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ALL IN THE FAMILY

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Los Angeles, January 21 – Limited-edition cigars are all the rage now and some brands have become famous for their annual releases. Avo, Davidoff and The Griffin’s, all part of the Davidoff of Geneva empire, are especially keen on developing new cigars that are made once, sold and remembered fondly.

But even beyond the limited-edition craze are what can be called “special edition” cigars that aren’t really meant for wide distribution at all, or even to be sold. And the Fuente and Newman families are at the forefront of unique cigars that extend their enthusiasm beyond their factory and even beyond the retail store.

Their “Cigar Family 10th Anniversary” or “CF10" cigar is a good example. The development of this blend and the effort put into such a tiny project are amazing tales of passion about not just cigars, but for their customers and fans: the people who are smoking them.

The story goes like this:

After the successful start of the Cigar Family Web site in 1996, the registration of thousands of fans of the Cuesta-Rey, Diamond Crown, Fuente, La Unica and other Fuente and Newman family brands convinced Carlito Fuente and the fourth generation of the Newman family to enter the cigar business – Drew – to think well into the future about a 10th anniversary cigar. This is in 1999!

Carlito Fuente’s devotion to the “family” aspect of the cigar business knows no bounds. Even seven years in advance, he and Drew Newman created the concept for a remarkable blend from all-Dominican tobacco, unlike any other made at the massive Tabacalera A. Fuente. Completed in 1999, they cigars were simply put away to rest. Less than 2,000 cigars were made, all of seven inches and 48 ring gauge, mostly packaged in glass tubes in boxes of 10.

As the 10th anniversary approached in 2006, Newman organized a special giveaway in which a box of 10 was given away to the first 100 registered members of CigarFamily.com to log in on a specific date, in this case on December 31, 2006. That took care of 1,000 of the cigars, representing the bulk of the production. “We did it for fun,” said J.C. Newman executive Rich Dolak. “We did it for our guys who supported us on the Web.”

While these aren’t exactly “secret cigars,” they’re never going to see a retailer’s shelf and the CF10 cigars are not for sale. Dolak said the few remaining cigars are used mostly as auction items at charitable events. They’re essentially gone.

But this is far from the only special-attention project undertaken by the Fuentes or the Newmans:

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Did you know?

“Although still available on the market in some shapes, production of the Royal Jamaica brand ceased in 2000.