Santa Clara, Inc. recently attended the annual IPCPR trade show. The trade show offers Santa Clara a great opportunity to meet with its customers and vendors. As per usual, there were a tremendous number of products being showcased or launched for the first time. In this month’s edition of the Retailer Corner, we wanted to highlight eight cigars that we feel would make a great addition to your retail humidor. Also, with each description we’re including either a link to our website where you can learn more about this item or an estimated time of arrival when we should be receiving this item.

H. Upmann Hispaniola by Jose Mendez

With this latest offering, Altadis USA wanted to pay homage to one of the best tobacco growers in the world, Jose Mendez & Co. by using only their tobacco in this excellent cigar. H. Upmann is celebrating it’s 175^th anniversary as a brand this year, so it’s only fitting that this newest brand is being rolled at a historic factory celebrating it’s 50^th anniversary, Tabacalera de Garcia in the Dominican Republic. The H. Upmann Hispaniola by Jose Mendez also features Dominican Pilotico, which is a proprietary tobacco for Altadis USA.

In-stock: https://www.santaclaracigars.com/brand/h-upmann-cigars/h-upmann-hispaniola-by-jose-mendez

Plasencia Alma Del Fuego

Up until a few years ago, Plasencia wasn’t a cigar brand that most consumers had heard of before. They rarely ever released a cigar that had their family name on it, but instead made a lot of cigars for other brand owners such as Rocky Patel and Alec Bradley. For over 50 years, the Plasencia Family has been one of the largest growers of premium tobacco. Two years ago, Plasencia released the Alma Fuerte as their first premium cigar with a higher price tag and it quickly became a great seller for retailers across the county. As a follow-up to that release, Plasencia is has released their newest cigar, the Plasencia Alma Del Fuego. With this fantastic cigar, the Plasencia family has used a very rare tobacco from the Ometepe region of Nicaraua. Ometepe is grown on an island that has two active volcanos, which creates a very rich and spicy tobacco. This most recent cigar has already seen fast turns for retailers across the country.

In-stock: https://www.santaclaracigars.com/brand/plasencia-cigars/plasencia-alma-del-fuego

Sobremesa Brûlée

Steve Saka is considered by many to be one the best minds and makers in the premium cigar industry. Before he launched his own company Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust four years ago, Saka was previously the President of Drew Estate. While at Drew Estate, he conceptualized one of the most popular brands to be released in the last 20 years, Liga Privada. Since starting his own company, Steve has seen tremendous success and praise for brands such as Sobremesa, Mi Querida, Todas Las Dias, and Sin Compromiso. With the Sobremesa Brûlée, Saka took a step back in time to create a Connecitcut shade cigar that was mellow, smooth, and sweet like your Grandfather’s cigar from decades ago.

In-stock: https://www.santaclaracigars.com/brand/dunbarton-tobacco-and-trust-cigars/sobremesa-brulee

Trinidad Espiritu

Trinidad is one of those Cuban heritage brands that often doesn’t get as much attention as brands such as Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta, but this latest release will surely stand out and garner a ton of interest from adult cigar consumers. This fantastic Nicaraguan puro was rolled at the factory of cigar maker A.J. Fernandez. The packaging will surely stand out on any retail shelf as it features an Art Deco style that personifies Miami and Caribbean culture. The manufacturer, Altadis USA is putting a lot of marketing and creativity to showcase and highlight this masterpiece of a cigar.

In-stock: https://www.santaclaracigars.com/brand/trinidad-espiritu

Joya de Nicaragua Antano CT

This year’s trade show saw the release of several exciting Connecticut shade-wrapped cigars. Typically, when most consumers think of Connecticut Shade cigars they don’t typically think of Joya de Nicaragua. However, looking over their history Joya de Nicaragua released one of the most iconic Connecticut shade cigars with the Joya de Nicaragua Clasico several decades ago. Going back to their roots, this year they have released the Joya de Nicaragua Antano Connecticut to bring balance to the Antano brand. With Joya de Nicaragua, you get great quality, flavor, and history wrapped up in a cigar. This cigar will surely be a great cigar for consumers who like to smoke a wide variety in terms of strength.

In-stock: https://www.santaclaracigars.com/brand/drew-estate-cigars/joya-de-nicaragua-antano-connecticut

ACID 20^th Anniversary

ACID from Drew Estate is celebrating it’s 20^th anniversary this year by commemorating with a special cigar that will surely be one of the best-selling lines from this year. Twenty years ago, Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel disrupted and transformed the cigar industry with an infused cigar that would become one of the best-selling cigars in the marketplace. The creativity and quality that is the ACID brand has been paramount to the success of Drew Estate.

ETA: TBD

Casa Fernandez Guardian of the Farm Nightwatch

The Aganorsa Family has for a long time been famous for being one of the best tobacco growers and purveyors in Nicaragua. In 2016, Aganorsa Leaf launched their first Guardian of the Farm cigar, and it quickly became one of their most popular brands as it garnered a lot of critical acclaim as it was on several media lists for top 25 cigars for 2016. As a follow-up to this fantastic cigar, Aganorsa Leaf has launched the Casa Fernandez Guardian of the Farm Night Watch at this year’s trade show. In one of the rare instances, Aganorsa is utilizing a maduro Nicaraguan wrapper to make the cigar “more intense” then its previous release.

ETA: TBD

Alec & Bradley Gatekeeper

When Alan Rubin founded his company over 20 years ago, he chose the name Alec Bradley Cigars as a way of showing his love for his two young sons, Alec and Bradley. Now, over 20 years later, both of Alan’s sons are an integral part of his company. However, both sons also wanted an opportunity to develop their own brand and work on the blending process of their own cigar. In order to realize this dream both sons started their own separate brand, Alec & Bradley Cigars. Last year, they launched their first release with the Blind Faith, and now they are doing their follow-up with the Gatekeeper. Alec and Bradley sought out the help and blending of legendary cigar icon, Ernesto Perez-Carillo to manufacturer this exciting cigar. Alec and Bradley are clearly on the path to success in the premium cigar industry, and retailers will surely want to take part in this exciting journey by adding this to their shelves.

ETA: TBD