Crafted By

JR Cigars

From humble to the hottest, Lew Rothman was able to transform through exceptional wit and great business acumen the most meager of beginnings to a future of great magnitude and the potential for much more with no signs of slowing down in the cigar industry. A storied company whose earliest pages have written origins dating back to Manhattan in the 1970s once upon a time, what started as a tiny tobacco shop with signs that read “BUSINESS STINKS SALE” covering the store’s entire windows to present day with its latest chapter celebrating over 50 years of remarkable success, JR Cigar is notorious for going from small storefront to being considered top rated amongst one the hottest online retailers and the best place to buy cigars online. But this is not all the prestigious company has had to offer. Through their incredible relationships with their partners, along with limited editions, exclusive brands, private label cigars and high-quality accessories, they were also able to collaborate with some of the most notable and legendary names in the world of cigars to create their very own private label brand. Decidedly named Crafted by JR Cigar, the series is a part of a larger initiative to debut an array of releases in collaboration with different leading manufacturers meant to award loyalty (from customers, partners, manufacturers etc.) with a first-class experience by way of the utmost in quality cigar craftmanship wholly, from blending to boxing. Prior, series like JR Pure Origin which released the JR Pure Origin Gran Vulcano blend and the JR Pure Origin Terra de Andes in the years 2022 and 2023 respectively, addressed the need for offerings more premium in caliber versus the value-oriented and bundle offerings produced previously under the JR name. Pointedly, since the celebratory release of JR’s 50th anniversary cigar named JR Ultimate 50th Anniversary, the company wanted to elevate their budget offerings. Taking a new approach, not only would the team be fully integrated into the manufacturing process, but they would feature more luxurious blends that quite literally boast the whole package and continue to expound upon this notion utilizing the finest tobaccos from around the world in conjunction with elite team-ups to create all-encompassing exceptional cigars. As aforementioned, Crafted by JR Cigar has taken a more intimate approach when it comes to “in-house” blends. Showing the nature of their dedication, the blends are unique to the premium cigar industry boasting brands and blends that are truly made “from scratch” unlike the competition whose house blends are sourced and fully developed by an outside manufacturer. More specifically, instead of the manufacturer supplying JR with the cigar, JR is fully involved from its inception to execution including all product lifecycle developments from the naming and design of the logo to the blend profile and packaging. The Crafted By series has always delivered loyal JR customers collabs with the industry’s finest manufactures that peaked intrigue and were well-received. Its portfolio is host to two incredible installments, Crafted by JR Crowned Heads and the most recent Crafted by JR Aganorsa whose upscale approach to crafting has proven fruitful thus far with one blend scoring an impressive 93 rating. Honing in on the team’s own talents and expertise, both collabs speak to the magnitude of JR Cigar’s private blends being the first in the line of shop exclusive top-shelf blends showcasing the team’s capabilities in collaboration with what manufacturers have to offer. The first iteration from the new and reinvented Crafted by JR series is Crafted by JR Crowned Heads which made its debut on September 13,2023. The concept behind the blend was to create a medium bodied smoke formatted in a popular Robusto Extra size, and of course use nothing but the best top-quality tobaccos. “As we showed with our Pure Origin line, we at JR Cigar are cap