Paul Garmirian to Release New Memoir, “The Road to Cigars”

Later this month, Paul Garmirian will release a new memoir called “The Road to Cigars” that chronicles his journey from a young man in Beirut, Lebanon to a cigar maker in the United States.

Garmirian is the importer and distributor of the eponymous Paul Garmirian and P.G. Cigars brands, as well as Artisan’s Selection and Artisan’s Passion. But before he was crafting and selling cigars, he was racing cars, enjoying international music and performing on Lebanese television. Following his studies in England and the United States, including earning a Ph.D. in politics from The Catholic University of America, he returned to Beirut to teach politics.

But when the Lebanese Civil War began in 1975, Garmirian decided it was time to find a new home, and it was his experience in the United States that laid the foundation for the next chapter of his life.

“For Paul Garmirian, it has been a love affair with America for everything she has made possible,” the publisher, Cedar Publications, wrote in a press release. “America, an accepting society, allowed him to be inspired and motivated to achieve and excel in whatever field he chose.”

For Garmirian, that meant a professional career that included teaching and real estate brokerage, and eventually writing his first book, “The Gourmet Guide to Cigars,” which chronicled more than 220 different cigars, including a mix of Cuban and non-Cuban selections. In 1990, he launched PG Cigars, producing the cigars at the Occidental Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic.

Garmirian chronicles that journey across 216 pages, with a foreword written by his son, Kevork.

The book is priced at $29.95 for a hardback and $14.95 for the eBook version. The book will be available through McLeanCigars.com, cigarbook.store, as well as all PG authorized retailers.