Drew Estate has confirmed to halfwheel that the Herrera Esteli Norteño is on its way to retailers as of today.
When the cigars arrive on shelves, it will bring a bit of closure to a process that has been in the works for some time, with the line being discussed even before the original Herrera Estelí was released in early 2013. In March of this year the line was officially announced, with the six sizes confirmed in April: a 6 1/2 x 44 lonsdale ($11), 5 1/2 x 54 robusto grande ($12), 6 x 50 toro ($11.50), 4 3/4 x 48 corona extra ($10), 4 x 46 coronita ($10) and a 5 x 50 belicoso fino ($11).
The line was then shown off at the 2014 IPCPR Convention and Trade Show in July, with the estimate being that the cigars would be showing up “in the next month or two.”
The Norteño uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper in place of the Ecuadorian Habano found on the original, while the Honduran binder and Nicaraguan filler remain consistent, at least from a country of origin standpoint. While the band shares a similar shape as the Herrera Estelí, it has moved to a green and white color scheme and features an image of the Guardabarranco, the national bird of Nicaragua, as its most noticeable mark.
Since the trade show, the Herrera Estelí line has grown even more with the announcement of Tienda Exclusiva by Willy Herrera, a collection of one-off, store exclusive cigar releases that come from concept cigars blended by Herrera. The first release is headed to Barrister Cigars in New Jersey, and the company says that there will only be a few releases per year.