The range of Macanudo cigars available in U.S. humidors will soon expand, as this month General Cigar will release the Macanudo Inspirado Orange for brick-and-mortar retailers and the Macanudo Inspirado Black for online and catalog merchants.
The original Macanudo Inspirado, which comes in orange packaging, was launched in May 2014 to Europe and Canada. It’s a medium-full bodied cigar that is wrapped in a rosada leaf grown in San Agustin, Honduras, with a binder from the Jamastran Valley in Honduras and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. The cigar is made at General Cigar’s STG Danlí factory in Honduras.
The Macanudo Inspirado Black came out in September of the following year, using a habano-seed wrapper from the Connecticut River Valley that is grown by the Thrall family exclusively for STG. The binder is also proprietary: a leaf called La Vega Especiale from the Dominican Republic, while the filler is made up of Dominican olor and piloto cubano along with Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco. It’s billed as a full-bodied profile, with production handled by General Cigar Dominicana in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Alan Willner, vice president of marketing at General Cigar, told halfwheel that the company has seen good traction with both products since they have been introduced. It marks another step in the evolution of the Macanudo brand, which has been undergoing a rebranding of its packaging and presentation this year.
While the blends are different, both lines are being launched in the same four sizes and prices and all in 20-count boxes: Toro (5 3/4 x 52 ring, $6.59), Gigante (6 x 60, $7.19), Churchill (7 x 50, $6.99) and Robusto (5 x 50, $6.19).