Lampert Cigars will be distributed by Charles Grech & Co. Ltd.

Lampert Cigars enters the Maltese market through Charles Grech.

Charles Grech distributes the whole Lampert Cigars portfolio that is made in three different countries: Costa Rica (Tabacos de Costa Rica), Dominican Republic (El Maestro and Kelner Boutique Factory), and Nicaragua (Agrotobaccos).

The post Lampert Cigars adds Distribution in Malta first appeared on Cigar Journal.

Originally posted on November 11, 2023 @ 2:17 am

Five years ago, Alejandro Mata developed the puro brand Alfambra. But his story is not the typical story of a cigar lover who wanted to create his own private brand. His roots go deeper. 

You may have already read this story before. A passionate cigar smoker feels the urge to create his or her own brand. On the surface, this story could be summarized as follows: The story of Alejandro Mata, a Spanish businessman and the creator of the brand Alfambra, a puro that, after only five years, is selling two million units in a total of 12 European countries. 

Yet Mata is not the typical wealthy passionado who contacted a prestigious manufacturer to have his private label made. His story is more deeply rooted in the world of tobacco and extends far beyond his passion or financial possibilities to a friendship with a very respected gentleman from the industry. 

“I was already smoking puros at the time,” Mata explains to me, “and I owned a liquor distribution company in Málaga (Andalusia, in the south of Spain) that dealt with Havana Club rum, among others.” It was the company Pernod Ricard, and they opened the door to Cuba for him in 2005 when they invited him to take part in the 7th Festival del Habano. “But because I can be very restless and like to follow my own rhythm, one day on my own initiative I took a trip to Pinar del Río to see the land and the tobacco there. In San Luis I met an elderly gentleman and had a little chat with him while we smoked a cigar together.” That gentleman was the tobacco grower Alejandro Robaina. 

The friendship between the two Alejandros was strengthened through tobacco, so much so that Mata soon wanted to produce his own brand. In 2007, he opened a “chinchal” (small shop) in Estelí with two cigar-rolling couples who rolled his cigars with tobacco from Remedios (Cuba), called La Flor de San Luis. “It soon became clear to me how hard it would be to maintain the continuity of my cigars with externally purchased tobacco. So I started to look for land in Nicaragua to grow my own tobacco, and bought two pieces of property in Pueblo Nuevo. I thought to myself, the sun rises for everyone, after all.” 

In 2015, he began to produce the brand Alfambra, a medieval name for Alhambra of Granada, one of the most symbolic Arabic monuments of his native region Andalusia. “I produced 30,000 units per year of my first cigar, a medium-filler with an orange cigar ring,” says Alejandro. “When, after three years, I launched El Brujito, which was a longfiller, we sold 840,000 cigars.” 

There is no great secret behind the success of Alfambra and the 6,000 cigars that he now produces every day. It is a result of the personal commitment of Alejandro Mata and his wife, a lot of work, cost savings through company expansions, and a company philosophy that favors pragmatism over of romance in order to offer the public a premium cigar at an unbeatable price. 

The Spanish market, which is always complicated, buys one million of his cigars. The rest of his sales are spread over 11 European countries, and his market continues to grow. Meanwhile, all the tobacco that he uses comes from his own estates, which encompass over 50 hectares (approx. 123.5 acres) of land in Nicaragua and includes the varieties Criollo 98, Corojo and Habana 2000. He has his own factory in Estelí and is starting new projects oriented towards growth and innovation. 

“You really have to like tobacco,” he assures me as he explains his current situation. “If you don’t like it, it’s impossible.”

Originally posted on January 11, 2023 @ 7:20 am

VegaFina Nicaragua Reserva 2022 

With this special edition, VegaFina presents aficionados the first “Reserva” framed into ints Nicaragua line.
It offers an exquisite selection of cigars hand-made with a 100% Nicaragua blend, different from the one of the standard line, and whose leaves of filler, binder and wrapper have been aged for at least 3 years. A delicate process that, made with the optimal conditions that characterize the production of Tabacalera de García, results in cigars with a more homogeneous blend and a perfect balance of nuances in both aroma and flavour.
The vitola chosen for this occasion is a 48 ring-gauge x 152 mm length, finished with a pigtail; an elegant vitola named “Maestros”, in hommage to the Grupo de Maestros of the factory. VegaFina Nicaragua Reserva is presented in an attractive wooden box with a design that is based on the distinctive orange colour of the line. The 12 cigars that contains are dressed with VegaFina Nicaragua’s standard cigar bands and with a footguard made on a beautiful natural effect paper with a vintage look.
This limited edition consists of 8.000 numbered boxes and will be available at Habanos Specialists and at some other retailers in very limited quantities starting on the 25th of April 2023.
Price per box: 138 CHF 

VegaFina Fortaleza 2 Doble Capote – Limited Edition 2022

Tabacalera SLU has announced a new addition to the VegaFina family: the VegaFina Fortaleza 2 Doble Capote. This is a cigar with two wrappers of different origins, the first box-pressed cigar in the VegaFina range.
The blend starts with Dominican filler leaves that have matured for four years. The two wrapper leaves come from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. The cigar is then enhanced with a brownish-red Ecuadorian wrapper leaf. The vitola is a box-pressed Magnum Extra, measuring 54 x 149 mm. The box-pressed shape is obtained by pressing rolled cigars in moulds for 30 to 60 minutes at the Tabacalera de García factory in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
This cigar is a limited edition and is sold in boxes of 12 cigars. Available at Habanos Specialists and at some other retailers in very limited quantities starting on the 25th of April 2023.
Price per box: 142.80 CHF

Rafael Gonzáles – Coronas de Lonsdales

On 11 February 2023, Habanos S.A. in Lisbon, Portugal, debuted the Coronas de Lonsdales from the Rafael Gonzales brand. The brand has been around for 90 years and is always reinventing itself to surprise its aficionados. The new logo design on the wrappers and boxes gives the cigar a more legible but above all contemporary look. The chosen vitola is a “Hermoso N°4” with 127 mm length and 48 cepo (19.05 mm).
A careful selection of the best tobacco leaves from the Vuelta Abajo, where the best tobacco in the world is grown, produces these Coronas de Lonsdales.
Made according to the tradition *Totalmente al Mano con Tripa Larga*, this blend results in a medium-bodied cigar that emerges from complex flavours with notes of grass and dark chocolate. The Rafael Gonzáles Coronas de Lonsdales are offered in a natural box with 10 Habanos. 

The Rafael Gonzales Coronas de Lonsdales will be available in Switzerland from 18 April 2023 at Casa del Habano and from 25 April 2023 at our Habanos Specialists.
Price per box: 120 CHF

Ramón Allones – Allones N°3 

Ramón Allones was founded in 1837 and is one of the oldest Habanos brands still in production. The Allones No. 3 has a beautiful vitola. It is slightly larger than a classic Robusto. The format is called “Noblezas” and has a cepo of 52 (20.64 mm) with a length of 138 mm. 

The wrapper and filler leaves come from Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río), where the world’s best tobacco is produced. They are matured for two years, carefully selected and rolled in the traditional way and *totalmente a Mano*. This blend of café flavours and dried fruits results in a strong cigar with a balanced note. 

The Ramón Allones Allones N°3 comes in a box of 10 cigars and will be available in Switzerland from 18 April 2023 at Casa del Habano and from 25 April 2023 at our Habanos Specialists.
Price per box: 175 CHF

Originally posted on April 12, 2023 @ 4:17 am