How to Blend a Cigar (Crowned Heads)
- Thread starter JonHuber
- Start date
Bookmarking this to watch after work since I can't watch these on my work network. As a home-roller, blending is one of my favorite things so I can't wait to see what one of the guys in the industry that I look up to quite a bit has to say about it!
I'll distill it down for you: John Huber's tip... hire My Father's Cigars
bostoneo
The Chosen One
If you do not blend your cigars, what process do you fellows take in developing the blend the cigar? Do you just say you're looking for this kind of profile/flavors and then tell factory, make me something? Please elaborate... kind of mixed feelings on that comment in the video.
bostoneo - We start by describing a specific flavor profile that we might be looking for at that time. It might start with a specific wrapper...or maybe an interesting filler tobacco--then we begin evaluating different blends/combinations of tobaccos.
My point of that video is that people either often times give credit to brand owners--or brand owners often take the credit--when the credit really belongs to the materials and the people actually putting the cigars together on the daily. That said, I have been involved with the 'process' since 1996, and I'm actually familiar enough with tobaccos to know what different seeds and/or growing regions can contribute to the flavor profile. For example, tobacco grown in the Jalapa region of Nicaragua can lend a 'softer-richer-rounder' element to a blend as opposed to the more 'peppery-spicy' nature of tobaccos grown in Esteli.
At the end of the day, however, the actual blending process is best left to the 'masters' (the Perez-Carrillos and Garcias of the world). What I/we end up doing is validating the final blend and making the selection. To be clear, the selection/decision is NEVER left up to the factory. We (Crowned Heads) live and die by the decisions we make in terms of the blend selections.
So, yeah, there is a bit of 'trial and error'--but my point is that if you're starting with great tobaccos and are working with good factories, there's no way it should take you dozens of tries to nail down the blend. Think of it this way: If you're a pro baseball player and it takes you 50 at bats to get a home run, you're probably gonna get sent down to the minors pretty quickly. Right?
Cheers.
Jon Huber
Crowned Heads
My point of that video is that people either often times give credit to brand owners--or brand owners often take the credit--when the credit really belongs to the materials and the people actually putting the cigars together on the daily. That said, I have been involved with the 'process' since 1996, and I'm actually familiar enough with tobaccos to know what different seeds and/or growing regions can contribute to the flavor profile. For example, tobacco grown in the Jalapa region of Nicaragua can lend a 'softer-richer-rounder' element to a blend as opposed to the more 'peppery-spicy' nature of tobaccos grown in Esteli.
At the end of the day, however, the actual blending process is best left to the 'masters' (the Perez-Carrillos and Garcias of the world). What I/we end up doing is validating the final blend and making the selection. To be clear, the selection/decision is NEVER left up to the factory. We (Crowned Heads) live and die by the decisions we make in terms of the blend selections.
So, yeah, there is a bit of 'trial and error'--but my point is that if you're starting with great tobaccos and are working with good factories, there's no way it should take you dozens of tries to nail down the blend. Think of it this way: If you're a pro baseball player and it takes you 50 at bats to get a home run, you're probably gonna get sent down to the minors pretty quickly. Right?
Cheers.
Jon Huber
Crowned Heads
MikeHar - We've had blends 'in mind' that didn't turn out the way we'd originally hoped or envisioned--but then those got nixed.
Have never approved a final blend and had it arrive markedly different, though...
Cheers.
Jon Huber
Crowned Heads
Have never approved a final blend and had it arrive markedly different, though...
Cheers.
Jon Huber
Crowned Heads
irratebass
www.blindmanspuff.com
Great video and it clears up the misconception, thanks for letting us peek behind the curtain.
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