Toscano’s Air-Cured Brenta Is Back
The air-cured Toscano-style cigar from Manifatture Sigaro Toscano is making its market comeback. When we first saw Brenta last year, it was a limited-production cigar made for trade members of the Premium Cigar Association (PCA). This week, it’s returning to cigar store shelves across the United States.
Most Toscano-style cigars are made by machine with fire-cured tobacco, giving them the signature smokiness that defines the rustic Toscano style. Not Brenta. Unlike traditional Toscanos, Brenta is made by hand with air-cured tobacco and a binder leaf, giving it more in common with a premium product. This is the first cigar in Manifatture Sigaro Toscano’s portfolio to use air-cured tobacco, and the company says that the re-release was due to customer demand.
Brenta is produced by hand in Campase, near Bassano del Grappa in northern Italy. It’s composed entirely of Nostrano del Brenta, a dark Havana-seed tobacco grown in Italy’s Veneto region, known for its Amarone wines. The cigar is at least twice the size of a typical Toscano, measuring a little over 4 inches long by 56 ring gauge at its widest point. It was on display at the PCA trade show in New Orleans in April and retails for $9 each, or $180 per box of 20.
“It’s a cigar that breaks with the conventional Toscano fire cure yet stays true to our identity,” says Luciano Simeone, U.S. director of Manifatture Sigaro Toscano. “Smokers recognized its authenticity, elegance and Italian soul. We are proud to bring it back and continue sharing this unique experience with a wider audience.”
