Stogie News: Dozens of Cigars Debut at Vegas Trade Show

LAS VEGAS — As in past years, the upcoming International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) Trade Show will feature numerous new and revamped cigars. And as George E noted yesterday, competition is fierce for the best tobacco with increased cigar imports, but that hasn’t slowed the trend.

StogieGuys.com will be on the ground in Las Vegas covering the convention with live updates throughout the day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. However, you don’t need to wait until then to know many of the new cigars that will be introduced. Here is a preview of some of the new releases:

Ashton Cigars is releasing Benchmade, which will cost $2-3 per stick. Like last year’s release, the San Cristobal, Benchmade is a Don Pepin Garcia creation, this time with Nicaraguan mixed-filler tobacco.

CAO is releasing their new Lx2 line, or “ligero times two,” which promises to feature plenty of the spicy ligero tobacco. The cigar follows CAO’s Mx2 (Maduro) and Cx2 (Cameroon) and will cost $6-8 per stick with three sizes: Robusto, Toro, and Torpedo.

Cuban Imports, better known as the exclusive importer of certain H. Upmann and El Rey Del Mundo lines, is debuting an extension of its Exile blend that will be called the Exile Wired. The cigar features an Ecuadorian criollo wrapper grown by the Oliva company, a Connecticut broadleaf binder, and a filler comprised of a Nicaraguan ligero and viso tobacco along with Domincan seco leaf. It will come in four sizes—a 4.5 inch x 52 Rothschild, a 5.5 inch x 44 Corona Gorda, a 6 inch x 52 Torpedo, and a 7.25 inch x 52 Double Corona—with suggested prices ranging from $3.99 to $5.49 per cigar.

Cusano will be reintroducing two of its Cuvée blends: Rouge and 151. The lines have been completely re-blended since their original introduction. Rouge now features an Ecuadorian wrapper with Domincan and Ecuadorian filler, and the 151 sports a dark Brazilian maduro wrapper.

EO Cigars, maker of the 601 line, will again partner with Don Pepin Garcia for its new release. Cubao will retail for $6.50-7.50 per individual cigar and be made at Garcia’s Tabacalera Cubana S.A. factory with an Ecuadorian sumatra oscuro wrapper and filler and binder tobaccos from Nicaragua.

Illusione is coming out with a new line called Cruzado. Don Giolito, maker of Illusione, says Cruzado will be medium-bodied (milder than Illusione), with a Nicaraguan wrapper and binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and Honduras.

La Aurora is introducing a new size featuring the same blend as its Preferido Cameroon cigar—a Cameroon wrapper with Dominican filler and binder. Instead of the round double torpedo shape, the new stick will be a 6 and 7/8 inch by 40 Lancero.

La Flor Dominicana maker Litto Gomez is featuring a new perfecto size for its La Flor and Coranodo sizes. The cigars will come in a box of five that also includes a new, but thus far unknown, blend.

La Perla Habana is introducing a very limited release, Andioamo, and Perla, a new addition to its Black Pearl line. Both cigars harken back to historical Havana, with Andiamo being released to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the city by Europeans and the Perla aiming to recreate the taste and aroma of pre-Castro Cuban cigars of the 1940s and 1950s. Both come in Robusto, Toro, and Torpedo sizes, with Perla also being released in a large 8.5 inch by 52 “A” size.

The Reyes Family, makers of Puros Indios and Cuba Aliados, is producing two new cigars under the Reyes Family name: Reyes Family Classic and Reyes Family Premier. The milder Classic line ($4.50-6.00 each) features an Ecuadorian Sumatatra wrapper and Brazilian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican fillers. The medium-bodied Premier line ($6.00-9.00 each) utilizes a dark Ecuadorian maduro wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and filler from Nicaragua’s Jalapa region.

Tabacos de la Cordillera will also unveil four new cigars at the show: two medium- to full-bodied maduros (the Fundacion Ancestral Remedios 1942 and the Fundacion Ancestral Santa Clara), and two natural cigars (the Vogel Green and Vogel Red).

Toraño Cigars is finally releasing the third edition of its extremely limited Tribute line. The blend will come in three sizes—a Robusto, a Churchill, and a Torpedo—with only 1,200 boxes of each size being made. The cigar features a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler.

Noticeably missing from the announced new releases are the two largest cigar companies, Altadis USA and General Cigar, makers of some of the best-selling and most well-known sticks. No word yet from Altadis, but we expect to see new releases from the largest cigar maker in the world with an announcement just before or at the IPCPR show. Meanwhile, Victoria McKee of General Cigar tells StogieGuys.com that General will be announcing its new cigars tomorrow.

Stay tuned to StogieGuys.com for live coverage from the IPCPR trade show starting this Sunday, July 13th.

[Along with original reporting, this article features information from Cigar Aficionado and CigarCyclopedia.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: IPCPR