Espinosa’s Alpha Dawg, Pier 28 Habano Get Full Rollout Today

Two lines from Espinosa Premium Cigars are getting full rollouts today, as the company told halfwheel that the Alpha Dawg and Pier 28 Habano lines are en route to retailers.

The Espinosa Alpha Dawg was originally intended to be a limited edition, event-only cigar, but in July the company decided to make it a regular production release. The Alpha Dawg uses a Nicaraguan habano rosado oscuro wrapper with a Nicaraguan binder and fillers. It is offered in three sizes in 10-count boxes: Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 46, $8), Robusto (5 x 50, $8.25) and Short Churchill (6 x 48, $8.75).

Pier 28 is the creation of Tim Wong, wEspinosa’s West Coast sales representative, who is bringing it to the shops he covers in California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. It will also be available at Espinosa Lounges across the country. The Habano version uses an Ecuadorian habano cafe binger on top of a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic to create a medium strength, rich and complex cigar with notes of cedar, oak and nuts. It will remain an exclusive for Wong’s territory until 2017.

The Pier 28 Habano debuted in four sizes, 5 x 52 ($7.99), 6 x 46 ($7.99), a box-pressed 6 x 50 ($8.99), 6 x 60 ($9.99), each packed in 10-count boxes and 20-count bundles, the latter of which offers a slight discount in price. In early August, four more sizes were added, Lancero (7 x 38, $8.99), Petit Corona (4 1/2 x 42, $6.99), Torpedo (6 x 52, $9.75) and a limited edition called Egg Roll (5 1/2 x 70, $9.99).

Both lines have had limited releases prior to today in order to comply with FDA’s Aug. 8 deadline for commercial availability, but now a significantly higher number of retailers will have them on their shelves.

The Pier 28 line is also releasing three new wrapper versions, a Connecticut, Sumatra and Maduro, which will come out in full release at a to-be-announced date.

The cigars are produced at Espinosa’s La Zona Cigar Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Patrick Lagreid

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.