IPCPR 2013: Boutique Blends

If there was one company getting a lot of bang out of a relatively small space, it was Boutique Blends, who loaded in a number of new products to their bright and glossy space.

The limited edition Aging Room M21 Fortissimo – which you will often see spelled with the ƒƒ fortissimo music notation replacing the F – is being capped at 3,000 individually numbered boxes of 10. It’s a Dominican puro that comes from Habano seed growing in La Canella and is made at Tabacalera La Palma in the Dominican Republic. The Perfecto measures 5 3/4 x 47 and has a price of $12.90 per cigar or $129.00 per box, and is available only through brick & mortar retailers.

Also being limited to 3,000 boxes is the 10-count WildPack, which was discussed here. Inside is two cigars of five previously unreleased blends, with a scorecard for each cigar included as a large foot band. You use that scorecard to grade the cigar, then head over to a website and provide your feedback. What happens from there remains to be seen. All ten cigars are 6 x 50 Toros; MSRP is $96.60 per box.

Also new is the Aging Room Minis, originally mentioned here. A cigarillo that uses the same blend as the M356, they come in 20-count tins. $14.08 per tin.

A pair of new maduros came along as well: the Swag “S” Maduro and Aging Room Maduro. The Swag “S” Maduro features nothing smaller than a 54 ring gauge and has a 7 x 70 called “The Bawse” and a 7 7/8 x 63 vitola called “Carter,” as well as a 6 1/2 x 60 so if you like big cigars, they’ve got you covered.

The Aging Room Maduro features a few more traditional sizes, from a 4 1/2 x 48 to a 6 1/2 x 60.

Gift boxes and samplers rounded out Boutique Blends’ new offerings:

This features four SWAG Puro Dominicanos, 4 SWAG South Beach Edition and two SWAG “S” Maduros, all in the 6 x 54 Infamous size. $84.80.

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 Major League Baseball, 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.