After originally being targeted for release at the 2013 IPCPR Convention and Trade Show, Gary Griffith says the Emilio Cigars Mia Dora will be released in 2014.

Griffith posted a picture of the band on Instagram and Twitter Monday afternoon with the note that it will be coming in 2014.

Griffith declined to provide additional information at this time about the Mia Dora project beyond what has been previously announced. Griffith confirmed that the Mia Dora is being made by A.J. Fernandez, though did not confirm the previous announcement that is uses a Habano Rosado wrapper and Nicaraguan filler.

When he announced the project in March 2013, Griffith posted the following to his blog:

The Miracle of Ascoli
There is a small town in the Marches province of Italy called Ascoli Piceno. It is a beautiful, historic little city, graced with a central square in the middle of which is a fountain.

In 1909 Ferdinando Paoletti, his wife and daughter made the trip from Italy to the United States. As family lore has it, when they arrived either his wife Mariantonia or his daughter Carolina had developed a severe cough, and was denied entry. Mariantonia and Carolina returned to Italy, presumably to await Ferdinando raising enough money to send for them again. They returned in 1912 through Philadelphia, and reunited at last the couple went on to build a life for themselves in Wilmington, Delaware.

It was here that their son Nicholas was born. Stationed in Georgia during his service in the Army Air Corps he met and married his wife, and this is where the story, for me, really begins.

I have always believed everything happens for a reason, that somehow there are few things in life that are unordained, and that the patient soul is always rewarded.

I grew up about 20 miles from Wilmington, attended High School in Elkton, Maryland, and had a pretty ordinary experience there. Of all the 220 people in my graduating class there were few I interacted with. I was shy, studious, and more inclined to sit at home and read a book or paint than date, or attend parties.

Move ahead 4 decades. As our 40th class reunion approached a few classmates made a concerted effort to reconnect many of us through Facebook. I happily accepted friend requests, but since our reunion fell on the weekend of our annual cigar festival it was certain I would not attend. The weekend before, however, I was scheduled to make an appearance at a small wine and food festival.

On a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon, as I sat on a dock along the Susquehanna River, I was approached by a beautiful woman who looked vaguely familiar. As it turned out, we had gone to the same High School, had no classes together, and as far as I can recall if we had ever even spoken it was only a few times. On September 9th that all changed in a wonderful way.

We spoke for perhaps a half hour, and I found her deeply intriguing. She had noticed the announcement of the event, and though she initially had decided to make the hour drive there threatening weather almost changed her mind. Cajoled by her sister to just go ahead and make the trip, there before me she was.

As she moved to head home, in an uncharacteristiclly brash way, I asked her to dinner. A few days later we met at a restaurant near her home, near the city if her birth, and the place she had returned to after graduation. Were it not for her taking that drive on that particular day chances are we would never have encountered each other again.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Today I am pleased to announce the forthcoming release of “Mia Dora” by Emilio Cigars, dedicated to the beautiful woman I love. Manufactured in Esteli, Nicaragua by my dear friend Abdel Fernandez, the cigars, featuring a Habano Rosado wrapper and Nicaraguan filler, will be released in July, 2013 at IPCPR in Las Vegas.

The decorative art for the bands and boxes will feature themes and colors from the flag of Ascoli Piceno, the city in which a young family made the bold decision over 100 years ago to ultimately deliver an angel to me.

I love you Dora. This is my gift to you, in my own way, in the art form I know best.

This is the second time that Griffith has created a cigar as an homage to a woman, with the other being La Musa.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.