The Challenge

The challenge for us was to present a product that embodies the characteristics of Cuban cigars as far as construction, draw and flavor profile while not counting with the actual Cuban tobacco leaves. Fortunately enough, we were in the right place: Little Havana, the heart of Cuban exile in the US. A group of Cuban cigar rollers, blenders and testers from different generations gather with the intention of creating a different type of product. After many frustrating blending sections, we finally caught a break. On the 15th day of blending we had an unlikely contributor, who ended up being a key piece to the final Clandestinos® Product.

The Result

During one of the blending sections an old roller, who came to the US during the Mariel Boatlift of 1980, rolled a blend he used to do during his first years as an immigrant. Surprisingly, the cigar had a lot of characteristics of what we were looking for. Even when it wasn’t the exact finished product, it set the right combination of materials. The cherry on the pie came the next day, while reviewing some blending techniques we figured how to manipulate the strength of the blend by adding or taking away the feet of the leaves and inverting the orientation of said leaves. 

“If you cannot send money, send tobacco.” – George Washington

The Presentation

Clandestinos was born with 3 main blends and variations of each in different vitolas, The focus rapidly switched to the cigar presentation. We wanted to pay tribute to the habanos boutiques in the 1930’s and that’s why we decided to do all cigars with the artisan feet (closed) and the butterfly on the head. Back in the 1930’s if you were an elite cigar smoker, you had to create your personal cigars in one of the many boutiques where the best rollers and blenders worked. The only way to differentiate between those and the factory cigars were to present them with a different finish. The aficionados at the time with that presentation had a way to showcase their private blends and let others know they belong on the elite of the cigar world.

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The Draw

Another important aspect was the draw. New World Cigars (Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras, etc.) have in most cases an average draw of 48 PSIG while naked (without the wrapper leaf) Cuban cigars in contrast, have an average draw of 52 PSIG while naked. This average will normally go up or down 2 PSIG points to meet the quality control (cigar rollers are not machines.) Once you wrap the cigar, an additional 2 PSIG is added to the draw of the cigar. What does it mean? That you could find up to a 6 PSIG difference between the traditional and the modern style of cigar making. We decided to go position ourselves in the middle at 50 PSIG average for the filler and up to 54 PSIG while wrapped.

The Balance

The balance between flavor and strength is another aspect that places our products in their own category. A big misconception is that strength in cigars make them more “flavorful”, thus, many people mistake flavor with strength. We have noticed in many tasting sections that there’s a direct relationship, in most cigars smokers, when it comes to appreciating “flavors” and identifying said flavors as strength. It’s notorious that the leaves with the higher flavor profiles do not add noticeable strength to the blends, but it does move the product towards spiciness and/or sourness.

The Philosophy

Our philosophy is that cigars are a mean to socialize and the enjoyment comes from the moments you share with others while smoking a cigar and not the cigar by itself. A “proper” cigar in our understanding is the one who gives you joy without overtaking from the other activity you are doing and that’s why we made sure to prioritize balance. All our cigars are strong if you go by the amount of ligeros in them, yet everyone agrees they are smooth and creamy.