Next month, the Asylum Nyctophlia will begin arriving at select stores, but it might be another year before your local shop can expect the cigar. All this for a release that was once scheduled for last August.

Christian Eiroa of CLE Cigar Co. told halfwheel that the Asylum Nyctophilia will be offered to members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) next week and begin shipping in April. The TAA is a group of around 80 retailers who most notably meet once per year with various manufacturers to discuss the state of the cigar industry, as well as, purchase cigars at a mini-trade show.

In recent years, various manufacturers have begun to offer members of the TAA exclusive cigars, or as in the case of the Asylum Nyctophilia, offer cigars to members of the TAA before they ship nationally. While the cigar is regular production, the special TAA preview editions will carry a secondary TAA foot band.

Nyctophilia was announced shortly before the 2014 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show last July. It is a new line for the Asylum line, a full-bodied cigar that uses only maduro leaves. The wrapper is Mexican San Andrés with fillers from Nicaragua.

It was originally announced in 4 x 44, 6 x 50, 6 x 60 and 6 x 66 sizes priced at $7-10. It now will ship in 5 x 50, 6 x 60 and 7 x 70 sizes with pricing set between $6-8.

Nyctophilia is made at an undisclosed Nicaraguan factory.

CLE Cigar Co./Asylum becomes the sixth company to announce a TAA exclusive for 2015 following Kristoff, La Flor DominicanaNat Sherman, Quesada Cigars and Tatuaje.

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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.