THE BLENDING ART

Like any Art, a cigar’s blend begins with the imagination. But imagination is only a part of the process; the choice of Tobacco leaves is by far the most important. After all poor tobacco quality, regardless of the amount of time allowed to age, will inherently lead to poor taste and enjoyment. So consideration of origin and grade of the tobacco leaf is central.

Once the determination has been made on what tobacco leaves will be used, imagination and experience become the second most important thing in the process. Because in cigar blending, there is an element of the unknown or what I like to refer to as “the ratio-to-hope correlative” which simply translates to “I hope this ratio works”. All kidding aside, the difficulty and challenge is in orchestrating the different facets of a single cigar in order to create a pleasant taste and enjoyment.

The reason for this is because different combinations and ratios of the Seco or “mild leaf” in relation to the Ligero or “stronger leaf,” as well as the wrapper and binder do determine the strength and flavor of any cigar. For example, I’d like to make a medium-body-cigar. The ratio of the Ligero will be greater than that of the Seco and vice versa. This doesn’t sound so tough, right? However, just because you have a ratio does not mean that it will apply to all of the sizes of a particular line equally. The ratio then has to be adjusted to a cigar’s ring size, in other words, using the same ratio for a corona size cigar as opposed to that of a Churchill size cigar might in the end leave the cigar smoker wishing for more flavor in the larger cigar.

In today’s market, cigar smokers have an abundance of choice. For a Master Tobacconist the countries of origin from which she can blend is just as diverse. The nuances that a filler, binder and wrapper create together is where the true artistry emerges. To borrow from Shakespeare, “to blend or not to blend” that is the question El Beso Cigars looks to answer. We approach each of our blends with boldness and imagination. We invite you to experience our cigars today and savor the attention to detail and creativity that goes into each of our hand crafted smokes.