There was a time when I harboured illusions of starting my own boutique cigar brand, working with a factory in the cigar belt, which stretches across Cuba, Nicaragua, parts of Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Mexico.
Over the last two years I have had a front-row seat to the birth of a new cigar brand — Los Amigos — and, frankly, I don’t know that I have that kind of patience.
Started by South African Pedro Ramos, Brazilian Walter Saes and Chilean Eduardo Lahsen, the journey from idea to actual cigar has been one of patience and commitment to a cigar that reflects them.
For Ramos, whose first foray into cigars was 17 years ago with his father, Jose, importing New World cigars into South Africa, starting his own brand was always at the back of his mind.
Travelling to factories, farms, cigar brand headquarters and trade fairs around the world helped him build deep relationships with Saes and Lahsen in particular.
Once they decided they would go on this adventure together, they visited several farms and factories in different countries before deciding to start Los Amigos in the place where their friendship was formed 10 years ago — Nicaragua.
“We spent a year extensively visiting factories to see the tobacco they use, how they cure and ferment the tobacco and how they create cigars,” Ramos says. “We eventually found a small factory that creates magic with tobacco.”
The part of the process that is intimidating for me is the leaf selection and the blend development. The three amigos went through countless iterations, spending full workdays smoking up to 30 cigars a day to find the right combination.
Ramos explains, “We understand the terroir and what each area of a country brings to the table, so we had an idea of what we wanted, but the process is not linear, so there were surprises along the way.”
They served as master blenders, sampling tobacco from multiple factories. The cigar plant is divided into three sections, namely ligero, viso and seco.
They tasted tobacco from each section, mixing it with tobacco from other regions to find a blend that worked for them collectively. Once they decided on the leaves, the factory blended them in the proportions they wanted.
For Ramos, the one thing he underestimated was the amount of time it takes to finalise a blend. It truly was an exercise in patience. They would try a cigar after it had been aged for three months and then again after another three months to see how it evolved over time.
I personally had the opportunity to sample some of these blends and continue to marvel at the changes made, particularly when the cigar didn’t age the way they wanted.
As Ramos explains: “With a fresh cigar, you aren’t guaranteed that the flavour is going to withstand the ageing process. A fresh cigar smokes one way. After a month it changes drastically. After three months it starts to show its true colours. Some cigars will only settle after a year.
“We had to imagine how the flavour would evolve over time. There are small ‘secret tricks’ to get an idea of what is going to happen with time.”
In addition to the work of deciding on their launch blends, they have also spent countless hours, endless meetings and long, exhausting trips finalising cigar rings, boxes, the brand identity and distribution.
The four blends are:
- Epiphany, a 5x50 Robusto with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, an Indonesian Besuki binder, and a blended filler with Dominican ligero, Nicaraguan Jalapa viso, Nicaraguan Pueblo Nuevo viso, and Nicaraguan Condega seco.
- Legacy of the Leaf, a 4.5x60 box-pressed Short Gordo with a San Andres wrapper, Indonesian Besuki binder and a blended Nicaraguan filler with Esteli ligero, Condega ligero, Pueblo Nuevo viso and Condega seco.
- Hedonism, a 6x52 Toro with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Nicaraguan Capote binder and a filler that contains Broadleaf Pennsylvania ligero, Dominican Navarrete ligero, Esteli viso, Esteli viso and seco, and Condega capote.
- The Sacred Blend, a 5x56 Grand Robusto wrapped in Ecuadorian Habano, bound with Indonesian Besuki and filled with Dominican Navarrete ligero, Condega viso and seco, and Ometepe (Nicaragua) viso.
I have been privileged to both witness the journey as well as smoke each of the blends while they were being developed and the final product.
The initial standout for me is the Epiphany, which is a great daytime smoke full of flavour and character. This is one instance where we, at the southern tip of Africa, will have the opportunity to sample, at will, a new cigar brand, with the cigars to hit our shelves in the next month or so.
The camaraderie of the three amigos, the memories created in blending and the search for connection with self and others definitely come through in each of the four blends.
