When we broke the news in mid-February about Christian Eiroa’s pending return to the cigar industry, details were limited, but several key things had been established. Eiroa had successfully registered a pair of trademarks, one of his name and one of CLE, his initials, and that several retailers were reporting being contacted by Eiroa or his representatives about carrying his forthcoming lines, which would be available in limited release. One retailer reported that only two shops in his state would be able to carry the new cigars.

Today, more details emerged as Cigar Aficionado reported that the CLE line will come in two varieties, the CLE Cuarenta and CLE Corojo. Both will be rolled at the Tabacos Ranchos Jamastran factory in Honduras, the same factory where Camacho cigars are made. The Cuarenta cigar is named for Eiroa’s upcoming 40th birthday in July.

The CLE Cuarenta will be made with a Habano-seed wrapper, while the CLE Corojo will use a Corojo wrapper. Both are said to be medium to full in body. Both will be vintage dated, marked with the date of production – not the date of the harvest. Tobacco for the new cigars comes from several sources: his father, Julio, who grows in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras; Henke Kelner of Davidoff, who grows in the Dominican Republic; and ASP Enterprises, Inc., growers of tobacco in Ecuador and Nicaragua.

While sizes or pricing have not been announced, Eiroa mentioned his love of both 5 x 50 and 5 1/2 x 46 sizes and that both would be in his product line.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.