AJ Fernandez Shows Off 20th Anniversary at PCA 2024

In 2003, a young Abdel Fernández left his native Cuba to take a job with the Plasencias. A year later, he—like many others before him—started his first factory in a garage.

Two decades later, AJ Fernandez’s name and work are not only all over the city of Estelí but also in the non-Cuban cigar industry. Fernández’s other big breaks came when he was able to sign on Rocky Patel and Cigars International as clients for private label brands. Today, his roster of private label clients seems easier to mention the companies he doesn’t make cigars for than the ones he does. The current list includes Altadis U.S.A., Cigars International, Espinosa Premium Cigars, Foundation Cigar Co., General Cigar Co., Gurkha, Illusione, JR Cigar and many others.

This year, his company is celebrating that occasion with the new AJF 20th Anniversary. Those cigars are on display at the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show, though some details remain unknown. What has been announced is that there will be two different cigars:

• AJF 20th Anniversary Toro (6 x 56) — $20 (Box of 20, $400)
• AJF 20th Anniversary Humidor Belicoso (6 3/4 x 54) — TBA (Humidor of 50 Cigars)

The Toro is limited to 7,500 numbered boxes, while the Humidor Belicoso is limited to 250 numbered humidors. Details like blend and release dates have not been announced. While Fernández’s first factory might have been a garage, these cigars are rolled at his palatial Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. factory in Estelí.

Brian Burt contributed to this story.