Tabacos de Costa Rica tour

[ptsmith109]

Hello friends - I’ve been on the road quite a bit the last few weeks. Spent my birthday in Costa Rica and jumped out of an airplane. My personal story - I have gone from 475 lbs to 205 and now I’m all about living life to the fullest now that I can.

On one day, I took a trip to the town of Puriscal and visited the factory there. Took a tour and - it was a first for me. The science nerd in me enjoyed watching the process of these cigars being made by hand. The smoker in me made sure to get a couple boxes to bring home (and one to add to the cash tip for my driver).

Anyway, enjoy some of the photos from my tour. Can’t wait to visit again - and maybe visit other factories to see their process.

They do some private label cigars, may order some with the custom label of my bar just to give out as gifts.

 

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[JohnS]

Congratulations on your journey thus far. Well done!

[El Presidente]

14 hours ago, JohnS said:

Congratulations on your journey thus far. Well done!

Absolutely 

Great photos. 

[Zonum]

Congrats man, keep on grinding!🔥🔥 

[avitus]

I never had a chance to try cigars from Costa Rica, especially Costa Rican Puro. How does it taste? Is it close to Nicaragua or DR or even Cuba may be?

[Cigar Surgeon]

Congratulations on your achievement and good job on visiting a factory that not many have!  Some pretty luxurious brands come out of that factory.

[ptsmith109]

On 8/9/2025 at 4:22 AM, avitus said:

I never had a chance to try cigars from Costa Rica, especially Costa Rican Puro. How does it taste? Is it close to Nicaragua or DR or even Cuba may be?

The ones I picked up have been relatively mild. Pretty good draw. As far as the factory I visited, the tobacco is actually all grown elsewhere. I believe they used to grow it locally but Puriscal is more mountainous so I believe they moved that portion of their operation to Ecuador. 

I'd say what I tried was close to Nicaragua or DR. They don't try to mimic a Cuban - but I felt like it was a good, even smoke. I bought a sampler that I have yet to get into - honestly I've been working my way through my BR sticks and my Fabrica 5 sampler and wouldn't put the ones I've had *quite* on that level, but I think there's a great quality/value ratio there. I'm actually looking at booking a trip in October - trying to go somewhere where I can tour another factory or two. 

I bought some more sticks from another shop - Faxas Cigars (faxascigars.com) - hand-rolled by a gentleman who I was told came from Cuba in the '80s. Really liked those and bought a box of some of their bare-bones sticks to bring home. My wife is new to the hobby, so I'm actually infusing some of those with rum and vanilla for her.

(Side note - if your wife ever finds your cigar stash and starts wondering how much you've spent, the easiest way to defuse that argument is to have her start enjoying them too and gift her a box. Ask me how I know.)

On another note, I see that Faxas has a Behike of its own on their website, selling a box of 20 for $180 (will cost another $30 USD to ship to my home in the USA). I think I am going to order a box just to see how they compare to the Cohiba Behike. Science demands I find out!

[Simon Remillard]

Tabacos de Costa Rica is a true Cigar gem. My wife & I visited the "Tabacos de Costa Rica" cigar factory (TCR for short). The visit was fantastic. We first communicated with Adriana by email and she responded quickly every time. Upon arrival we were given the tour by Valeria. This is a family run business by father and children. The 45 minute tour was very interesting and informative. Valeria was an incredible host. She brought us thru the receiving, unbundling and stacking process, the selection and bunching, the binding, rolling and aging process, until the boxing and packaging steps. They do from seed to cigar. Leaves fermente 18 to 24 months to totally sweat out the natural amoniac, and to insure a pleasant and high quality smoke from beginning till end of the cigars. TCR also imports leaves from Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, Dom Rep. Their cigars are all long-leaf fillers. When bunching their cigars, TCR has a variety of blends of the different leaves from different countries, and also a mix of ligero, viso and baso leaves. They roll cigars in different colors, shapes, lengths and ring guage. It is impressive to watch the craftsmen & women work as they bunch, cut, roll etc. They export to USA. China, London to Dubai, etc. under the brand name Byron, Olman, and Maleko.
 

I tried one of their top-tier "Olman-Family Heritage" in the robusto maduro selection and OMG (!!) it was phenomenal. The perfect draw, a slight touch of sweetness and chocolate, no bitterness nor harshness at all, the fully present smoke was pleasantly envelopping, and a slow and even burn. 60% into the cigar, and still no harshness. Wow. Even my wife who does not smoke cigars enjoyed the smell (slight chocolate..absolutely wonderful). I purchased two boxes. These cigars will be a nice addition my humidors.
 

If you pass by Puriscal and enjoy cigars, i highly recommend the visit (email or call first).