Weekly Cigar News Sampler: Nacatamale Coming Mid-November, Davidoff Gets a New HQ, New Cuban Cigars, and More

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 553rd in the series.

1) On Tuesday, Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust announced on Facebook that Nacatamale (6 x 48)—the second iteration of Muestra de Saka—will be hitting stores mid-November. He claims his shipment of the cigar is already “99.5% sold out” to retailers. “What made this cigar a unique blending challenge was I went ‘viejo granja’ style with it,” wrote Saka. “For over a century, most cigars’ entire filler recipes were comprised of just one farm’s tobacco, and any complexity was introduced by extremely careful leaf processing, selection, and positioning within the bunch… So, the challenge was to see if I could make an ‘old farm’-style liga that could hold its own with the modern blends we create today.” The first Muestra de Saka, Exclusivo (6 x 52), shipped to retailers in the spring. It was a Nicaraguan puro featuring tobacco from all four Nicaraguan growing regions: Jalapa, Condega, Ometepe, and Estelí. Saka says Nacatamale is “is considerably more robust than the Exclusivo, and since this puro’s tripa are all from just one small, independent farm in Jalapa, Nicaragua, I will not be disclosing the name of the vega.” The Nacatamale wooden coffins will be easily distinguishable from the Exclusivo coffins as the former is marked with a knife and fork.

2) On Wednesday, Davidoff premiered its new Maison Davidoff headquarters at 73 Nauenstrasse in Basel, Switzerland. According to Davidoff: “The newly constructed building and head office of the Basel-based family-run business Oettinger Davidoff AG is replacing the company’s 1930 building on the same site. The old building, which had previously been remodeled several times, had served the company well for over 85 years. With the completion of the construction work, which lasted two years, from April 2015 to July 2017, approximately 160 employees will be working in the new Maison Davidoff.”

3) Want to know how to score that ultra rare bottle of bourbon? Here’s some helpful advice. But if you really want Pappy Van Winkle, the only sure way is to pay roughly ten times more than suggested retail price.

4) Inside the Industry: Habanos, S.A has announced two new cigars that will be introduced at the 35th annual Havana International Fair next week. The new Línea Retro will feature two products: Partagas Capitols and Romeo y Julieta Club Kings. Each comes in a newly designed metal tin and is in the Mareva petit corona format. Pricing has not yet been announced.

5) From the Archives: Did you know that water is the secret ingredient to a fine cigar?

6) Deal of the Week: StogieGuys.com recommends Bespoke Post, a monthly collection of awesome items (think fine bar accessories, shaving kits, wine, workout gear, coffee kits, exclusive cigars, and more) delivered for just $45. You can skip or purchase every month. Sign up here before Tuesday and be eligible for the November box.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Facebook