La Barba Cigar Co. has already announced its new limited edition, One and Only, and now the company has confirmed that it will be making several changes to its core lines: Red, Purple and Siempre Tamboril.

The company’s original cigar, known as La Barba Red, is moving production to Tabacalera William Ventura in the Dominican Republic after having been produced most recently in Honduras. As such, the blend is getting reworked but Tony Bellatto says it has the same characteristics as the original, using a Dominican corojo wrapper and “primarily” Dominican tobacco. “Big, full bodied and spicy with a ton of ligero but it has a Dominican flair that I have grown to love,” he told halfwheel.

In the La Barba Purple line, Bellatto is deleting the 6 x 54 vitola, saying that it is too similar in size to the 6 x 60. The blend however is staying the same.

The packaging is also changing for the Red and Purple lines as both products will now be offered in 12-count boxes as opposed to 10-counts. The designs of the packaging are getting minor changes as well, which Bellatto said are purely aesthetic and designed to help differentiate the product on the shelf, such as box color. He won’t be revealing the changes until the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, but says they will be ready to ship immediately following the show.

Finally, La Barba’s Siempre Tamboril line will be moving to 10-count boxes from bundles.

La Barba is distributed by Robert Caldwell’s Down and Back LLC.

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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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.