Man sitting at a table and lighting a cigar

PERSONAL RESERVE PROGRAM

J.C. Newman Cigar Company’s Custom Cigar Experience

J.C. Newman Cigar Company created the Personal Reserve program to celebrate the art of crafting your own cigar, tailored precisely to your taste and occasion. Whether you are commemorating a wedding, a milestone, or simply indulging your passion for premium cigars, our Custom Cigar Experience offers an unparalleled journey into the world of personalized cigars.

Crafting your own cigar can be as intimate or as flexible as you desire. For those seeking the ultimate experience, our Start From Scratch option allows you to create a cigar from the ground up with the guidance of one of J.C. Newman’s expert tobacconists. You’ll hand-select from a world of tobaccos, and our team will guide you through every step, ensuring the result is a cigar that truly reflects your unique tastes.

If starting from scratch feels overwhelming, too time-consuming, or expensive, our Staff Blends are an ideal option. These unique, expertly curated blends, crafted by our team, can still be customized with personalized packaging and are available in as little as one box of 20 cigars. It’s a simpler, yet equally refined way to enjoy a cigar designed just for you.

Additionally, our Blending Tool offers a fun and interactive way for you to experiment with different tobacco combinations, creating your own virtual blend. You can explore our selection of 24 premium tobaccos, share your creation with friends, and even use this tool to plan ahead for your in-person consultation if you choose to join the Start From Scratch program.

As a four-generation family business, we believe that a great cigar is a reflection of craftsmanship, passion, and individuality. Whether you choose to create your cigar from scratch, enjoy a Staff Blend, or experiment with our Blending Tool, we look forward to helping you craft a cigar as unique as you.

Start From Scratch

Welcome to the heart of our Personal Reserve program, where every step is an invitation to create something truly exceptional. Embark on a journey of discovery and craftsmanship as we guide you through the process of crafting your own custom blend.

J. C. Newman employee holding a tray of puritos

BLENDING TOOL

The Blending Tool offers you an interactive experience to try your hand at being a cigar blender. Select wrapper, binder, and filler tobaccos to craft the custom cigar of your dreams. Experiment virtually with various combinations and share your creations with friends.

This tool is perfect if you’re planning to create your personal reserve cigar through our Start From Scratch program, allowing you to familiarize yourself with the tobacco options before your consultation.

Five different tobacco leaves

A Leader in the Cigar Industry

A century ago, Angel Cuesta was one of the leaders of the cigar industry in Tampa.  Inside each box of Angel Cuesta cigars is the following excerpt of a story by Angel Cuesta on why Tampa was the Fine Cigar Capital of the World:

“If you are a man who enjoys a really fine cigar, you have probably long since discovered the hand-made Tampa cigar with its superb smoking qualities – choice, clear Havana tobacco at its best! If you haven’t made this discovery, we believe it is time you did. And so we tell you how these cigars are created, and about Tampa, too – for the story of fine cigars is inseparable from the story of Tampa.

“Tampa today is the bustling metropolis of Florida’s West Coast, center of the most populous – and prosperous area of Florida. Despite the fact that it is the State’s leading industrial city, it is also a resort city – equally a fine place to work, to live, and to play. It is a city of color and contrasts; of carnival gaiety and progressive modern enterprise. Its Latin Quarter is a carry-over from the Old World into the new. In this Latin Quarter, center of life for some 40,000 persons of Spanish and Cuban descent, are located the majority of the cigar factories that produce these fine cigars. 

“The story of these cigars begins long ago. It begins in the mild, tropical climes of Cuban’s picturesque tobacco plantations. It begins in the skilled fingers of the cigarmaker, whose art is a heritage from the Old World.  Yes, and it begins in the minds of a few enterprising men who had the foresight to recognize Tampa’s advantages as a potential cigar center. 

It was Senor V. Martinez Ybor who pioneered the movement which made Tampa the cigar capital of America. In 1869 Ybor had transferred his factory from Havana to Key West, to escape the depredations of the Spanish volunteer troops. As others followed, Key West became the center of America’s clear Havana industry of America’s clear Havana industry. 

“Seventeen years later, Ybor and Eduardo Manrara, his partner, were impressed by the climatic and geographical possibilities of Tampa as a manufacturing site, when seeking a more favorable location for their operation. Tampa, then but a sprawling, lusty frontier hamlet, offered a large area of local hands to the cigar men, thus laying the cornerstone for one of the city’s principal industries. Other alert cigar men followed. Ybor’s example, and Tampa’s emergence as the manufacturing hub of Florida became an accomplished fact. 

“Today, the finest cigars in the world are made in Tampa."

Angel LaMadrid Cuesta

April 1948

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