J.C. Newman Cigar Co. announced this week the Yagua, a classic cigar from the tobacco fields of Cuba that the Newman family has recreated in Nicaragua. The Yagua story is one of Cuba from the 1940s.
The cigar was inspired by J.C. Newman PENSA’s General Manager, Lazaro Lopez, who shared the following with Drew Newman (Fourth Generation Owner, J.C. Newman Cigar Company) over dinner in Esteli, Nicaragua last year:
“At our family farm, my grandfather would take fresh tobacco leaves from the curing barns and roll cigars without any molds or presses. In an attempt to give his cigars a traditional shape, he would tie a handful of them together using pieces of the Cuban royal palm tree, known as the yagua. When he was ready to enjoy his personal cigars, he untied the bundle. He loved how every cigar had its own unique shape. I still remember the rich aroma and taste of my grandfather’s cigars. Today, I’ve recreated Yagua, rolling them exactly how my grandfather did a century ago.”
Drew Newman noted:
“After hearing Lazaro describe the beautiful Yagua cigars he remembers from his youth in Cuba, I asked Lazaro if he could make this special cigar at our factory in Nicaragua. We are calling it Yagua, after the palm leaves that give the cigars their distinct shape.”
Yagua will be a Nicaraguan blend, and J.C. Newman is releasing 1,000 boxes of Yagua from its aging rooms this year. Each box features 20 cigars, which measure approximately 6×54. Newman explained; “Because the cigars are pressed together and bound while they are still wet, each one has a slightly different shape. Each cigar is truly unique”.
Yagua will ship from El Reloj, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company factory in Tampa, FL beginning next week, and should arrive on select retailers’ shelves in early August. If you are looking for where you can purchase these, the J.C. Newman website has a page dedicated to the Yagua, where you can enter your email and be notified where you can purchase them.
About J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
Founded in 1895 by Julius Caeser Newman, J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the oldest family-owned premium cigar maker in America. J.C. Newman rolls its El Reloj, Factory Throwouts, and Trader Jacks cigars by hand-operated, vintage cigar machines at its historic cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. It also hand rolls its Brick House, Perla del Mar, El Baton, and Quorum cigars at the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. J.C. Newman’s Diamond Crown, MAXIMUS, Julius Caeser, and Black Diamond cigars are handmade by Tabacalera A. Fuente in the Dominican Republic. With its longtime partners the Fuente family, the Newmans founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which supports low-income families in the Dominican Republic with education, health care, vocational training, and clean water.
These sound very interesting, and as noted in the article I entered my email on the website for availability location notifications when they come out in August. Good to know and I’m looking forward to trying a couple.