J.C. Newman Sends First Shipment Of Yagua For 2023
No two Yagua cigars are quite the same shape, and that inconsistency is precisely the point. J.C. Newman Cigar Co.’s Yagua line is a series of rustic, farm-style smokes produced without molds or presses, and 1,250 boxes are shipping to retailers this week.
Since its debut in 2021, the unrefined Yaguas have found an audience—an audience that surprised fourth-generation owner Drew Newman.
“It continues to shock me that Yagua has developed a cult-like following,” Newman said. “I didn’t make Yagua to sell. In fact, I didn’t think that cigar enthusiasts would like Yagua because it breaks all of the cigar-making rules. Yagua is misshapen and unattractive. We roll it with under-fermented tobacco, and no two Yagua are alike.”
The cigars are rolled while the tobacco is still wet and pliable. They are then bundled tightly together with a band of palm bark called a yagua. This gives the cigars an asymmetrical, multifaceted appearance (some cigars can have up to six sides). Despite the variance in shape, all measure 6 inches long by 54 ring gauge.
Retailing for $9 each, the cigars are all-Nicaraguan, save for the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. They’re produced at J.C. Newman’s PENSA factory in Nicaragua.
Each crate-like box holds a bundle of 20 cigars still wrapped in yagua. Because the tobacco is under-fermented, J.C. Newman says the cigars are aged for one year after rolling.
The next allotment of Yagua cigars is expected to go out to retailers in November.
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