At the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Espinosa Premium Cigars unveiled the sixth and possibly final installment of its Las 6 Provincias Series, the ORT. The cigar’s name is an abbreviation for Oriente, the easternmost of the country’s six original provinces.
Slated to come out sometime between mid-October and early November, the Las 6 Provincias ORT is a 6 x 56 box-pressed toro that uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper and a Nicaraguan binder and filler. The blend was developed by Espinosa Premium Cigars and produced at the San Lotano Factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua.
Pricing is set at $18 per cigar and $360 per box of 20 cigars, with production limited to just 1,000 boxes.
“We are very proud of this series,” said Hector Alfonso, director of operations at Espinosa Premium Cigars, in an e-mail to halfwheel. “From the cigars to the individual packaging, the opportunity to showcase the Cuba of old, prior to that disastrous revolution, was very special to us.”
Note: The following shows the various Espinosa Las 6 Provincias vitolas. Some of these cigars may have been released after this post was originally published. The list was last updated on March 29, 2024.
*Not pictured
Espinosa launched the series in 2018, with each cigar named for one of the original six provinces of Cuba. Each release has been limited and comes with distinct packaging, especially the boxes, which have changed dramatically from year to year.
Oriente is no longer a province in Cuba.
In December 1976, the government reorganized the island into 14 provinces and what was called a special municipality. In 2010, a 15th province was added when the La Habana province, which did not include the city itself, was divided into Artemisa and Mayabeque. Today, the area that was once considered Oriente is part of five different provinces: Granma, Guantanamo, Holguín, Las Tunas and Santiago de Cuba.
While the company has not gone on record as saying if the release of the ORT marks the end of the series, there has been speculation that a seventh release could be added. The company has also not said if it might re-release the earlier releases.
Brian Burt contributed to this story.
halfwheel's coverage of the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show is sponsored by Drew Estate.
I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.
