Altadis USA will be debuting new lines for several of their brands, with Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, VegaFine, Trinidad and TE—AMO as the focal points of this year’s new releases. While the ROMEO by Romeo y Julieta has been available at retail since May, it will make its formal debut at the IPCPR trade show in four vitolas:

  • Churchill — 7 x 56
  • Toro — 6 x 54
  • Robusto — 5 x 54
  • Piramide — 6 1/8 x 52

Standard boxes contain 20 cigars, and a series of three—packs in the Toro and Robusto vitolas will be available in August.

The Romeo y Julieta line will also add Minis in two strengths: a white box will contain a fuller bodied version while a blue box will have the lighter bodied version. Each strength will be available in 20—count tins.

On the accessory side, there will be a new Romeo y Julieta Deluxe Car Humidor making its debut. Limited to 200 units, the humidor holds up to 15 Churchill sized cigars.

A pair of gift sets round out the new offerings from Romeo y Julieta, each coming with five cigars and a Romeo y Julieta flask. The sets will be offered with either Romeo y Julieta Reserve or Reserva Real cigars, both in the Toro vitola.

The Montecristo Epic was announced in late June, a project that the company says was so special that it was assigned to their most skilled and accomplished cigar makers, known as the Grupo de Maestros. It also graces the cover of their IPCPR 2012 catalog.

It uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, with a vintage date of 2007. The Montecristo Epic will be available in three sizes:

  • Churchill — 7 x 56
  • Toro — 6 x 52
  • Robusto — 5 x 52

Each will come in a ten—count box, with shipping slated for late August.

There will also be a Montecristo Epic No. 2, a 6 x 50 vitola also in 10—count boxes. It is slated to hit stores in October.

Trinidad’s new Paradox line gives the marca a new look and flavor, drawing its flavor from a Cuban heritage Criollo ’98 seed wrapper grown in the San Andrés fields of Mexico, while the binder is a Dominican Piloto and the filler is Nicaraguan Andrés. Each of the four vitolas is box pressed, with 16 cigars to a box.

  • Churchill — 7 x 57
  • Toro — 6 x 54
  • Robusto — 5 x 54
  • Belicoso — 6 1/8 x 52

The Trinidad Paradox is slated to ship in late September.

Also getting a new frontmark is TE—AMO as the Revolution is unveiled in a trio of sizes. The blend features four leaves from the San Andrés region in Mexico, with a Habano wrapper, Corojo binder and filler of Negro and Corojo as well as some Nicaraguan tobacco.

The three sizes use a new Ovalado format, which will give the cigar a box—pressed feel:

  • Churchill Ovalado — 7 1/4 x 52
  • Toro Ovalado — 6 1/4 x 54
  • Robusto Ovalado — 5 1/4 x 56

The TE—AMO Revolution will be available in 18—count boxes, with retail arrival set for September.

The VegaFina Fortaleza 2 uses a San Andrés Criollo wrapper from Mexico over a Dominican binder and filler to create a new cigar that will be available in late August. It will debut in three sizes:

  • Churchill — 6 3/4 x 56
  • Toro — 6 x 54
  • Robusto — 5 x 50

Each will be available in 20 count boxes, while the Robusto will also be in available in a tubed version sold in 10 count boxes.

VegaFina will also be showing a new humidor that comes with 40 VegaFina cigars in a Toro vitola, with production limited to 350 humidors. The cigars use an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper over an Indonesian TBN binder and filler from Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

 

Also available is a new 10—count VegaFina Short Robusto  gift pack, with each of the cigars coming en tubo.

In addition, Altadis has announced the release of a Mayan Humidor Honduran Package that will bring four marcas together in one unique humidor that was crafted by residents of Santa Rosa de Copan to celebrate 2012 — a year that has garnered much attention in relation to the Mayan calendar.

Limited to just 350 humidors, each unit comes with 10 cigars from four different brands in the Altadis portfolio:

  • Gispert — 10 Toro cigars
  • Saint Luis Rey — 10 Toro cigars
  • Romeo y Julieta Reserve — 10 Toro cigars
  • H. Upmann Sun Grown — 10 Magnum cigars

 

 

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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.