“Balmoral Anejo XO Connecticut, Oscuro and Nicaragua have been blends that I have worked on and sent to Boris and the guys in the U.S. for their opinion,” Batista explains.
“Every few weeks I receive samples of different tobaccos. Before we start blending them, we smoke them in puro form—just that tobacco by itself. We want to understand its nuances before blending. If you blend without knowing each component, then you are blending blind. Once we understand the characteristics of each tobacco, then we have a better idea of which tobaccos we can blend to get a good blend direction. When you use tobaccos from different parts of the world, you get more variety than when you use tobacco from just one origin. That’s the beauty, and that’s what I love about Royal Agio. They want to explore and push their boundaries for new things. This is something that means a lot to me because it gives me freedom to try new things.”
Blending for the Future
While both Wintermans and Batista like to explore new flavor sensations and blend profiles using unique tobacco combinations, Royal Agio’s brands also require a signature flavor profile in order to give consumers a point of reference from which to enjoy all of the cigars the company produces. For instance, every cigar within the Balmoral line is blended using Mata Norte tobacco from Brazil, which is grown almost exclusively for Royal Agio. The tobacco imparts sweet characteristics to the Balmoral blends that cigar connoisseurs have come to expect in the brand’s cigars.
Driven by the curiosity of Wintermans, Batista and others within Royal Agio, the company’s premium cigar offerings have indeed expanded to cover the full range of cigar smokers’ preferences in flavor, strength and budget. Having been intimately involved in the creation of almost all of the company’s cigars, Batista is as heavily involved in the exploration of new tobaccos and how they might add to the portfolios of Balmoral and San Pedro de Macoris, representing a coming of age for both the Dutch company’s premium cigar division and Batista himself. As Royal Agio’s master blender, Batista is also traveling more to trade shows and retail shops throughout the world to represent his company and to spread awareness about its cigars. He enjoys these opportunities to meet retailers and their customers—not only to raise their awareness about Royal Agio’s cigars but also to learn firsthand what’s going on along the frontlines of the retail premium tobacco world and to perhaps spark a few new ideas for future Royal Agio cigar blends.
“We are here for the long run,” Batista concludes. “We believe in our brands and are doing everything that we can to establish the brand for the long term. We are investing in resources to be able to serve every market in the U.S., and Balmoral is really becoming a global brand. Every time I go to a trade show or a cigar event and talk to the consumers, people learn more about Balmoral, and I learn more about the cigar industry. We have seen how this changes the business in only a positive way.”
This story first appeared in the September/October 2019 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
– Story by Stephen A. Ross, editor-in-chief of Tobacco Business Magazine.
