Asylum Partners With BigTime Tommie for New Cigar

Asylum Cigars has partnered with Tommie Romola, better known as BigTime Tommie, for a new cigar named Romola.

The Asylum 13 BigTime Tommie is a 7 x 70 Nicaraguan puro that the company describes as “medium to full-bodied.” It’s priced at $13 and comes in boxes of 30 cigars.

It came about because of Romola’s love for the Asylum 13 7 x 70. That includes appearances in 2017 on “America’s Got Talent,” where Romola appeared while his nephew, Sal Valentinetti, performed on the show. During scenes, Romola can be seen holding a cigar. In one scene, Nick Cannon—a presenter on the show—can be seen holding an unbranded 7 x 70.

“So for a couple of years I was trying to get ahold of him,” said Tom Lazuka, founder of Asylum Cigars, to halfwheel. “Eventually I was at Smoke Inn in Delray Beach, Fla. talking with Vincent (Prestigiacomo), the owner. And he’s like ‘oh I’m good friends with BigTime Tommie. Let’s call him right now.'”

After connecting with Romola, Asylum began working on the project that became the Asylum 13 BigTime Tommie. It debuted at an event at Smoke Inn Delray Beach, which Lazuka described as likely the single most 7 x 70 cigars being smoked at a single time; he estimated there were 200 people smoking the large ring gauge cigars.

More events are scheduled with Ramolo and there’s a 6 x 60 size planned for the future.

Romola’s fame includes a role in “Carfellas,” a reality TV showed that aired on Discovery in 2011. Since then, he’s gained nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram and has appeared on other TV shows like “America’s Got Talent” and “Desus & Mero.”

Images via Asylum/CLE

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 handle the editing of our written content, the majority of the technical aspects of the site and work with the rest of our staff on content management, business development and more. I’ve lived in most corners of the country and now entering my second stint in Dallas, Texas. I enjoy boxing, headphones, the Le Mans 24-hour, wearing sweatshirts year-round and gyros. echte liebe.