Cuba Rica Preparing Spirit of Art for Release

There have been plenty of art cigars in recent memory, but the latest from Cuba Rica is different—a cigar for Art. In Art Kalasho, Stephen Adib found a good friend, good enough that when Kalasho passed away, Adib and the family agreed to make a cigar in his honor.

“Art Kalasho was the brother I never had and a friend for all time,” said Adib. ” Shortly thereafter, I embarked on a two-year journey to create the masterpiece called Spirit of Art (SOA). SOA is specifically blended to Art’s exact preferences in flavor, character, and body, crafting what he would consider a ‘delicately perfect cigar.’”

Spirit of Art uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over a proprietary blend of fillers. It’s offered in three sizes SOA 52 (4 3/4 x 52, $15), SOA 54 (5 3/4 x 54, $17) and SOA 56 (6 1/2 x 56, $19). There three sizes come in boxes of 10 and Adib said he will be limiting the cigar to no more than 50 accounts.

A portion of the proceeds from each cigar will go to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in honor of Kalasho’s philanthropic efforts.

The cigars will be made at the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory in Costa Rica.

(Image via Stephen Adib)

Update (Aug. 7, 2014) — The original version of this story incorrectly misspelled the name of the cigar.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.