Alec Bradley Fine & Rare BCN-143 Heads to Stores for Nov. 11 Launch

The newest installment in the Alec Bradley Fine & Rare series is on its way to stores, as Forged Cigar Co. has begun shipping the BCN-143 ahead of its official release date this Saturday.

The cigar is a box-pressed, 7 x 50 double robusto, and in keeping with the Fine & Rare line’s tradition, it uses 10 different tobaccos in its blend. The wrapper is a Honduran Trojes criollo 98 leaf from the La Vega Coyol farm. Underneath that are two binder leaves, a Honduran Trojes criollo 98 and a criollo leaf from Nicaragua’s Estelí region.

The filler contains three ligero leaves, which come from the upper priming of a tobacco plant and are known for offering the most strength and flavor. All three are criollo 98 varietals, with one coming from Honduras’s Jamastran region, another from Honduras’ Trojes region, and the third from Jalapa in Nicaragua.

Rounding out the filler tobaccos are four viso leaves, which come from the middle part of the plant and are a bit less intense than ligero. Specifically, the list includes a Honduran Jamastran criollo 98 leaf, a Honduran Trojes corojo 99 leaf, a Honduran Jamastran corojo leaf and a Nicaraguan corojo 99 leaf from Jalapa.

A press release from Forged Cigar Co. describes the profile as starting with honey and natural sweetness, transitioning to earthier and woodier notes before finishing with honey sweetness, hazelnut and earth.

“Alec Bradley Fine & Rare BCN-143 is one of the final blends that Alec and I developed with Alan Rubin,” said Bradley Rubin, brand ambassador for Alec Bradley, via a press release. “It embodies our passion for exceptional tobacco and our commitment to carrying the brand forward with STG. I’m really looking forward to sharing this new expression with Alec Bradley fans, old and new.”

The cigars are produced by just one pair at the Raíces Cubanas factory in Honduras. Pricing is set at $25.99 per cigar and $259.90 for a box of 10 cigars. Production is limited to 2,500 boxes, making for a total run of 25,000 cigars.

The cigar will launch on Saturday, Nov. 11, as a nod to the shipping date of the original Fine & Rare, which came out in 2011.

Images courtesy of STG/Forged Cigar Co.

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, the G-League's Valley Suns, 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.