IPCPR 2015: CLE Cigar Co.

Having not been the one to cover the CLE Cigar Co. booth the past few years, I’d sort of forgotten just how much was inside. The spacious white booth is home to not just Christian Eiroa’s brands, but Asylum, Edgar Hoill, Pura Soul Cigars, Patoro and more. It’s an impressive assembly of cigars, and each of them had a few new things to show off this year.

EIROA The First 20 Years
While we’ve already covered several companies celebrating 20 year anniversaries this year, there’s a personal anniversary that should be added to that list, and that’s Christian Eiroa’s 20th year in the cigar business. On June 28, 1995, Eiroa began working for his father at Caribe Imported Cigars, the same year that they purchased the Camacho brand and would be the cigar that would bring him to prominence in the cigar industry.

To celebrate, he’s releasing a Honduran puro called EIROA The First 20 Years that was blended by his father as a gift to mark the occasion. The hope is that they will be out in March 2016; when they do arrive they will come in four sizes, Prensado (6 x 46), 5 x 50, 6 x 54 and 6 x 60, each in 20-count boxes and pricing between $12-14 per cigar.

CLE Plus 2015
Christian Eiroa’s CLE Plus gets a makeover for 2015, and as he described it in early July, it’s lighter, more complex and a bit more affordable.

The CLE Plus 2015 remains a Honduran puro but gets a Colorado wrapper in place of the original, while Christian’s father, Julio Eiroa, will be making it at Las Lomas in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras, a shift from the El Aladino factory in Danlí. It’s coming in four sizes, 6 x 43, 6 x 46, 5 x 50 and 7 x 48, all in 25-count boxes and with single stick pricing between $5-8.

It was last call on the CLE Signature Series PLdM, the first of the company’s flagship line that comes from cigars made for Eiroa. But that doesn’t mean the line is going away; there is a Honduran line coming in the same four sizes and prices as the original Miami line: 5 1/2 x 46 ($15), 4 1/2 x 50 ($16), 6 x 52 ($17) 6 x 60 ($18).

On the Asylum side, the company grew its portfolio quite substantially, with a total of 21 SKUs highlighted as “new,” including a new line, several new sizes, as well as a new display tray for retail humidors.

Asylum 33
In early July, Asylum announced a new project called Asylum 33 that would be focused on using aged tobaccos from around the world. The line debuts with a Honduran puro that uses seven-year-old tobacco and will come in four sizes, 5 1/2 x 46 ($10), 4 1/2 x 50 ($11), 6 x 52 ($12) and 6 x 70 ($13). All are coming in 25-count boxes.

Asylum Schizo Maduro
The Asylum Schizo Maduro was announced back in April and is being released in five sizes, 5 x 50, 6 x 50, 6 x 60, 7 x 52 and 7 x 70, and with pricing between $1.90-3.80 per cigar. When looking for it in your retailer’s humidor, you’ll likely see it in bright white 100-count trays, and when you taste it, you’ll notice it’s pretty different form the original Schizo, which is a Nicaraguan puro. The maduro version see a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over Honduran fillers and comes out of the El Aladino factory in Honduras.

Asylum The Ogre Lancero
Fans of interesting looking, barber pole lanceros can rejoice as the The Ogre Lancero will soon be on its way to stores.

It’s a 7 x 38 vitola that comes in 30-count boxes and sells for $8 per cigar, with the blend of a candela wrapper and habano maduro wrapper remaining intact.

As has already been mentioned, the Asylum 13, Asylum 13 Corojo and The Ogre lines are all getting some new sizes. All are getting an 8 x 80 and the Super 11/18, while the Asylum 13 Corojo adds a 7 x 70 that the other two lines already had.

The company’s Insidious line is also growing by way of a Honduran Habano version that keeps the sweetened tip and Honduran fillers. More info on that release is here.

EH Everyday Hustle
The next stop was Edgar Hoill corner of the space, where he had a pair of lines to unveil: EH Everyday Hustle and OG OSOK, both of which are coming out of the El Aladino factory and scheduled to begin shipping shortly after the show concluded.

EH Everyday Hustle is being released in five sizes: 4 x 48 ($5), 5 3/4 x 46 ($5.34), 5 x 50 ($5.50), 6 x 52 ($6.50) and a 6 x 60 ($7). The 7 x 38 lancero that was originally announced wasn’t on the price sheet. All are in 24-count boxes, which feature a bit of motivation as well.

OG OSOK
The OG OSOK comes in four figurado sizes: Carnalito (4 1/2 x 42 x 52, $11), Chakal (4 1/2 x 38 x 54, $10), Patan (6 1/2 x 19 x 50 x 30, $12) and Malandro (8 x 44 x 60, $13). All are in 10-count boxes.

Pura Soul Barber Pole
Pura Soul Cigars, which left CLE Cigar Co. last year but was sharing space with them this year,  had a pair of new releases, the Pura Soul Maduro and Pura Soul Barber Pole.

The Barber Pole comes in three sizes, a 5 x 50 ($11), 6 x 54 ($11.70) and 7 x 64 ($12), each coming in 20-count boxes that feature a silhouette of brand owner Robert Wright and his saxophone. It uses a maduro and corojo leaves on the wrapper, and is being called a limited production release by the company.

The Pura Soul Maduro gets a blend of Honduran corojo grown by the Eiroa family with a maduro wrapper that the company says brings in sweetness to the blend. It too comes in three sizes, 5 x 50 ($7.64), 6 x 54 ($8.76) and 7 x 64 ($9.44).

Rounding out the new offerings in the CLE Cigar Co. booth that unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to see in person was the Patoro Gran Añejo Reserva Serie USA Edition.

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.