AJ Fernandez Ships New World Tins

A new small size of AJ Fernandez’s New World line is on its way to retailers, as the company has begun shipping the New World Tins.

The new size is a petite corona that measures 4 x 36 and retains the New World’s blend, meaning it’s a Nicaraguan puro with an oscuro wrapper from Estelí, a binder from Jalapa and fillers from Condega, Ometepe and Estelí. The blend was developed by Abdel Fernandez in collaboration with his father, Ismael, who joined his son’s company after spending 17 years with the Plasencia family.

They come packaged in tins of six cigars that have an MSRP of $24.98, before taxes. Like their bigger siblings, the cigars are made by hand at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. in Estelí. With this new size, the New World line now has five regular production sizes:

• New World Belicoso (5 1/2 x 55)
• New World Gordo (6 x 58)
• New World Robusto (5 1/2 x 55)
• New World Toro (6 1/2 x 55)
• New World Tins (4 x 36)

The New World line debuted in August 2014 with the company intent on delivering a wallet-friendly Nicaraguan puro, specifically one that could sell for around $10 per cigar but would be offered at around half that price. The cigar gets its name from the non-Cuban parts of the world that grow tobacco and produce cigars, a term often used in non-American markets for cigars made in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and other countries.

There have also been some limited edition releases, including the New World Redondo, a 6 1/2 x 55 toro extra that was released to members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America in May 2019. In December 2016, Atlantic Cigar Co. received a 6 x 54 toro vitola in celebration of the store’s 20th anniversary, while the distributor Zander-Greg received four vitolas as part of its 20th anniversary in June 2015: a 5 x 55 robusto, 5 1/2 x 55 belicoso, 6 1/2 x 55 toro and a 6 x 60 gordo. In May 2015, a 6 x 66 gran gordo dubbed the New World Brute was released for the Texas Cigar Festival.

Since its launch, the line has also added three extensions: a Connecticut version in 2015, the New World Puro Especial in 2017 that used tobacco solely grown in Nicaragua’s Estelí region, and the New World Cameroon in 2018, the latter of which was the first time the company used a Cameroon wrapper.