Ask halfwheel: What New Cigar Are You Most Looking Forward to at IPCPR 2016?

I am on my way to Vegas, hopefully.

It’s the Friday before the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, officially the calm before the storm. Over a month ago Jara—who might be the first person I’ve actually met to have their question featured on Ask halfwheel—asked a simple question.

IPCPR is just around the corner. What new release would you say you are most excited for?

Jara indicated she wanted me to answer the question. She also said new release, not new releases. So I apparently have to pick one.

For me, the easiest way to figure this question out was—if I had to pick the one new cigar that is debuting at trade show that I would most likely buy a box of, what would it be.

After some thought, it’s probably the Fuente Fuente OpusX 20 Years Celebration.

Oddly, OpusX is not my favorite thing. In fact, I’d rather smoke a regular Don Carlos in just about any size over an OpusX. That being said, the last time the company came out with a size called God’s Whisper, it produced six incredible cigars. If the 20 Year Celebration is anything like that, it’s another home run from the Fuente family.

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I decided to ask the rest of the halfwheel team for the single cigar they are most looking forward to and below are the answers:

• Brian: Tre J Red Label. Each year there are companies who consistently bring out new and exciting stuff, and companies that I’ve not run across before that turn out to be great new surprises to me. Tre J Cigars was a pleasant surprise to me last year with the three blends of the Vicarias line, so it was good to hear that they were debuting a new blend in the line, the Red Label. Besides that, I’m definitely looking forward to finding more new gems I haven’t had before.
• Brooks: Padrón Millennium. While I was fairly unimpressed with it the first time I smoked it—albeit nine years after it was first released—I am really looking forward to trying the rerelease of the Padrón Millennium to see what has changed.
• Patrick: Matilde Quadrata. I had the pleasure of visiting the Seijas family last December and got to try a few previous iterations of the blend, so I’m very intrigued to experience the final product. While there are many cigars I’m excited to try, this one is particularly special since it has been on my radar for nearly eight months now.

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There will be no Ask halfwheel next week as we will still be in IPCPR 2016 mode, but it will return the first week of August. If you’d like your question featured on Ask halfwheel, submit it here.