ROYAL AGIO CIGARS JOINS PROCIGAR Royal Agio Cigars, the company behind the Balmoral brand made in the Dominican Republic, announced that it has joined ProCigar, the trade group of Dominican cigar manufacturers which — among other things — hosts the ProCigar festival each year. The company participated as a “Gold sponsor” in that festival this past February. Agio is a family owned company that’s been around since 1904. Its global headquarters is in Duziel, Holland, but the company has been invested in the Dominican Republic since 1990. Its Dominican factory in San Pedro de Macoris produces machine-made and handmade cigars, including Añejo XO and Royal Selection. “We work with a very small, dedicated team to create our unique premium cigars. The carefully-selected pairs working for us in San Pedro de Macoris take great pride in handcrafting our cigars and are true artisans in the craft,” said Agio Caribbean Tobacco Company general manager Francisco Batista. “With Agio becoming an official member of ProCigar, I feel an even deeper connection to the local cigar community and I look forward to sharing knowledge and working more closely together with other manufacturers to help elevate what is already world-leading cigar quality.’’
ROCKY IN THE CUT A new v-cutter is on the way from Rocky Patel Premium Cigars and Colibri. The cutters, retailing for $59.99 on rockypatel.com, will bear the Rocky Patel brand name and be made available in three color combinations: white and red, black and orange, and black and palladium. The cutters will also be available as gift items with box purchases at Rocky Patel in-store events. Two additional patterns will be available exclusively at BURN by Rocky Patel cigar lounges.
CAMACHO RELEASES CANDELA-WRAPPED CIGAR Camacho announced the launch of Camacho Candela Robusto, which the brand says is “built on the chassis of our Original Corojo blend” of Honduran Corojo, but with a green candela wrapper. The cigar comes in one format — a 5 x 50 Robusto — and is manufactured in Danlí, Honduras. “We are extremely excited to bring back this unique and special release,” said Scott Kolesaire, senior brand manager at Davidoff of Geneva USA, in a press release. “The Camacho Candela arrives just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, so spark up this retro smoke and grab some green beer.” Camacho Candela will be available for a limited time, as production is limited to 3,000 boxes of 25. It’ll retail for $8.00 per cigar.
THOMPSON ACQUIRED BY SCANDINAVIAN TOBACCO Thompson Cigar, the mail order cigar company based in Tampa, has been acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the publicly traded company that owns online retailer Cigars International as well as General Cigar (which manufactures brands like Macanudo, Cohiba, CAO and Toraño, to name just a few). The deal was reportedly worth $62 million.
24 | CIGAR SNOB | MAR / APR 2018