La Sirena has been building buzz for its 2016 releases for some time now, starting with the La Sirena LT that came out in April and followed by the Merlion Maduro, which was announced in May and just began shipping prior to the trade show, making them the featured items in the brand’s nautically-themed booth.

La Sirena Booth IPCPR 2016-2

In addition to this year’s new releases, the company continues to show off its core lines, and will be adding a new limited edition lancero in the very near future as final samples were delivered to the booth right as the trade show started. It will be a 7 x 44 box pressed lancero with 100 boxes of 20 cigars produced.

La Sirena Merlion Maduro IPCPR 2016

La Sirena Merlion Maduro

La Sirena shipped the first batch of Merlion Maduro just before the show started, which will have it on store shelves in early August, though most of those shipments will only have the Toro and Robusto vitolas due to the decision to include a Gordo was supposed to be one decided by fans of the brand, but FDA regulations necessitated Arielle Ditkowich making an executive decision about it.

  • Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro
  • Binder: Brazilian Sumatra
  • Filler: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
  • La Sirena Merlion Maduro Gordo (6 x 58) — $11 (Box of 20, $220)
  • La Sirena Merlion Maduro Robusto (5 x 50) — $9.50 (Box of 20, $198)
  • La Sirena Merlion Maduro Toro (5 1/2 x 54) — $10.50 (Box of 20, $210)

Launch Date: July 21, 2016

Production: Regular production.

La Sirena Sea Lion Maduro IPCPR 2016

La Sirena Merlion Maduro Sea Lion

As part of the launch of the Merlion Maduro, a very limited run of the Merlion Maduro Sea Lion was produced as well; how limited you ask? 86 boxes of 10 limited, a number which comes from the year that Arielle Ditkowich was born—1986–and is quite a drop from the original batch of 5,000 boxes of Merlion Sea Lions produced in 2013. Inside each box is nine Sea Lions in the maduro wrapper and one in the original Ecuadorian corojo wrapper.

  • Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés Maduro / Ecuadorian Corojo
  • Binder: Brazilian Sumatra
  • Filler: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
  • La Sirena Merlion Maduro Sea Lion (5 1/2 x 47) — $12 (Box of 10, $120)

Launch Date: July 21, 2016

Production: 86 Boxes of 10 Cigars

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
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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 MLB.com, 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.