Cigar Aficionado

Anniversaries, collaborations, $100 cigars and 100 ring gauge smokes are only a few of the many new products and upcoming releases that were on display at this year’s Premium Cigar Association trade show. It’s the most important convention for the premium cigar industry and a showcase for cigars that have either just come out or are on their way. Cigar Aficionado has just returned from the trade show floor, visiting booths, taking photos and getting all the pertinent information to bring you a preview of the year’s most interesting releases. Some are heading to market already, and others will follow in upcoming weeks and months.

Aganorsa Leaf
Aganorsa Leaf pushes the fat ring gauge trend to absurd limits with the JFR Lunatic Belicoso Maduro. In addition to its extreme thickness of 100 ring gauge, the mammoth smoke measures 10 inches long. Retailing for $39.99 each and packed in individual wooden coffins, it is expected to ship next month. It’s planned as an annual release with a production of 2,500 cigars.

A.J. Fernandez
Building upon the popularity of the Nicaraguan New World Dorado line, which came out last year, A.J. Fernandez has created a five-cigar sampler. It includes all the original four sizes—Robusto, Toro, Gordito and Figurado—as well as the new Corona. After the $60 sampler ships to retailers in August, the Corona will be released on its own. Set to retail for $10, the Corona measures 5 5/8 by 46. Like the rest of the line, the Corona’s blend is made up of Nicaraguan tobacco grown by Fernandez, including a sun-grown, Cuban-seed wrapper and Criollo ’98 binder, both from Dorado, the foothills farm the cigars are named after. 

Altadis U.S.A.
Altadis returned to the show with Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua Edicion Diamante, a subtler offshoot of the full-bodied Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua. It was one of the prototype blends created during the development of the 1935 Anniversary, but was originally shelved in favor of the stronger cigar. Now that the tobaccos have had more time to age, Altadis is selling the cigars, which are made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua using all Nicaraguan tobaccos, featuring a lower-priming wrapper from a hybrid Cuban-seed plant developed by Fernandez and grown in Jalapa. Ranging in price from $16.42 to $26.08, the new line comes in six sizes: Icon, measuring 4 3/4 inches by 48 ring gauge; Robusto, at 5 by 54; a 6-by-55 Toro; No. 2, 6 1/2 by 56; the 6-by-60 Grande and Churchill at 7 by 54. The brand saw limited release to Casa de Montecristo shops but will get its wider retail release later this month.

Artesano del Tobacco
When the Fakih brothers of Artesano del Tobacco released El Pulpo earlier this year, it came in three standard box-pressed sizes—Robusto, Toro and Belicoso. But the company decided to take an unorthodox route for its fourth size and introduce a Culebra. Called Octo Ocho, each cigar of this twisty trio measures 7 by 37. Like many Culebras, it comes in a slide-lid coffin. Each coffin, which retails for $40, holds one Culebra, amounting to three entwined cigars. Each box holds three coffins, totaling nine cigars per box. Along with the core El Pulpo line, Octo Ocho is made in Nicaragua by A.J. Fernandez.

Arturo Fuente 
Fuente seldom unveils new products at the trade show, and this year was no different. The big new release was something we announced back in April, the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull. The cigar is a PCA exclusive, a fat but short smoke measuring 3 1/2 inches long by 55 ring gauge made with Cameroon wrappers around Dominican tobacco. At $12.80 per cigar, they come 20 to the box, and feature a dark circle of maduro tobacco at the very center of the cigar’s head, like a bull’s eye.

Ashton Cigars
As diverse as Ashton’s La Aroma de Cuba portfolio was, it was missing one essential blend—a lighter cigar in a Connecticut wrapper. Aptly called La Aroma de Cuba Connecticut, the new cigars are made in Nicaragua by the Garcia family at their My Father Cigars factory. Besides the Connecticut-seed wrapper from Ecuador, the entire blend consists of Nicaraguan tobacco grown by the Garcias on their family-owned farms. According to Ashton, every leaf of tobacco in La Aroma Connecticut “undergoes an intensive triple fermentation,” before each cigar is rolled in the entubado style and finished with a Cuban-style, triple cap. It comes in seven sizes that retail from $6.25 to $8.45 each.

Caldwell
A limited-edition version of Robert Caldwell’s Long Live the King line, Bar-None made an appearance at the trade show and will come out this month. Dominican tobaccos dominate the blend with a Corojo wrapper and binder, with some Nicaraguan tobacco as part of the filler. Bar-None is available in two sizes: Robusto, measuring 5 by 50 ($13.50), and Toro, 6 by 52 ($15). They’re produced at the Manufactura Rivas factory in the Dominican Republic. Shipping in boxes of 20, production is limited to just 500 boxes of each size.

Casa Turrent
After being on a bit of a hiatus for the American market, Casa Turrent’s 1880 series has returned with updated packaging. While it's been pared down to just one size, this Mexican brand is offered in seven blends. Measuring 5 1/4 by 55 the $20 Casa Turrent 1880 comes in: Claro, Doble Claro, Rosado, Colorado, Oscuro, Maduro and Doble Maduro. They’re presented in 10-count boxes. There’s also an 1880 Edición Limitada, a 6 1/2 by 55 Toro that retails for $25. Production is limited to 5,000 boxes for the U.S. market. Both should be heading to retailers the first week of August.

Cavalier Genève
Inner Circle Domaine Rouge is made by Sébastien Decoppet in tribute to both the red factory in Honduras where it is produced and the red wine the cigarmaker enjoyed with his late father. With retail prices ranging between $14.10 and $15.40, the line is available in four sizes: Petit Robusto, measuring 4 1/2 by 50; Robusto Grande, 5 by 54; Toro, 6 by 52; and Figurado, 6 by 52. It features a Habano wrapper and Connecticut-seed binder both grown in Honduras with fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras and Paraguay. Packaged in boxes of 24, it shipped this week.

C.L.E. Cigar Co.
For the first time, C.L.E. has created a line of cigars under its C.L.E. brand that’s made with tobacco from undisclosed farms in South America. Other than its Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, C.L.E. isn’t divulging the origin of the tobacco, though this is the first release to feature the blend. The line is available in the following four sizes, three of which are named after their dimensions: 50x5 ($17); 52x6 ($18); 60x6 ($19), and the tapered 11/18, which measures 6 1/4 inches by 52 ($18). Production is limited to just 3,000, 20-count boxes of each size, or 150 boxes. As an added bonus, the lid doubles as an ashtray.

Crowned Heads
Made by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo in the Dominican Republic, La Vereda is the most expensive cigar to date from Crowned Heads. Jon Huber of Crowned Heads says he was aiming to capture the spiciness of El Rico Habano, a brand formerly made by Perez-Carrillo in Miami. He approached this with a shade-grown wrapper from the Jalapa region of Nicaragua (Huber says it’s four years old), a Jalapa binder and a mix of fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. There are four sizes in the brand, with suggested retail prices from $18.40 to nearly $22. Each is named for their ring gauges. The No. 50 measures 5 3/8 by 50; No. 52 is 6 1/2 inches long; No. 54 measures 5 5/8 inches in length; and the No. 56 is 6 1/4 inches long. There are 20 cigars in each box. They should be on shelves in August.

Curivari Cigars
Curivari made quite an impression on this magazine when it released its Buenaventura series in 2012. The BV 560 size was named No. 7 on our Top 25 list in 2013. Curivari has expanded the Buenaventura series since then, and this year, adds the Buenaventura Maduro, an all-Nicaraguan cigar save for the Mexican San Andrés wrapper. It may seem like a redundancy as Curivari already has a similar line called Buenaventura Pralines with a dark, Mexican wrapper, but the company says that this Maduro is stronger, with more ligero tobacco in the filler. It comes in five sizes: BV 500 (5 1/4 by 50, BV 560 (5 1/2 by 56), BV 600 (6 by 60), Mini BV (3 1/2 by 50) and Petit BV (4 1/4 by 54). They retail for $5.50 to $9. All come packaged in 10-count boxes except the Minis and Petits, which come in boxes of 20.

El Septimo Geneva
At last year’s PCA, El Septimo introduced the Emperor Collection, which celebrated some of the greatest male monarchs in history. Now the company is celebrating arguably the most famous female ruler: the Queen of Sheba, who once ruled over Ethiopia and Yemen and became the wife of King Solomon. Rolled in Costa Rica as a 6-by-60 Gordo, the cigar consists of an Ecuador Habano 2000 maduro wrapper that was purportedly aged for 12 years, along with a Nicaraguan binder and mix of fillers from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. Retailing for $20 each, Empress of Sheeba comes in 20-count boxes that are available in three colors: green, blue and white. It’s expected to ship in early September with more sizes planned in the future.

E.P. Carrillo Cigars
The team at E.P. Carrillo has been extremely busy of late, releasing several new cigar brands. Among its new creations shown at the trade show were the new E.P. Carrillo Short Run 2023, which is rolled in Honduras and has three sizes. Prices range from $10.75 to $12.75. The company also added a new size to its Inch Nicaragua, which came out in 2022. The new size is far fatter than an inch in diameter, and it's called the 70. It’s a seven-inch-long, 70 ring gauge smoke rolled in Nicaragua by the Plasencias using only Nicaraguan tobacco. It will retail for $15.50 and should ship in the fall. 

Espinosa
Espinosa Cigars has added a new, fat size to its popular Knuckle Sandwich brand, which is produced with Food Network star Guy Fieri. (Fieri was on site at the PCA, and eagerly dug into a new box of the cigars at the party held the night before the show.) The cigars are called Knuckle Sandwich 6X60, and are available in both Maduro and Habano wrappers. Each blend is entirely Nicaraguan on the inside, and the Habano line is cloaked in Ecuador Habano wrapper, while the Maduro version has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. Like the other sizes in the Knuckle Sandwich collection, the smokes are rolled by A.J. Fernandez at San Lotano Cigars S.A. Early boxes will be marked with the letter C (a reference to Fieri’s dog, Cash) but later boxes will be marked with a G, in homage to Fieri’s nickname “Guido.” The cigars retail for $14 each. “We should ship it in about three weeks,” says Erik Espinosa.

Ferio Tego
The Ferio Tego brand now has a line in regular production called Summa. While the Elegancia and Generoso carried the Ferio Tego name as well, they were annual limited editions. The new Ferio Tego Summa is made in the Dominican Republic by the Quesada family and is a three-country blend consisting of an Ecuador Corojo wrapper atop an Ecuadoran Sumatra-seed binder and a mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. The line comes in the following sizes: Corona Gorda, measuring 5 3/4 by 46 ($18); Robusto, 5 by 50 ($19); Torpedo, 6 1/4 by 52 ($20); and Gordo, 6 by 60 ($21). All sizes ship in boxes of 10 cigars.

Forged Cigar Co.
La Gloria Cubana returns to Miami with the La Gloria Cubana Eighth Street Corona Grande, a follow-up to last year’s Eighth Street release, which was a Toro. It’s made at El Titan de Bronze and measures 6 1/2 by 48 with a suggested retail price of $22.99 each. The blend consists of a dark Ecuador Habano wrapper that Forged categorizes as “oscuro,” as well as a Nicaraguan binder and filler tobacco from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Look for it in September. And now that Room101 is owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (parent corporation to Forged), the company is releasing a 14th Anniversary cigar made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua. The 6-by-52 Toro will retail for $13.99 when it ships this month.

Foundation Cigar Co.
Foundation owner Nick Melillo created a new brand that honors Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío. Named after his town of birth, the cigar line is called Metapa, and features a portrait of Darío on both the bands and boxes. The cigars are wrapped in Ecuador Sumatra—a first for Foundation—and consist of a Connecticut broadleaf binder and Nicaraguan filler. It’s offered in both Maduro and Claro, and comes in four softly-pressed sizes: Double Corona, measuring 7 inches by 54 ring gauge; Toro at 6 by 52; a 5-by-50 Robusto and Corona Gorda at 5 1/2 by 48. Suggested retail prices range from $14.50 to $18 per cigar, all of which come in 10-count boxes. Made in Nicaragua by A.J. Fernandez, the cigars are expected to ship in the fall.

Fratello
In 2019, Fratello Sorella was a blend that could only be found in the United States as part of sampler called the Space Fresh Pack, designed to look like astronaut ice cream. Now, the 6-by-50 Toro is on a return flight back to U.S. retailers. Made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory, the blend consists of an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder and filler from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Retailing for $11.50 each, the cigars are to ship in purple 20-count boxes, though a shipping date has not been announced.

Freud Cigar Co.
A bit of a departure from the Freudian themes of previous releases, this young company brings us the first in a new series called Carlos & Maria. The inaugural line under Carlos & Maria is called Amorío. It’s made with an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Indonesian Sumatra binder and filler from Nicaragua, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. Blended by Wiber Ventura in the Dominican Republic for Freud Cigar, Amorío comes in four standard sizes: Corona Gorda, Robusto, Churchill and Toro. They retail from $17 to $23 per cigar and come in 10-count boxes. You should see them on store shelves by late August and Freud intends to release other lines under Carlos & Maria series in the future.

Gurkha
Next year will be Year of the Dragon—at least according to the Chinese zodiac—and Gurkha has already prepared, giving us a sneak preview of its Year of the Dragon cigars. It’s a glossy red box of 15 figurados from the Dominican Republic that measure 6 3/4 by 52 and will retail for $25 each. Only 1,000 boxes are being produced. 

HVC
Brand owner Reinier Lorenzo has expanded his Hot Cake brand with a milder offshoot called Hot Cake Golden Line Connecticut. Rolled at the new Fabrica de Tabacos HVC S.A. factory which opened last year in Estelí, Nicaragua, the cigars are clad in an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper around a Nicaraguan blend. The line is available in Corona Gorda, measuring 5 5/8 by 46 ($8.30); Laguito No. 4, 4 1/2 by 52 ($9); Laguito No. 5, 6 by 54 ($10); and Gran Cañon, 6 by 60 ($11.40). It’s supposed to be a mild to medium-bodied smoke and expected to ship in either late July or early August in boxes of 25.

J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
In a tribute to cigar-smoking artist LeRoy Neiman, J.C. Newman has put together a limited-edition cigar and packaging that features prints of the artist’s work on the box and around each smoke. The LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition cigars, available in a Toro (6 by 52), were rolled at the El Reloj factory in Tampa with an array of tobaccos from various countries—an Ecuador wrapper that J.C. Newman calls “Havana Rosado;” a binder from Florida and a filler blend of Nicaraguan and American tobaccos. It should retail for $20 per cigar when it ships in November. 

Joya de Nicaragua
In homage to both Joya de Nicaragua (translating to “jewel of Nicaragua”) and the company’s 55th (emerald) anniversary comes the Cinco de Cinco line, which comes in glossy green packaging. Translating to “five of five,” the line comes in the following sizes: Corona Extra, measuring 6 1/4 by 46 ring gauge ($16), a 6-by-52 Toro ($20) and the Robusto Gordo at 5 1/2 by 54 ($18), with two more sizes (Corona Doble and Robusto) available internationally. Cinco de Cinco is expected to ship in the United States in either August or September.

JRE Tobacco Co.
Honduran cigarmaker JRE Tobacco Co. introduced its first-ever release that utilized a Sumatra-seed wrapper, but it was grown in Honduras, this one from a 2016 harvest. Aladino Sumatra Limited Edition is intended to be a fuller-bodied smoke compared to the rest of the cigars in their portfolio and comes in one size, a 6-by-52 Toro with a suggested retail price of $16. Packaged in 20-count boxes, the cigars are expected to start shipping in October.

Kristoff
Tres Compadres, a new, regular-production line from Kristoff Cigars, is a line of Nicaraguan puros created by brand owner Glen Case as a celebration of friendship and smoking cigars. Dedicated to the memory of Case’s childhood best friend Chuck Finch and his mentor Rolando Villami, Tres Compadres (translating to “three friends”) consists of a Nicaraguan Habano-seed wrapper atop a Condega binder and a mix of filler from Estelí, Condega and Jalapa. Made in the Dominican Republic at the Tabacalera Von Eicken factory, it comes in the following formats: Robusto (5 by 50), Toro (6 1/4 by 54) and the 6x60, which is named after its dimensions. They will retail between $9 and $11 once they hit the market in late August or early September.

La Aurora
Remember when La Aurora turned 100 years old and released an anniversary brand (the 100 Años)? The company did the same thing when it turned 110 and 115. This year, it turns 120 and marks the milestone with another anniversary cigar. The La Aurora 120 Anniversary is made in the Dominican Republic at La Aurora S.A. and consists of only Dominican tobacco—a Habano ’92 wrapper, Olor binder and filler combination of Piloto Cubano, Olor and Corojo. Retailing for $14 to $16.80 per cigar, the La Aurora 120 Anniversary comes in four sizes: Robusto, Toro, Churchill and Gran Toro. They will retail from $14 to $16.80 each.

La Flor Dominicana
Litto Gomez has been making cigars for nearly 30 years, and he transformed his business long ago when he began farming his own tobacco in the Dominican Republic. He used those strong, home-grown leaves as the signature for his ten-year anniversary blend, LG Diez, which debuted in 2004. It was off the market for a few years, and now Gomez is bringing it back. The new LG Diez will be all Dominican, just like the original, but instead of being made with vintage-dated crops, it will be crafted from a blend of Dominican tobaccos. “It will be an ongoing blend,” says Gomez. The five sizes will be just like before (including the Chisel Puro, made in Gomez’s distinctive shape) but pricing information was not yet available. Gomez says it will ship in November. 

La Palina
La Palina Cigars and Oliva Cigar Co. have teamed up to create a line that pays tribute to the 75th birthday of La Palina’s chairman, Bill Paley. Called La Palina 1948, they’re made by Oliva’s Cigar Co. in Nicaragua and come in three box-pressed sizes: Churchill ($25), Toro ($24) and Robusto ($22). The cigars are rolled with an Ecuador Sumatra cover wrapper and Nicaraguan tobacco all grown by Oliva Cigar. La Palina intends to produce 1948 annually in limited quantities. A fourth size, the double-tapered Diadema ($23), will be even more limited. The line’s expected to ship in the fourth quarter of this year.

Luciano Cigars
Maria Lucia was once a limited-edition exclusive to last year’s PCA show, but now it’s back as a regular-production release with three added sizes. It’s a tribute to co-owner Luciano Meirelles’ late mother and it’s produced at the extension of his Luciano Tabacos S.A. factory known as the Maria Lucia unit. The new line comes in four sizes: Magnum Box Pressed (the original release), measuring 5 1/4 by 54 ($12.96); Cañonazo Box Pressed, 5 7/8 by 52 ($12.80); Double Robusto Box Pressed, 6 1/2 by 50 ($12.50); and Corona Gorda Box Pressed, 5 5/8 by 46 ($11.50). It’s made with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, two Ecuadoran binders (one Sumatra, one Havana ’92) and fillers from Nicaragua, Peru and the Dominican Republic. The cigars are expected to start shipping shortly after the show.

Matilde
Brand owner Enrique Seijas has added for 2023 a third vitola for his Limited Exposure No. 1 line, a series of limited-production cigars released annually. The new size, a 5-by-50 Robusto ($9.50), joins the previous two sizes (Toro and Lonsdale) which are to be rereleased. Made at the Tabacalera La Isla factory in the Dominican Republic, Matilde Limited Exposure No. 1 is all-Dominican save for the Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Packaged in 20-count boxes, the cigars should be out by the end of the month.

Micallef
Despite the Texas-based company’s close proximity to the Mexican border, this is the first time that Micallef has released a cigar with a maduro wrapper from Mexico’s San Andrés Valley. Called Micallef Black, the line had a soft launch with select retailers in early June but is shipping in full this week. Available in two vitolas, Robusto (5 by 52) and Toro (6 by 52), the cigars retail for $7 and $8 apiece, respectively, and come in boxes of 25.

My Father Cigars
Although not the original name of the company, My Father Cigars celebrates its 20th anniversary and is celebrating with the Don Pepin Garcia 20th Anniversary, a limited-edition toro that measures 6 1/2 by 52. All the tobacco in the blend was grown in Nicaragua by the Garcia family, which owns My Father. The Garcias say the 20th Anniversary cigar is made with a Habano wrapper and some pelo de oro tobacco in the filler. The cigars come in boxes of 20 and will retail for $40 each when they arrive at the market in August.

Oliva Cigar Co.
Don’t call it a perfecto or even a figurado. Oliva’s newest is called Figuriño, which is like saying “little figurado” in Spanish. At 5 1/2 by 54, the Serie V Melanio Figuriño Edición Anno 2023 isn’t so little. It is, however, limited to only 14,500 boxes of 10. Each cigar has a suggested retail price of $20 and every box has a QR code that will link to a story behind the release. Like other Melanios, the cigar consists of Nicaraguan tobacco brought together by an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. They’re made in Nicaragua as well. Oliva also introduced a $300 figurado for charity. Called the Oliva Serie V Roaring Twenties Super Limited Edition, it's partly in gold leaf and the proceeds will benefit Oliva’s Helping Hands Foundation.

Oscar Valladares
Honduran cigarmaker Oscar Valladares has added a fifth extension to its original 2012 by Oscar brand called 2012 by Oscar Sumatra. Beneath its Ecuador Sumatra cover leaf is a Nicaraguan binder which holds together mix of fillers from Nicaragua and Honduras. The blend is available in the following three box-pressed sizes: Short Robusto, measuring 4 by 52 ($6.80); Toro, 6 by 52 ($9.30); and Sixty, 6 by 60 ($10.20). Shipping in blue boxes of 20, the cigars will come to market by the end of the month.

Ozgener Family Cigars
Last year, Ozgener Family brought us the taste of yellow with the first release of Pi Synesthesia, a cigar meant to capture flavors by color. This year, it’s the taste of red. “When I asked consumers [what red tastes like] people were gravitating more towards heat, red peppers, hot sauces,” says brand owner Tim Ozgener. Pi Synesthesia Red is rolled in the Dominican Republic by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and made with a blend of Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler. The limited-edition cigars measure 6 by 52 and will retail for $15 each when they ship in September.

Padrón Cigars
The Padrón Black line is perhaps the least known of all Padrón cigars, one that only pops up now and then. “It started for my father’s 89th birthday,” says Jorge Padrón about his father, José Orlando Padrón, who turned 89 in 2015. Padrón added a torpedo to the line, which was on display in Vegas. The Padrón Black No. 97 (or PB-97) measures 6 3/4 with a 54 ring gauge. Unlike most Padróns, this one is round and wrapped in cellophane. At 10 to the box, they come in natural and maduro wrappers, and are made from an entirely Nicaraguan blend. The cigars, which hav a suggested retail price of $40 each, were PCA exclusives, only available to order by retailers who attended the show. Shipping is expected by the end of the year.

Padrón also expanded its Cigar of the Year sampler. As the only cigar company to win Cigar of the Year four times, Padrón is in the unique spot of being able to sell four different cigars that have been named No. 1. The first was in 2004, the last was in 2021 and if you add up the scores, they combine for a collective 382 points. Already on its way to retailers, it comes in a small box and retails for $108.55 for the set.

Perdomo Cigars
To commemorate Nick and Janine Perdomo’s third decade in the cigar business, the company created three lines under the 30th Anniversary banner—Connecticut, Sun Grown and Maduro. Perdomo says that the wrappers of all three brands were aged in bourbon barrels. The Connecticut line is all-Nicaraguan save for its Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. Both Sun Grown and Maduro are made with only Nicaraguan tobacco. Each line will come in the same five, softly box-pressed sizes: Robusto, measuring 5 by 54; Epicure, 6 by 54; Gordo, 6 by 60; Churchill, 7 by 54; and Torpedo, 7 by 54. All will ship in boxes of 30 and have suggested retail prices ranging from $12 to $14 each. Expect them in the fourth quarter.

Plasencia 1865
There’s good news and bad news coming from Plasencia. The bad news is that the company discontinued its Cosecha 146 brand, as the vintage tobaccos finally ran out. The good news is that they are releasing the Cosecha 151, a line that Plasencia says is made in Honduras with Honduran tobacco from the company’s 151st harvest, which took place in 2016-2017. It comes in three sizes: The La Música, a robusto measuring 5 by 50; La Tradición, a toro at 5 7/8 by 54; and the San Diego, a corona gorda at 5 3/4 by 46. The cigars will retail for $13.50, $16 and $13.30, respectively when they ship in early August.

Quesada Cigars
The Quesadas mark a decade and a half of the Casa Magna brand with this commemorative blend. Made in the Dominican Republic at Quesada’s Tabacos de Exportación (TABADEX) factory, the limited-edition Casa Magna XV Anniversary will be available in one size, a 6 by 54 toro. It’s made with the same filler and binder (which is all Nicaraguan) as the original Casa Magna but with a slight variation to the wrapper, using a Habano 2000 leaf grown in Ecuador. Packaged in 15-count boxes, the XV Anniversary has a suggested retail price of $15 per cigar. Only 3,500 boxes are being produced and should be heading to retailers the last week of August.

Rocky Patel Premium Cigars
At $100 each, the Rocky Patel Conviction is by far Rocky Patel’s most expensive cigar to date. According to Patel, it’s made with Nicaraguan tobacco from 2014, which was his inaugural crop when he started planting nearly a decade ago. The aged tobacco is covered in a dark Mexican San Andrés wrapper and the cigars are packaged in square, metal tubes the color of rose gold. Each 10-count case is also decorated with rose-gold accents and a piano finish. Conviction comes in one size, Toro measuring 6 1/2 inches by 52 ring gauge. If that’s too rich for your blood, Rocky also showed a new line called Dark Star, a blend of mostly Honduran tobacco including a touch of Paraguayan-seed leaf grown in Honduras leaf in the filler. It comes in four sizes: Toro, Robusto, Sixty and a short, fat size called Short Star. These ship in October with retail prices ranging from $10.50 to $12.50.

Stallone
Brand owner Tony Barrios has made many cigars that honor the various breeds of horses with his Cowboy Series but his latest release pays tribute to what may be the most well-known breed: the Mustang, which comes in two sizes. While the interior tobaccos are the same (two binders from Nicaragua and Brazil, with all-Nicaraguan filler), the two sizes get a differently-colored wrapper. The Short Toro, measuring 5 1/2 by 50, is rolled with a natural Ecuador Sumatra cover leaf, whereas the Rothschild, 4 1/2 by 50, has a darker, oscuro Ecuador Sumatra cover leaf. Both are quite budget-friendly as the Rothschild and Short Toro retail for $5.45 and $5.99, respectively. They began shipping during the show and come in either bundles of 25 or a refillable wooden box containing 50 of each for retailers who order more than two bundles.

Tabacalera Falto
In an unusual reference to Spanish colonialism and santeria culture, Falto has created the La Obra Babalú Aye. When African slaves were taken to the Caribbean and forced into Catholicism, they practiced santeria in secret. Santeria was also known as “La Obra.” Babalú Aye is what the slaves would call St. Lazarus, who became an important figure in santeria. This all manifests as the newest cigar from Falto, a Robusto Extra with a pigtail cap that measures 5 3/4 by 52 and retails for $8. Made by La Aurora in the Dominican Republic, the blend consists of an Ecuador Habana Vuelta Arriba wrapper (HVA) around an all-Dominican blend. 

Tatuaje Cigars
The Tatuaje brand turns 20 this year and part of the celebration includes two new cigars made in Nicaragua at My Father Cigars, the factory that produces most Tatuaje lines. The Grande Merveille measures 6 1/8 inches long by 46 ring gauge and has a suggested retail price of $13 per cigar while the Grand Chasseur measures 6 3/8 by 54 with a $14 price tag. Both cigars are made with covered, uncut feet and consist of an Ecuador Habano wrapper around a Nicaraguan blend. They come packaged in 20-count boxes. Some Miami-made anniversary Tatuajes are also on their way. These come in ceramic jars, but there’s no word on release dates. 

The OpusX Society
The lifestyle and accessories company that specializes in Fuente Fuente OpusX products now has its own OpusX cigar. The OpusX Society was started in 2021 by designer Manny Iriarte, who works out of a Miami studio to create OpusX-branded cigar cases, ashtrays, lighters and humidors. To differentiate the new cigar from other OpusX lines, the band has an entirely new color scheme, printed in silver, yellow and blue. It’s also presented in a blue sleeve. According to Iriarte, the OpusX La Edición de la Sociedad will be offered to his most loyal accounts, but there’s no word yet on price or release date.

Villiger North America 
The Villiger 1888 Nicaragua was previously a brand for international markets only, but come July 17, the line will be available in the United States. It’s made in Estelí at the Villiger de Nicaragua factory and comes in three sizes that range from $8 to $9.20 per cigar: Coronita (5 3/4 by 43), Robusto (5 by 50) and Toro (6 by 50). The blend consists of an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper that surrounds a Nicaraguan binder and filler from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. They’re packaged in slide-lid cabinets of 20. Villiger is also shipping the Villiger Miami 2023. Though not made in Miami, this limited-edition was made for friends who visit the Miami headquarters. It’s rolled in the Dominican Republic, measures 5 7/8 by 53 and retails for $17 per cigar.

Warped Cigars
Brand owner Kyle Gellis decided to make a hybrid cigar out of his Warped Sky Flower and Warped Moon Garden. The result is the Sky Moon, which has tobaccos from both blends and is rolled in a 109-style belicoso head. Measuring 5 1/2 by 42, Sky Moon consists of a shade-grown Corojo ’99 wrapper from Jalapa, Nicaraguan binder and a filler of both Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98. Gellis says that there’s some medio tiempo from Jalapa in the filler as well. All the tobacco was grown in Nicaragua by Aganorsa Leaf, which also produces the cigar at its factory in Estelí. Available now, it comes in 50-count cabinets, of which only 500 are being produced, with a suggested retail price of $11 per cigar.

Zander-Greg
Actor Chazz Palminteri, who both wrote the screenplay and starred in A Bronx Tale as Mafia boss Sonny, was at the PCA trade show to shake hands and sign autographs in promotion of the new cigar, Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale. Made in the Dominican Republic at the Tabacalera Von Eicken factory, the cigar is a collaboration between Paul DiSilvio of the Bronx-based La Casa Grande Tobacco Co. and Dean Parsons of Epic Cigars and Zander-Greg Imports. It comes in one size, a box-pressed toro measuring 6 by 54 called Calogero, in honor of Palminteri’s grandfather and the movie’s main character. Shipping in boxes of 10, Calogero has a suggested retail price of $20 each. This will be a regular-production brand, but this year's initial release is limited to 2,500 boxes. It should be on its way to retailers within the next few weeks.