Cigar Aficionado

Rocky Patel Premium Cigars is launching three new Nicaraguan cigars in style this week at a release party at Burn by Rocky Patel in Naples, Florida. Set to take place on Wednesday, the party will unveil Tavicusa, ALR and Liberation By Hamlet, each of which debuted at last month’s International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailer’s trade show in Las Vegas. 

Tavicusa was made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A., the company’s factory in Estelí, Nicaragua where Fifteenth Anniversary, Special Edition and Sun Grown Maduro are all rolled. All three of the new cigars, too, are being made at the TaviCusa factory. 

The Tavicusa blend uses Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos that are grown by Rocky Patel Premium Cigars, with a Mexican San Andrés cover leaf. It will come in three sizes, all parejos: Robusto, which measures 5 1/2 inches by 50 ring gauge ($10.30); Toro, 6 1/2 by 52 ($10.60); and Sixty, 6 by 60 ($11.30). All three come packed in 20-count boxes.

Rocky Patel ALR is a limited-edition smoke that dons a Habano-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobacco. The cigar will be offered in three formats: Robusto, measuring 5 inches by 50 ring gauge ($13); Toro, 6 by 52 ($14); and Sixty, 6 by 60 ($15).

Liberation by Hamlet is the third cigar brand that Hamlet Paredes, a former Habanos S.A. cigar roller and blender, has created with Rocky Patel. The cigar is draped in a dark Habano Ecuadoran leaf, with binder from Nicaragua and a filler mix of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos. Liberation comes only in a single size called Toro, which measures 6 1/2 inches by 55 ring gauge. The eye-catching Toro is crafted with a tapered figurado head and an unfinished shaggy foot. The cigar is priced at $11.10 and will ship in 10-count boxes.

According to the company, the three new cigars will arrive at tobacconists shortly after the launch party.