Across the country, fans and players alike are getting ready for baseball’s regular season to begin. In an announcement perfectly timed to coincide with all the Spring Training games currently underway, United Cigars and Artista have just announced the Big Papi Firecracker. The Big Papi line honors hall of famer David Ortiz, who’s accolades from 14 years as an MLB player include 10 All-Star appearances, 3 World Series rings, and 7 Silver-Slugger Awards.
Dropping on Major League Baseball’s opening day, the journey to craft this Firecracker began with Artista’s Slugger line. Building on that foundation, Ram Rodriguez – Artista’s third-generation owner – elevated the experience with the addition of a very particular tobacco. “This was a special project that I wanted to be a part of,” shared Ram. “This Firecracker is a unique vitola and for a Big Papi Firecracker it had to be special. I wanted tobacco that was grown in the Dominican in the 60’s and Dominican Negrito was that tobacco.”
Featuring a Mexican San Andres wrapper and that Dominican Negrito binder, this limited edition United Firecracker cigar includes a combination of filler tobaccos from three different countries: Dominican Criollo 98, Nicaraguan Jalapa, and Pennsylvanian Broadleaf. Set to retail for a suggested $7.99 each, the Big Papi Firecracker will launch in boxes of 20 cigars each. As part of the project, Ortiz personally autographed a number of boxes could potentially make their way to the public as part of the launch.
If you’ve ever heard anyone say “they’ve got your number,” they could very well be talking about Clark Thornton, Director of the Limited Cigar Association from Privada Cigar Club. For the second year in a row – and for 12 straight hours – Thornton recited digits of the mathematical constant known as Pi. As with last year’s spectacle, a special Pi Day 2023 cigar was released ahead of time for those eager to smoke along: Measuring 7.5 by 42, this box pressed blend has been aged for 3 years.
Throughout the day, cigar heads and math fans dropped in to see what on earth this was in front of them and if he was still going strong. By the time the event wrapped up, thousands of people had joined in and watched along over the course of the day. Wholesome and entertaining throughout, the entire thing played out like an early David Blaine endurance feat. The full recording lives here, but you’ll absolutely want to watch the teaser video first to get in the proper headspace.
While the banded versions sold out well in advance of the live performance, Privada has made a limited amount of unbanded Pi Day 2023 cigars available at a special price. Get yours now!
While they last, Oak Glen Tobacconist has released an exclusive cigar for St Patrick’s Day. Bleak Midwinter, in a nod to the highly regarded Peaky Blinders series, is a 5 x 54 Torpedo – or “bullet” as it is appropriately referred to given the cigar’s inspiration. The name of hymn written 1872 by by Christina Rossetti, Bleak Midwinter is quoted by a popular characters during one of the series’ many pivotal scenes.
Showcasing a Maduro wrapper rich in both tooth and texture, the notes are listed as raisins, leather, earth, hints of spice, and a sweet finish that persists on the palate. OGT’s own Eric Drazin shares that “I offer this special cigar for your enjoyment as we pass from the winter of 2022-2023 and move into the spring. As these leaves burn also put away the cold winter season.
Fratello Cigars has officially partnered with Björk Tobacco to distribute Omar de Frias’ cigars in Iceland. “We are very excited to be partnering with Trausti Reynissson and his team. After meeting with Björk Tobacco at Dortmund last year we saw an incredible opportunity for Fratello in the market,” described de Frias.
Reynissson shared that “we are very happy to get to work with Omar and bring his outstanding cigars to Iceland. We own 2 locations and recently opened our third location in December and Fratello is already building a strong following amongst our customers.”
Iceland joins the ever growing list of countries in which Fratello blends are distributed: the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Norway, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Nicaragua, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Romania, France, Qatar, Australia, Italy, Germany, Cyprus, the Virgin Islands, and the United Arab Emirates.
Deadwood Tobacco Company and Asylym have officially released this year’s Chasing The Dragon “Double Sweet” St Patrick’s Day Collaboration. Described on the product page as a “limited edition 5 pack of crisp, green apple with candy sweetness,” this special run of 4.5 x 48 Candela-wrapped Petite Robustos is a seasonal extension of DTC & Asylum’s Chasing the Dragon lineup. While not referred to as flavored or infused in any product description, those who have had other cigars in the collection report an experience not dissimilar from Deadwood’s other aromatic selections.
Wishing you all another great week full of your favorite cigars and your favorite people. Keep on sending in your favorite cigar related news stories, posts and video. If anything from this roundup catches your attention, let everyone know in the comments below!