Once you have decided on a recipe, you will relay it to one of our expert tobacconists, who will coordinate the production at G.A.R. Deli and will get you on your way to having your own personal cigar delivered to your doorstep in 4-6 weeks. From there, it is up to you to age the cigars yourself or to enjoy them right away. If that wasn’t enough, your cigars will arrive in personalized, hand-signed cabinet box of 25 complete with custom G.A.R. Deli bands bearing your name. This must cost a fortune, right? Wrong! You can develop your own blend for just $249 per box and reorder the same blend for $199.
We couldn’t be happier to be the first online retailer to offer this opportunity. At Cigar.com, we strive to offer you a cigar experience like no other. While nothing quite replaces a trip to Nicaragua to create a cigar, we know that isn’t feasible for most. Now with the help of George Rico, everyone can partake in the most prized skill of cigar-making: crafting a blend. Your cigar buddies won’t be able to top this one, but beware, because creating an exceptional cigar is no easy task. If you’re up to the challenge, reach out to one of our expert tobacconists and they’ll get you swiftly on your way to creating your very own, perfectly unique cigar.
