AF news

Joya de Nicaragua will be releasing a unique cigar made just for the Asian market, and it’s rolled with filler tobacco that’s been aged in white oak barrels. Called Cuatro Cinco-Edición Asia, the new limited-edition, regional smoke measures a stout 4 3/4 inches by 60 ring gauge, a vitola Joya de Nicaragua calls Gran Consul. Joya fans may recognize the fat belicoso from Joya’s resurrected Antaño Gran Reserva line that was released three years ago. Cuatro Cinco-Edición Asia blend uses the same tobaccos as the Cuatro Cinco Reserva Especial, a line that debuted in 2015. All the tobaccos are Nicaraguan, save for the binder, which comes from the Dominican Republic. According to Joya de Nicaragua, the wrapper is Criollo from Nicaragua.

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The Tatuaje TAA 2020 will head to stores next week. Pete Johnson, Tatuaje’s founder, posted on his Instagram page that the cigars would begin shipping on Monday. This year’s release—the 10th Tatuaje TAA exclusive—is a 5 5/8 x 54 box-pressed parejo size that uses a Sumatran wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua. It will be priced at $11.95 per cigar and limited to 3,000 boxes of 20 cigars. As the name implies, the cigar is an exclusive to retail members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America Ltd. (TAA), a fairly small group of some of the country’s top tobacconists, about 80 retailers as well as 40 or so manufacturers. The association gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, as well...

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Blackbird Cigar Co.’s newest cigar celebrates 108 years of existence, though it’s not being made to honor the relatively new company. Instead, Idalia 108 pays tribute to the grandmother of the company’s founder, Jonas Santana. His grandmother, Idalia, lived to be 108-years-old and the company says she smoked a cigar every day. The new cigar is a 6 x 54 box-pressed toro size that uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a Brazilian binder over Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The company says the Dominican tobaccos were grown by Jochy Blanco. Keen observers will note that the cigar features a 109-style cap, a hybrid between the standard round cap found on parejos and the pointy head of a torpedo. It will be offered in boxes...

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A new robusto size of My Father Cigars’ The Judge line is on its way to members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA), as the company began shipping its most recent contribution to the group’s Exclusive Series Program. Like the other sizes in the line, it uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Nicaraguan corojo and criollo binders and Nicaraguan fillers. It is a limited edition however, with 1,500 boxes of 23 cigars being produced, meaning a total of just 34,500 sticks that come wearing a gold ribbon foot band that reads TAA. Pricing is set at $11 per cigar. There are now five sizes in The Judge line, with the TAA exclusive the second to be added this year, joining the The Judge Corona Gorda, which measure...

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Oscar Butler has departed Indianhead Cigars, a move that was made effective April 15. Butler had been the company’s director of operations since August 2017 and was based out of the company’s Miami offices. Indianhead is the company that handles distribution for a number of brands that come from the Tabacalera Palma factory in the Dominican Republic, most notably La Galera, Sans Pareil and La Instructora. The company is owned by Jose “Jochy” Blanco. Prior to joining Indianhead, Butler was the private label manager for Davidoff of Geneva distribution in Tampa. Butler’s duties are now being handled by Roberto Lopez.

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