Best Cigar Prices Launches Dakine Brand of Cigars Using Hawaiian Tobacco

The fertile soils of Hawaii are perhaps best known for growing coffee, but it’s also capable of producing cigar tobacco.

Best Cigar Prices, a Pennsylvania-based retailer, has launched a new brand called Dakine that uses Hawaiian tobacco. The Dakine brand is offered in eight different blends, each offered in the same two sizes, priced the same:

• Dakine Robusto (5 x 50) — $9.30 (Box of 20, $185.99)
• Dakine Toro (6 x 50) — $11.15 (Box of 20, $222.99)

Those eight blends are:

• Dakine The Big Island
  • Wrapper: U.S.A. (Pennsylvania Broadleaf)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Ecuador, Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Forbidden Isle
  • Wrapper: Cameroon
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Friendly Isle
  • Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-seed)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Garden Isle
  • Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
  • Binder: Ecuador
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Gathering Place
  • Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Lāna’i
  • Wrapper: Honduras (Candela)
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Target Isle
  • Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
  • Binder: Ecuador
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

• Dakine Valley Isle
  • Wrapper: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
  • Binder: Ecuador
  • Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Hawaii)

The cigars are produced at Tabacalera Nuevo Nica in Estelí, Nicaragua.

“Laura Barlau (Purchasing Director at Best Cigar Prices) and I have been friends for a few years and share an affinity for good cigars and innovation,” said Chris Weber, owner of Tabacalera Nuevo Nica and blender of Dakine. “When she told me she’d always wanted to blend a cigar with Hawaiian tobacco, I told her of some leaves I’d been growing as an experiment at home in Hawai’i. Fast forward to now, and the outcome is nothing short of amazing. Mahalo Nui Loa to Laura, Greg and the BCP team for the confidence in us to bring this project to light for them.”

The company is not disclosing where in Hawaii the tobacco comes from, though added the candela wrapper for Lāna’i comes from the Plasencia family.

While Best Cigar Prices is best known as a retailer, it launched Cigar Hub, Inc. in 2021 to focus on B2B sales. These Dakine cigars are offered to other retailers through Cigar Hub.

“We are extremely excited to bring this innovative new series to our customers,” said Greg Fox, president and ceo of Best Cigar Prices, in a press release. “Dakine cigars awaken a dimension of the palate that other cigars simply do not. The authentic Hawaiian tobaccos expertly blended into this premium collection create a truly original smoking experience. These eight blends are among the most unanticipated pleasures of my 20 years in premium cigars.”

The Dakine cigars went on sale on Friday, Sept. 1.

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.