Diesel Whiskey Row Founder’s Collection Mizunara Arrives at Stores

Since 2018, General Cigar Co. has partnered with Rabbit Hole distillery to create Diesel-branded cigars that are made in part using barrels that previously held Rabbit Hole’s bourbon. The newest release is centered around barrels that were made of Japanese Mizunara oak.

The Diesel Whiskey Row Founder’s Collection Mizunara is a 6 x 52 toro that uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over a Nicaraguan habano tobacco for the binder and filler. That habano binder was aged in Japanese Mizunara oak barrels that were used to age Rabbit Hole’s 15-Year-Old Mizunara Founder’s Collection bourbon. Like other Diesel cigars, it is made at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.

It has an MSRP of $15.99 per cigar and is sold in boxes of 10 cigars. The Diesel Whiskey Row Founder’s Collection Mizunara is already on sale at retailers. This release is limited, though production numbers have not been disclosed.

By law, bourbon is required to be aged in freshly charred, new American oak barrels. It can be finished in other barrels, which is where the Mizunara wood comes in. Recently, Mizunara has become in vogue for the global whisky industry. The wood is native to Japan, and the trees take around 200 years to grow large enough to be cut. The Mizunara wood is known for adding sweetness to whisk(e)y. General says the Mizunara casks used by Rabbit Hole were first-use.

“With Diesel Whiskey Row Founder’s Collection Mizunara, we have given the binder leaf a distinctive personality through its contact with the hand-shaped barrels to create a unique smoking experience,” said Justin Andrews, business development manager of Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s (STG) North American Branded and Rest of World divisions, in a press release. “This cigar pairs beautifully with bourbon and creates an equally memorable smoking occasion on its own.”