While probably not the first company you think of, for the last eight years, Drew Estate has been releasing cigars in honor of the Chinese Zodiac calendar, i.e. cigars that are named Year of the ___, a reference to one of the dozen animals on the calendar. Drew Estate—by just about any metric, one of the largest handmade cigar companies in the world—hasn’t made the same impact for a couple
In 2024, Fratello released a cigar named Vice Versa with a unique premise: it could be smoked from either end, with the flavor changing depending on which end you smoked. Starting today, a new blend from the company utilizing the same concept is on its way to stores. Smooth and Strong is a 7 x 52 vitola made with an Ecuadorian habano wrapper covering an Indonesian binder and filler tobaccos
There are cigar events, and then there are moments that become part of industry history. On June 10, 2026, at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, six of the most revered cigar-making families in the world gathered under one roof for a monumental night to protect the future of premium cigars. Michael Cafagno and Dylan Austin of The Tobacconist of Greenwich hosted The Titans of Tobacco, a sold-out event that
Plasencia Cigars proudly announces the appointment of Rodrigo Medina Mendieta as the company’s first-ever Global Brand Ambassador, a newly created role that reflects both the continued evolution of the brand and Rodrigo’s nearly 11 years of dedication to expanding Plasencia’s presence around the world. Throughout his tenure, Rodrigo has played a key role in the international growth of Plasencia Cigars, helping strengthen the brand’s presence across Europe, Asia,
When I think about cigars that I have seen in retail humidors for longer than I can remember, one brand that inevitably comes to mind is Gran Habano. While the Rico family traces its tobacco roots to 1920, it wasn’t until 2003 that the family would introduce the Gran Habano line of cigars, debuting with the Connecticut No. 1, the Habano No. 3, and the Corojo No. 5. While I
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust has shipped a new release that will look very familiar to fans of Joya de Nicaragua’s Cabinetta line. The Sobremesa Tapa Negra is made with the same blend as Dunbarton’s regular Sobremesa Brûlée line, meaning it uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed G2BW wrapper covering a Mexican Matacapan negro de temporal binder, and Nicaraguan fillers: Condega C-SG, Pueblo Nuevo criollo, La Joya Estelí C-98 and ASP Estelí hybrid
This week, Cavalier Genève is shipping the first of three planned 2026 versions of its Project Broadleaf Series. All four cigars—Broadleaf Wayfinders is offered in two vitolas—were released last year; they have come back for 2026 with most details the same as the 2025 releases. That includes the name, packaging, blend and vitola(s). Project Broadleaf Skywalker is a 6 x 48 that uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over a Mexican
The last time I was writing about Cornelius & Anthony, it was 2019 and it was still not confirmed whether the brand was still alive. A year earlier, S&M Brands, Inc., the cigarette company that was owned by the same family, was sold to an undisclosed buyer and subsequently closed down. The Bailey family, which owned S&M, also owned Cornelius & Anthony, and Golden Leaf Tobacco Co., Inc. While the
Late last week, Arturo Fuente began shipping boxes of the newest version of its Shark vitola. The Fuente Fuente OpusX Baby Shark 77 is a new, smaller version of the Shark, a vitola best known for its use in the Añejo line. While the regular Shark measures 5 5/8 x 54, the Baby Shark is thinner and shorter, though the company has still not announced official measurements. The vitola is
El Mago has started shipping a new regular production line that was inspired by the James Hotel in Miami Beach. The James Avenue is actually four different cigars, each a 6 x 54 box-pressed toro. Nick Fusco, founder of El Mago Cigars, told halfwheel that the four releases are not just a case of putting a different wrapper on the same internal blend and that each has a different internal