A master blender decides which tobaccos go into a cigar and in what proportions: the filler recipe, or ligada, plus the binder and wrapper. The job has two parts. One is creating new blends, which means smoking single leaves and test cigars, adjusting the mix, and often submitting the candidates to a tasting panel. The other is maintaining existing lines. Tobacco changes from harvest to harvest, so the blender adjusts the recipe to keep the taste the same, and some companies keep years of aged leaf in stock to make that easier. Some companies give the title to one person, and others use a team. The title describes a role, not a formal qualification.
Also called: blender