El Pulpo Octo Ocho Shipping Tomorrow

Artesano del Tobacco has announced that it will begin shipping its new culebra tomorrow.

It’s called El Pulpo Octo Ocho, a 7 x 38 petite lancero. Technically, it’s three 7 x 38 petite lanceros as, like most culebras, it features three cigars that have been twisted together around one another, almost like the vines of a tree. The cigars are rolled like normal cigars, but while they are still moist, they are twisted together, ensuring that the individual cigars will hold their unique shapes once the ribbons holding the cigars together are removed. Despite the twisted appearance, the cigars are made to be smoked like another: one at a time, cut from the cap and lit from the foot.

Octo Ocho uses the same blend as the other El Pulpo cigars: a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a binder and fillers from AJ Fernandez’s farms in Nicaragua. Unlike the other sizes in the line, Octo Ocho is a round cigar, not box-pressed. Production is handled by AJ Fernandez’s San Lotano Factory in Nicaragua.

“The idea came to us a year ago when we were smoking the El Pulpo prerelease with our friends at Luxury Cigar Club,” said the company in a press release when the cigar was announced in June. “They suggested to make a Culebra size for El Pulpo cigars to celebrate and highlight this very well-aged San Andreas Maduro Wrapper and to represent the Octopus tentacles. Smoking this twisted Lancero surpassed our prediction and judgment with its outstanding balanced of sweet and full flavors.”

The MSRP is set at $40 per culebra, meaning each cigar is about $13.33. Retailers will receive the cigars with three culebras per box, a total of nine cigars. While not a limited edition, it will be offered in batches just three times per year.