Artesano del Tobacco Adding El Pulpo Culebra

While there are plenty of new cigars being announced this time of year, there aren’t many new culebra cigars. But there will be at least one new for 2023: the El Pulpo Octo Ocho from Artesano del Tobacco.

The origins of the culebra cigar are in dispute, but the result is one—typically, three—of the most unique-looking cigars you’ll see. The cigars that make up a single culebra are twisted together, almost like the vines of a tree wrapping around one another. Typically, a culebra usually contains three cigars that are similar to petite lanceros in size, though the cigars can vary in length, and there are some culebras that are just two cigars.

To make a single El Pulpo Octo Ocho, Artesano del Tobacco is using three 7 x 38 cigars. The cigars are rolled like normal cigars, but while they are still moist, they are twisted together, ensuring that the individual cigars will hold their unique shapes once the ribbons holding the cigars together are removed. Despite the twisted appearance, the cigars are made to be smoked like another: one at a time, cut from the cap and lit from the foot.

Octo Ocho uses the same blend as the other El Pulpo cigars: a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a binder and fillers from AJ Fernandez’s farms in Nicaragua. Unlike the other sizes in the line, Octo Ocho is a round cigar, not box-pressed. Production is handled by AJ Fernandez’s San Lotano Factory in Nicaragua.

“The idea came to us a year ago when we were smoking the El Pulpo prerelease with our friends at Luxury Cigar Club,” said the company in a press release. “They suggested to make a Culebra size for El Pulpo cigars to celebrate and highlight this very well-aged San Andreas Maduro Wrapper and to represent the Octopus tentacles. Smoking this twisted Lancero surpassed our prediction and judgment with its outstanding balanced of sweet and full flavors.”

The MSRP is set at $40 per culebra, meaning each cigar is about $13.33. Retailers will receive the cigars with three culebras per box, a total of nine cigars. Artesano del Tobacco says it will begin shipping the Octo Ocho in late August or early September. While not a limited edition, it will be offered in batches just three times per year.