State of the Brand: EO Brands/United Tobacco

It’s been a while since we heard from EO Brands, which was one of the hottest stories this summer, as the merger with Rocky Patel obviously was not something that was important to many. After the jump, some updates on EO Brands 601.

First, the question everyone is wondering about… are those (ugly) bands going away?
The answer is yes. I’m not sure what and when, but Ortega told me a few weeks ago that they are going away. He also sort of smiled seemingly knowing they haven’t been the most popular of decisions.

The internet has sort of created a rumor regarding the changing of the 601 Blue… false.
While there are a few more random sites that list the 601 Blue as Habano, the biggest one is Atlantic Cigar Co. Eddie told me that while there were tests with the Habano wrapper, the cigars have never left the factory in anything but Broadleaf.

Is the 601 Black coming back?
No. There are quite a few fans that continue to voice their support for its return, but there are no plans to bring back the 601 Black. There will however be another 601 in Connecticut, the 601 White. However, it will be more “mild and creamy” than the Black, which is described as medium. To my knowledge this will be only the third time that Pepín has worked with any sort of Connecticut, other than Broadleaf – so it should be an interesting experiment, as blending milder cigars isn’t something he does most the time.

Anything on Cubao?
No.

Anything on Murcielago?
No.

Have the blends changed?
No. I can confirm that the cigars still continue to leave with stamps from Pepín’s factory. I’m pretty sure Ortega would just laugh if you asked him, given he’s never been asked that question before. I’ve had one of the newly banded 601s and I can’t tell any sort of change, and I would say that at least for now I think that any thoughts regarding if the blend changed might just be your mind playing tricks on you. While I haven’t had it, the 601 Macho is supposed to be a very good cigar, which proves that Eddie and Erik are continuing what they started before Rocky ever got in the picture.

Erik continues to work as Drew Estate’s Florida rep and Eddie is definitely continuing work on EO Brands, which should lead to some other new projects later on.

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.