Southern Draw Cigars announces the 300 Hands Line of Cigars


300 hands is what it takes to go from seed to palate when it comes to cigars. Everything from the planting and cultivation, picking and curing, fermenting, blending, and rolling, box design and creation, art and packaging, all the way to delivery of the final product.
 
Robert Holt and Southern Draw Cigars understand that as best as anyone in the industry and this year at the IPCPR he and his small Texas company are proud to launch their latest cigar line, the 300 HANDS. The company will be holding a launch event on Sunday July 15th at 11 am in IPCPR booth #1065 to introduce the new line.
 
The 300 HANDS line is a way for Robert and Sharon Holt to acknowledge the great people of Nicaragua who work tirelessly to bring you the highest quality cigars for your enjoyment.  According to Robert, the 300 HANDS blends were part of the company’s original private blend collection and are now will be available in full production.

There are two blends in the 300 HANDS line

300 HANDS Maduro

  • Wrapper – Esteli, Nicaragua
  • Binder – Indonesia
  • Filler – Nicaragua & Dominican Republic

300 MANOS Habano (pronounced Trescientos MANOS)

  • Wrapper – Ecuador
  • Binder – Cameroon
  • Filler – Nicaragua & Dominican Republic

Both blends are artfully constructed at the AJ Fernandez Cigar Co. in Esteli, Nicaragua and will be available in 5 different vitolas and will come packaged in 10-count bundles.

  • Petit Edmundo 4.75 x 52 – $5.99 (Bundles of 10, $59.99)
  • Coloniales 5.25 x 44 – $6.19 (Bundles of 10, $61.99)
  • Corona Gorda 5.625 x 46 – $6.29 (Bundles of 10, $62.99)
  • Piramides 6.125 x 52 – $6.39 (Bundles of 10, $63.99)
  • Churchill 7.0 x 48 – $6.49 (Bundles of 10, $64.99)

The Story and Mission of the 300 HANDS

Robert Holt and Southern Draw cigars have a deep love for the country of Nicaragua and all the people who work in the cigar business there. The company not only produces their product in the country but also does charity work for the people in the business. It is this love that drove Robert and Sharon Holt to establish a mission around the 300 HANDS line. As Robert explains:

“It is the people of Nicaragua that we believe are now the backbone of this great industry.”

So in celebration and respect for the tobacco stained hands, that meticulously perform every step required to produce a Southern Draw cigar, the company states their 300 HANDS mission.

The Mission

300 HANDS will share premium cigars and honest stories of Nicaraguan people in a concerted effort to provide a hopeful future for at least some of these families by offering financial assistance in and around Esteli, Nicaragua.

Sharon Holt explains:

“We want to share this story with the masses and have priced this cigar line in an unbeatable range of $5.99 – $6.49 while expanding our charitable giving strategy to Nicaragua.  We will distribute 25% of our profits to those Nicaraguans that offered us their honest stories and identified specific needs in and around their own communities,”

Robert Holt stated further:

“We hereby ask our valued retail and media partners to join us as we endeavor to share the stories of 300 Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, using their words, their emotions and their heartfelt pleas to help their neighbors.  We have high hopes for a better Nicaragua as they fight to overcome decades old struggles that have just recently escalated into what has been deemed a “newsworthy” crisis. They are 300 HANDS” and “this is their story”.

The People

The Nicaraguan people remain committed to this celebrated art form but they do dream of something better.   With a population of approximately 6 million people and a median age of about 25 years old, the future is now for a great country that remains one of the least developed in Latin America where poverty is high (30% – 40% based on most reports) and access to basic services are a daily struggle.  Over the last five years, the Southern Draw Cigars family has experienced the wonder of this country and the people have touched our hearts.

Prior to recent escalation, we have observed their struggles which are fraught with personal tragedy, misfortune and misery.  The shanties of concrete, plastic sheets, corrugated metal and even cardboard are filled beyond comfort, many remain homeless, unpaved roads are too numerous to count, many have limited access to clean water and electricity and these are just a few of the essential needs of the people.


 
And yet, here in the United States, the largest export partner of Nicaragua representing over 50% of their annual exports, we enjoy their premium cigars, aged rum and coffee while many still do not have a good understanding or even worse, a true appreciation of the back-breaking work and the daily struggles of the people that extend beyond the busy factories and sprawling tobacco fields.
 
These humble, hard-working and relatively happy people dream of something better, something that will offer them improved quality of life, steady income, good health, confidence in their freedoms, trust in their country and provisions for their essential needs.  Through tearful discussions and heartbreaking letters, Southern Draw has heard their stories and offers 300 HANDS as the voice of those who have asked us to deliver their message.
 

 
It is our obligation to help our neighbors and we hope to allow the beauty and the endless possibilities of Nicaragua to flourish.  Together we can secure a sense of contribution – even if only in a small way – to a great people as they attempt to unify and uplift their fellow countrymen.  Please allow us to introduce 300 HANDS.

300 HANDS Release

The 300 HANDS line can only be ordered at the company’s IPCPR Booth #1065. Any retail order will include a FREE vertical display tray that is just 9”w x 10”d x 12”h and holds both blends and 10 cigars of each size with easy to use refill bundles. There will be only 15,000 of each vitola produced in 2018 for a total of 150,000 cigars and the company is pledged to ship in August and October of 2018.

If you are attending the IPCPR 2018 contact [email protected] to make an appointment to experience the 300 HANDS. The line is available to the company’s valued retail partners who are in good standing and will be first come, first served.