La Galera Anemoi Shipping to Retailers on Sept. 23

La Galera’s newest creation, Anemoi, should begin arriving at retailers just before the end of the month, as the company has told halfwheel that the first round of shipments will head out on Monday, Sept. 23.

The cigar was part of the new releases from the company displayed at the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, and is named in honor of the winds, which Jochy Blanco says play a vital role in the growing of tobacco by showing farmers where the best spaces are to plant seeds. The line is named for the Greek god of wind, and the bands come in a unique shade of blue with several Greek influences.

The blend features a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over a Dominican binder from Jacagua and Dominican fillers, specifically criollo 98 and piloto cubano from La Canela. It’s a regular production line that is being released in five vitolas, with Anemoi available nationwide—although in more limited quantities—and the other four limited to specific regions of the country.

• La Galera Anemoi Boreas (4 3/4 x 46) — $8.50 (Box of 20, $170)
• La Galera Anemoi Zephyrus (6 x 60) — $11 (Box of 20, $220)
• La Galera Anemoi Anemoi (6 3/8 x 52) — $12 (Box of 20, $240)
• La Galera Anemoi Eurus (5 1/2 x 48) — $9.25 (Box of 20, $185)
• La Galera Anemoi Notus (5 x 56) — $10 (Box of 20, $200)

Each of the names refers to a different Greek god of wind.

• Boreas (North) — The northern winds in the Dominican Republic bring water to the Cibao Valley during the fall and winter.
• Notus (South) — La Galera says it is the rarest of winds that generally only occurs when a hurricane is heading to the Dominican Republic.
• Eurus (East) — The Eastern winds remove the excess humidity and disease from the region, helping the tobacco growth.
• Zephyrus (West) — Winds from the west also bring rain to the tobacco-growing regions in the Dominican Republic.

In a unique spin, the company has divided the country into five geographic regions, northwest, midwest, southwest, northeast and southeast. Retailers in each of those regions will also be able to carry the two vitolas whose names make up their region. For instance, the southwestern U.S., a region that includes southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, will get Notus and Zephyrus, the two vitolas named for the gods of the southern and western winds. That means each retailer should be carrying three vitolas of the La Galera Anemoi, however the company tells halfwheel that the Anemoi vitola is the most limited of the five in terms of numbers currently available.

The La Galera Anemoi is a regular production line, though the company will be releasing the cigars on a quarterly basis due to the constraints of working with Connecticut broadleaf tobacco, as well as aging the cigars to ideal specifications before leaving Tabacalera Palma.