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Weekly Cigar News Sampler: Undercrown Sun Grown Announced, Joya de Nicaragua Expands Antaño Series, and More

7 Jul 2017

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 538th in the series.

1) Drew Estate this week issued a flurry of pre-IPCPR Trade Show announcements, the foremost being the introduction of the new Undercrown Sun Grown line. The new cigar features an Ecuadorian Sumatra-seed wrapper around a Connecticut stalk-cut sun-grown Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos, including one leaf of “extensively aged Ligero from the Nueva Segovia region along the border of Honduras… selected to enhance the strength of the blend.” Undercrown Sun Grown comes in six traditional sizes, plus Drew Estate’s Flying Pig vitola, with suggested retail prices ranging from $8.20 to $12.72. Undercrown Sun Grown joins the original Undercrown line (released in 2010) and Undercrown Shade (released in 2015).

2) Late Wednesday, news broke that Matt Booth was returning to the cigar industry, only six months after his “retirement” earlier this year. First, a collaboration called Hit and Run with Robert Caldwell was announced. That cigar uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Dominican filler. Later, a second collaboration with Caldwell and A.J. Fernandez was announced called The Truth. That cigar, made at Fernandez’s Estelí factory, is a Nicaraguan puro.

3) Joya de Nicaragua, which is distributed by Drew Estate, also announced a new cigar and some packaging changes. The Antaño series of cigars is expanding with a new line called Antaño Gran Reserva. “The main alteration [from the Antaño 1970 line] that comes with the Antaño Gran Reserva is that we have added fillers that have been aged for up to five years,” said Juan Ignacio Martínez, executive president of Joya de Nicaragua (Antaño 1970 is a Nicaraguan puro featuring a Habano Criollo wrapper). Antaño Gran Reserva will be introduced in three sizes—Belicoso (6 x 54), Gran Cónsul (4.75 x 60), and a box-pressed Robusto Grande (5.5 x 52)—and will begin shipping in August. It joins Antaño 1970 (introduced over 15 years ago) and Antaño Dark Corojo (introduced in 2007) as a member of the Antaño family. Also announced is a facelift for the Antaño Dark Corojo, “To align the Antaño family and its look, we have updated the packaging of the Antaño Dark Corojo to match the other brands in the Antaño family,” said Ignacio.

4) Inside the Industry: Crowned Heads announced a new Four Kicks Maduro, using a Connecticut Habano Maduro wrapper around the same binder and filler as the original Four Kicks. La Flor Dominicna is set to debut La Volcada, which features a Mexican maduro wrapper, Ecuadorian Corojo binder, and Dominican filler. Crux introduced Crux Epicure, a Nicaraguan puro initially announced last year, and is adding a Corona Gorda size to the three originally planned vitolas.

5) From the Archives: With so many new cigars being announced this time of year, it is worth taking a step back to consider which new cigars are worth your hard-earned dollars. In this commentary from two years ago, we offer some advice about figuring out which new cigars are most likely to appeal to you.

6) Deal of the Week: For today only, here are 100 deals including cigars from Ashton, Punch, Oliva, My Father, Rocky Patel, Crowned Heads, Davidoff, Drew Estate, Tatuaje, Cohiba, and more. Free shipping is included on any purchase. If you really want to stock up, add promo code “GBP20D” at checkout to knock $20 off an order of $150 or more.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credits: Drew Estate / Joya de Nicaragua

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