Amendola Family Cigar Co. Moves Factories, Updates Portfolio

The second half of 2020 will see some notable changes for Amendola Family Cigar Co. as the company is moving its production to new factories, one of which will result in the reworking of some of its limited editions.

Jeffrey Amendola, the owner and founder of the company, will be taking the company’s production out of the Tabacalera Kafie factory in Danlí, Honduras and move it to two factories, La Zona Cigar Factory and Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A., the factory owned by AGANORSA Leaf. Both are located in Esteli, Nicaragua.

The company’s regular production cigars will move to the AGANORSA Leaf factory, a decision that was finalized in the past few days and will hopefully have production starting on July 1. That line includes three blends, the Amendola Connecticut, the Amendola Habano, and Amendola Corojo Maduro, each of which will be offered in a 6 x 52 toro vitola.

Amendola’s signature line will be moving to La Zona, best known as the home of Espinosa Premium Cigars, and as a result there will be some changes to the cigars in that collection.

The Padrino will shift from being a 6 x 54 vitola in what is described as a wedge vitola, meaning it has a flattened head, to a more traditional belicoso. The blend will also change, as the Indonesian Sumatra wrapper will be replaced by a broadleaf wrapper, though that change has not been finalized yet, as Amendola said he is still shopping for the tobacco that will eventually be used in the final blend.

The company has just released the first of its cigars to be produced at La Zona, a line called Cannoli that includes three blends. The first to be released is the Amendola Signature Series San Andres Cannoli, which uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper atop a Nicaraguan binder and filler and is offered in a 5 1/2 x 42 box pressed corona vitola. It will then be followed up by a Connecticut shade version and a version that uses a habano wrapper as of yet undisclosed origin, both of which will be released in a round 5 1/2 x 42 corona vitola. Those two cigars are expected to be released in September.

Amendola said that the company has exhausted its supply of cigars made at Tabacalera Kafie, meaning that what is left is on retail shelves. He acknowledged that there might be periods of time in the coming months where product is unavailable until production fully ramps up and is able to get to stores, which is expected by September. The boxes will be stamped with the factory that produced the cigars inside, should a consumer wish to know where the cigars inside were made.

As for pricing, Amendola said it plans to keep its portfolio priced between $7.99 and $11.99. Amendola Family Cigar Co. will continue to be distributed by Cajun Cigar Czar, which is located in Miami.

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 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. I previously covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.