Eladio Díaz 71 Aniversario Begins Shipping to Stores

The new limited edition created in celebration of noted cigarmaker Eladio Díaz’s 71st birthday are en route to stores today, with the blend designed to showcase tobacco from some lesser-known regions in the Dominican Republic.

“This is a combination of six different elements, which is for me in my humble opinion, one of the best blends designed by me,” said Diaz in a press release when the cigars were announced in September. The Eladio Díaz 71 Aniversario uses an Ecuadorian corojo 99 wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and a filler that includes Dominican corojo and habano 92, along with barrel-aged Havana vuelta arriba, or HVA.

Most notable in the filler is tobacco from San Juan de la Maguana and Las Matas de Farfán, an area southwest of the more common growing areas of Santiago and Mao. This region, located closer to the border with Haiti, is said to offer high pH levels in the soil, which Diaz believes offers both stronger tobacco and creamier smoke.

While the area is not known for producing tobacco, it does have roots in the crop, growing it in the 1970s until high costs and a lack of government funding forced farmers to change to other crops. In 2020, the Dominican government resumed supporting tobacco growing in the area.

Díaz said that the blend is like the cigar smoker transported himself to another dimension and was talking to gods and were listening to celestial music. He called it a medium-to-full strength blend that is lightly spicy with notes of cacao and black coffee, sweetness, and wood that delivers a tenuous and clean smoke.

It is offered in a 6 x 54 toro that comes with an MSRP of $20 per cigar and $200 for a box of 10 cigars, which is a change from the originally announced price of $25 per cigar and $250 per box. Production is limited to 2,000 numbered boxes, with the cigars made at Tabacalera Díaz Cabrera in the Dominican Republic and distributed in the U.S. by Arango Cigar Co.

This is the second year in a row that the Eladio Díaz birthday cigar is being sold.

Images courtesy of Arango Cigar Co.