Kyle Gellis of Warped Cigars has revealed the release of the Warped Moon Garden Especial. This new edition is similar to the original Moon Garden Lancero in terms of blend, but adjustments have been made to accommodate the different vitola sizes. Notably, the previous Moon Garden iteration from Warped was introduced five years earlier and gained a favorable reputation among boutique aficionados.
Gellis noted the inclusion of more medio tiempo in the blend, aiming to provide depth and a significant impact on the palate. Furthermore, higher priming fillers were employed. The cigar is made using entirely Nicaraguan tobacco sourced from AGANORSA. The only available vitola for this edition is a 5 5/8 x 52 Toro, which will be packaged in boxes of 20.
MOON GARDEN ‘ESPECIAL’ Specifications:
Wrapper: Nicaragua Corojo ’99
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Aganorsa Leaf
Vitola: 5 5/8 x 52
Box Count: 20
Price: $16 per cigar
The production of the Moon Garden Especial is capped at 1,000 boxes. Shipping is anticipated to commence by the end of August.
J.C. Newman Cigar Co. has expanded its retail presence by launching an online store, providing access to exclusive merchandise from its El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. Originally, three years prior, the company had established a physical factory store at this location, renowned for its assortment of rare cigars and items symbolizing Tampa’s historic Ybor City cigar district.
The online transition has been spurred by increasing demand from cigar aficionados. Now, without visiting the physical store in Tampa, customers can purchase popular items like the El Reloj LEGO set and the Ybor Misfits coffee mug.
Kara Guagliardo, the Executive Director of Hospitality and Community Engagement at J.C. Newman, remarked on the significance of the collection, emphasizing its representation of Ybor City and Tampa’s rich history. The online store boasts a variety of products, from vintage ashtrays and apparel to books and posters.
For a complete look at the offerings, interested individuals can visit www.jcnewman.com/factory-store.
A significant decision was handed down today by U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta, who ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must exempt premium cigars from tobacco regulations that were implemented in 2016. This conclusion marks an important victory for the industry, following nearly seven years of legal disputes.
The challenge was led and funded by Cigar Rights of America (CRA), which argued against the inclusion of premium cigars in the FDA’s 2016 “Deeming” rule. CRA contended that this inclusion was misguided and lacked a solid scientific foundation. During the court appearance on May 23, 2022, CRA argued that the FDA had failed to present a valid public health rationale and had improperly dismissed a prior option to exempt premium cigars from the category.
Judge Mehta agreed with CRA’s arguments and ruled on July 5th of the previous year that the inclusion of premium cigars in the regulation was arbitrary and capricious, thus in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. He stated that the FDA had ignored scientific evidence regarding premium cigars submitted by CRA, resorting to ambiguous language to cloud the issue.
The industry has been looking forward to an official announcement, and today’s ruling sets a federal definition for premium cigars, providing them an exemption. This decision effectively offers regulatory relief to the industry.
Robert Levin, president of CRA, expressed his satisfaction with the ruling, calling it a “monumental day in the history of the premium cigar industry.” He added that the court’s decision affirmed CRA’s longstanding belief that premium cigars should never have been subject to FDA regulation in the first place.
In a significant milestone for the cigar industry, veteran tobacco expert Eladio Diaz is launching a celebratory cigar in honor of his 70th birthday. This comes after Diaz, a former associate of Davidoff, established his own Dominican factory, Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera, in 2022.
The new cigar, aptly named the Eladio Diaz 70 Aniversario, will make its debut at the upcoming InterTabac trade show in Dortmund, Germany. Initially intended for the European market, the cigar showcases an intriguing mix of tobacco from different origins. It combines an Ecuadoran wrapper, a Mexican binder, and five various types of Dominican tobacco in the filler. The exact varietals of these tobaccos are being kept secret by Diaz, who has crafted the cigar to present a medium-to-full bodied strength.
Historically, Eladio Diaz has been known for blending special cigars for his birthday celebration. These were not commercially available but were given as gifts to friends and visitors. The tradition continues with the Eladio Diaz 70 Aniversario, albeit with a new twist – these cigars will be available for sale.
The number seven plays a significant role in the making of this blend. Diaz began his journey with tobacco at the age of seven, marking 63 years in the industry this year. Moreover, the cigar measures 7 inches in length and comprises seven different tobacco leaves. In a reflection of this theme, the cigar will be sold in boxes of 14 (a multiple of seven), with a total production limited to 1,400 boxes.
Diaz, expressing his sentiments about the new cigar to Cigarjournal, said, “It is a slightly sweet and spicy tobacco, which seeks a complete stimulation of the mouth, with a very harmonious creamy sensation, balanced and complex in a medium-high body.” He added, humorously, that the cigar “burns regularly and is not badly built at all.”
The presentation of the Eladio Diaz 70 Aniversario at the InterTabac show marks a significant evolution in Diaz’s journey. He, along with his wife Griselda Cabrera, his sons Héctor, Emmanuel, and Alexander, and close collaborator José Ignacio Vásquez, originally intended the Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera for the production of private labels. Now, Diaz is transitioning from solely manufacturing for others to establishing his own brand in the market.
In addition to the celebratory Eladio Diaz 70 Aniversario, the company is also planning a regular production line expected to be sold in U.S. stores before the end of the year, demonstrating the brand’s aspiration to grow and cater to a wider global audience.
J.C. Newman Cigar Co. has begun shipping the first release of its celebrated Yagua cigars for 2023. A total of 1,250 boxes are en route to 396 premium cigar retailers across 46 states. The second and last Yagua dispatch for the year is slated for November.
The unique Yagua cigar has garnered an unexpected, almost cult-like following, much to the surprise of fourth-generation owner, Drew Newman. “The acceptance and demand for Yagua continually amaze me. We didn’t initially create Yagua with the intent to sell. I had my reservations, thinking that cigar connoisseurs might not appreciate it because it deviates so much from the standard norms of cigar-making. Yagua is irregular in shape, it might even be considered unattractive. We use underfermented tobacco in its creation, and no two Yaguas are identical.”
The Yagua is a nostalgic tribute to a type of farm-rolled cigar that Lazaro Lopez, General Manager of the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Nicaragua, recalls his grandfather crafting on his family’s tobacco farm in Cuba in the 1940s. Over a meal in 2019, Lopez narrated this memory to Newman:
“My grandfather would take fresh tobacco leaves straight from the curing barns and roll cigars without using any molds or presses,” Lopez recounted. “To give his cigars a semblance of traditional shape, he would bundle them together, tying them with fragments of the Cuban royal palm tree, known as the yagua. Upon deciding to enjoy his personal cigars, he would untie the bundle. The result was an array of uniquely shaped cigars, which he relished. I vividly recall the rich aroma and flavor of my grandfather’s cigars.”
Echoing this old-world method, twenty Yagua cigars are tied together while still moist using a Yagua palmiche palm leaf after being rolled. Each Yagua box delivers a bundle of 20 cigars, still swathed in the palm leaf. The Yagua cigars are of 6×54 dimensions.
“Crafting the Yagua presents its unique challenges because we utilize an under fermented Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, blend the filler tobaccos differently, and sidestep traditional cigar factory tools and techniques,” Newman explained. “Since the wrapper is not fully fermented, we let the cigars age for a complete year post-rolling.”
