Hooten Young Launching The Operator and Operation Neptune Spear at PCA 2023

Hooten Young has announced a pair of new cigars that it will be showing off at next month’s PCA Convention & Trade Show, The Operator and Operation Neptune Spear.

The Operator features an African Cameroon wrapper, Ecuadorian habano binder, and a filler that the company describes as “classified.” It is produced by Cordoba & Morales in Nicaragua and offered in a 6 1/2 x 54 vitola the company calls a Royal Toro. Pricing is set at $25 per cigar and $250 for a 10-count box.

The Operator is an homage to the “fearless yet humble professional of the U.S. Special Operations Forces with an extraordinary sense of physical and emotional grit,” according to a press release from the company. It is described as a medium-bodied cigar that offers natural sweetness, toasty nuttiness, baking spices, cocoa, and hints of pepper.

Operation Neptune Spear is a 6 x 50 toro that uses a Brazilian mata fina wrapper, an Ecuadorian habano binder, and fillers from Nicaragua’s Estelí, Condega and Jalapa regions. It is priced at $15 per cigar and $150 for a box of 10 cigars, and like The Operator, is made at Cordoba & Morales in Nicaragua.

This cigar honors Operation Neptune Spear, the mission of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six, which led to the successful finding and killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. Hooten Young describes it as medium-to-full-bodied with notes of leather, earth, bread, and espresso beans.

Both lines are regular production, with The Operator scheduled to ship to stores on August 5 and Operation Neptune Spear on September 1. However, both cigars will be featured at release parties at Cigar City in Lakeland, Fla. and Creekside Cigar Lounge in Belton, Texas.

Hooten Young was launched in the winter of 2018 by Delta Force Master Sergeant Norm Hooten and his friend Tim Young, who sought to honor friends and family, and in particular, those who have served in the U.S. military. As such, the company donates 10 percent of all profits to charities that serve U.S. military veterans. In addition to cigars, the company also produces several lines of whiskey.