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NEW CIGARS HERE, NEW CIGARS THERE AND EVERYWHERE! Print E-mail

NEW CIGARS HERE, NEW CIGARS THERE AND EVERYWHERE!New releases coming at RTDA

Los Angeles, July 25 – There are more than 1,000 brands of handmade cigars on the U.S. market today. But, the more the merrier, so manufacturers are readying new lines to debut at the upcoming 75th Retail Tobacco Dealers of America show in Houston, Texas in August.

Details of some of the new brands are already being released:

• The Avo 787 will be the sixth standard-production line in the Avo group, after the Classic, Maduro, Signature, XP and Domaine Avo lines.

This blend aims at what Avo Uvezian says is a “recurrent appeal to me to create a medium-strength cigar that is both flavorful and aromatic.” The result is a three-size line with a purple band, offered in boxes of 22:

> Avo 787 Toro: 6 inches by 54 ring;

> Avo 787 Perfecto: 5 7/8 inches by 50 ring;

> Avo 787 Robusto: 5 1/4 inches by 52 ring.

All utilize an Ecuadorian-grown, Connecticut-seed wrapper and Dominican-grown San Vicente binder with Dominican-grown filler ligero and seco leaves.

• Puros de Armando Ramos, which burst onto the cigar scene with its Pinar series made with ancient Cuban tobacco, has now become specialists in creating interesting blends with Ecuadorian-grown tobaccos – not only for wrapper – but also for binder and filler.

“Since the mid-1990s,” notes company president Paul Magier, “we have been growing superior Ecuadorian tobaccos: Sumatras, Connecticuts, Sun-Growns, etc. and selling them under contract to some of the largest cigar brands in the industry. Because those contracts have been for only very specific sizes and colors of leaf, and have been at very premium prices, we have been able to put away the majority of each year’s crop without regard to cost.

“Now, we have accumulated an enormous inventory of superbly aged tobaccos at very low cost, and we felt it was time to begin working with the oldest of the leaf.”

The outcome is the A/R GreenBand brand of 10-year-aged Ecuadorian puros, offered in a choice of four wrappers: Corojo, Maduro, Connecticut and SunGrown Rosado. Each is available in five shapes: Robusto, Toro, Torpedo, Double Corona and Gordo.

The best part of the new line is the price: all of the cigars have suggested retail prices from $3.25 to $4.25, offered in all-cedar cabinets of 25.

• What about Nick Perdomo? He’s rolling into the RTDA with his new Perdomo Habano, blend which celebrates the three different regions in which he grows tobacco in Nicaragua: Esteli, Condega and Jalapa.

“By blending these cigars using filler tobaccos from these different regions, we’ve created unique smoking experience,” said Perdomo, “where you will enjoy the complexity of the full-flavored tobaccos from Esteli, the aromatic tobaccos from Condega and the naturally sweet tobaccos from the Jalapa Valley.” The Perdomo Habano blend is completed with a choice of wrappers, both grown in Nicaragua: Corojo or triple-fermented maduro.

The new line comes in five sizes, all offered in hand-stained, Spanish Cedar boxes of 20, each with two bands including one at the foot:

> Robusto: 5 inches by 52 ring;

> Toro: 5 1/2 inches by 54 ring;

> Torpedo: 6 1/2 inches by 54 ring;

> Gordo: 6 inches by 60 ring and

> Presidente: 7 inches by 56 ring.

The price is nice, too: suggested retail of $5.00 to $7.00 per cigar.

• Rolando Reyes hasn’t been sitting on his laurels, either. The maker of Cuba Aliados and Puros Indios is releasing a limited-production “Anniversary” blend marking the roughly 100-year history of the Aliados, as well as Reyes’s 83rd birthday.

The Cuba Aliados Anniversary (pictured) features six-year-aged tobaccos with an Ecuadorian-grown binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan-grown filler, capped with a choice of either a Nicaraguan Corojo  or an Ecuadorian-grown, Sumatra-seed wrapper. It’s medium-bodied with lots of flavor and will be offered in four sizes:

> Power: 6 1/2 inches by 56 ring;

> Diadema No. 3: 5-inch by 58-ring perfecto;

> Magico: 6 inches by 48 ring and

> Short: 4 inches by 48 ring.

Total production of all sizes will range from 200,000 to 300,000 cigars annually, depending on availability of leaf. The Power and Diadema will be offered in boxes of 10 at retail prices of $13 and $12, respectively. The Magico and Short will be offered in 20s at $11 and $8, respectively.

How do they do that?
The new C.A.O. America cigar that will debut at the RTDA featured a double wrapper with a barber-pole design. How is it made? C.A.O. has posted a nice, two-minute video which shows the wrappers being applied on YouTube with commentary by C.A.O. President Tim Ozgener. You can check it out by clicking here. Now you know how it’s done!
~ Rich Perelman

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"Sandwich" filler includes both long and short pieces, with the long pieces folded over to form the "sandwich."