IPCPR 2017: General Cigar Co.

Inspirado Black. Inspirado White. General Cigar Co. makes it clear what it wants to talk about and there’s no question when you walk into the company’s large booth. It’s part of a large effort to rebrand Macanudo that has been taking piece by piece over the last few years. There hasn’t been a full-on Camacho, let’s blow up the portfolio, but the future of Macanduo is clearly Inspirado.

For much of the last half decade, General Cigar Co.’s booth has been the talk of the show. It started with the highly impressive Foundry section complete with steampunk theme, then there was the Foundry spaceship-like structure, Leccia’s wrestlers and then the more sparse booth that led to people asking what was wrong with the company.

I for one am a fan of the current configuration, which is nice and effective without being unnecessarily costly. At the end of the day, cigar consumers, not cigar companies, pay for trade show booths and General’s decision to cut down on at least some of its spending seems very much like the right one.

Macanudo Inspirado White

There were two releases heavily promoted ahead of and at the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show: the Davidoff Winston Churchill The Late Hour and Macanudo Inspirado Black and Inspirado White.

The idea has been talked about before, a new take on Macanudo. I haven’t smoked the cigar, and haven’t talked to anyone outside of General that has smoked either, but the company says it will be a much different profile than the core Macanudo lines with White being the lighter version and Black being a strong cigar.

• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
• Binder: Indonesia
• Filler: Mexican San Andrés & Nicaraguan Condega

• Macanudo Inspirado White (5 x 50) — $6.49 (Boxes of 20, $129.80)
• Macanudo Inspirado White (6 1/2 x 50) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, $139.80)
• Macanudo Inspirado White (7 x 48) — $7.29 (Boxes of 20, $145.80)

Launch Date: July 2017

Macanudo Inspirado Black

General sponsored the kick-off party on Monday, which featured rolling demonstrations as well as the ability for attendees to smoke each filler component separately, something that I imagine will be coming to a Macanudo event near you.

• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Filler: Nicaragua (Estelí)

• Macanudo Inspirado Black Robusto (4 7/8 x 48) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, $139.80)
• Macanudo Inspirado Black Toro (5 7/8 x 54) — $7.49 (Boxes of 20, $149.80)
• Macanudo Inspirado Black Churchill (7 x 48) — $7.99 (Boxes of 20, $159.80)

Launch Date: July 2017

CAO Amazon Anaconda

I remember being at the now-closed I Love Burgers restaurant in The Venetian and Brooks Whittington proclaimed that the CAO Amazon Basin was good, really good. It’s challenging to imagine that anyone could have seen the success of Amazon Basin, a limited release with a cult following created entirely by one of the largest cigar companies in the world.

Four years later, General has added two more extensions to its Amazon Trilogy: Fuma Em Corda and now Amazon Anaconda.

Amazon Anaconda combines both the Brazilian Bragança made popular in the original Amazon Basin and the fuma em corda tobacco used in the eponymous release. It’s offered in a single 6 x 52 size and is limited. General certainly didn’t describe this as a one-time release, but indicated that the line would likely disappear for some time before it returned again. The company also says this is likely the only cigar on the market using Brazilian Bahiano as a wrapper.

• Wrapper: Brazilian Bahiano Habano Ligero
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Brazil (Bragança & Fuma Em Corda), Colombia & the Dominican Republic

• CAO Amazon Anaconda (6 x 52) — $10.49 (Boxes of 20, $209.80)

Launch Date: August 2017

La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva

When this cigar was announced, it certainly raised eyebrows. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr., who sadly was not in attendance at the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show due to family medical issues, was once again making a La Gloria Cubana. Perez-Carrillo Jr. sold La Gloria to General’s former parent company Swedish Match in the late 90s and then spent a decade working for the company before launching E.P. Carrillo in 2009.

As for this cigar, it’s being produced at Carrillo Jr.’s Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. using tobacco from both Carrillo and General. The cigar is packaged using boxes made at General’s impressive Dominican box factory ad is being sold by General. It’s also earned some rave reviews by those in the industry.

Of note, Perez-Carrillo Jr. will be doing some events at shops promoting the new release.

• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Nicaraguan Viso
• Filler: Nicaragua (Seco & Ligero)

• La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva Robusto (5 1/2 x 54) — $7.59 (Boxes of 20, $151.80)
• La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva Torpedo (6 x 54) — $8.29 (Boxes of 20, $165.80)
• La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva Presidente (7 1/2 x 54) — $8.99 (Boxes of 20, $179.80)

Launch Date: July 2017

Diesel Grind

This is likely the largest news out of the General booth: the company is selling Diesel, a brand built by its sister company Cigars International.

This is a new version of Diesel Grind and it appears the sizes are different from previous renditions. Given that the General booth was my first stop of the trade show, I’m curious to see how the new line was received by brick and mortar customers given Diesel is one of the staples of CI. It’s worth noting, General says this is brick and mortar-only.

• Wrapper: Habano
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Diesel Grind Robusto (4 7/8 x 50) — $5.99 (Boxes of 20, $119.80)
• Diesel Grind Toro (6 x 50) — $6.49 (Boxes of 20, $129.80)
• Diesel Grind Torpedo (6 1/8  x 52) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, $139.80)

Launch Date: August 2017

Partagas 1845 Clásico, Extra Furte and Extra Oscuro

The Partagas 1845 line has been completely revamped. The bands are the same, but the boxes and more importantly, the blends, have changed. All three lines will ship in August to both brick and mortar and catalog retailers.

Partagas 1845 Clasico

• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua

• Partagas 1845 Clasico Gigante (6 x 60) — $7.49 (Boxes of 20, $149.80)
• Partagas 1845 Clasico Churchill (7 x 49) — $7.19 (Boxes of 20, $143.80)
• Partagas 1845 Clasico Toro (6 x 52) — $6.89 (Boxes of 20, $137.80)
• Partagas 1845 Clasico Robusto (5 x 50) — $6.29 (Boxes of 20, $125.80)

Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte

• Wrapper: Honduras (Olancho San Agustin)
• Binder: Connecticut Habano
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua

• Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte Gigante (6 x 60) — $7.69 (Boxes of 20, $153.80)
• Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte Churchill (7 x 49) — $7.39 (Boxes of 20, $147.80)
• Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte Toro (6 1/2 x 45) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, $139.80)
• Partagas 1845 Extra Fuerte Robusto (5 1/2 x 50) — $6.49 (Boxes of 20, $129.80)

Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro

• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: n/a
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras & Nicaragua

• Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro Churchill (7 1/4 x 54) — $7.39 (Boxes of 20, $147.80)
• Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro Toro (6 1/8 x 50) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, $139.80)
• Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro Robusto (5 1/4 x 50) — $6.49 (Boxes of 20, $129.80)
• Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro (6 2/3 x 46) — $6.29 (Boxes of 20, $125.80)

Hoyo La Amistad Silver

It’s the follow up to the original La Amistad, one of the A.J. Fernández-produced General products from the last year. The original features gold accents, which is the easiest way to tell the lines apart. I admittedly walked by it a few times because I didn’t realize this was the new version. The big difference here is that this cigar is produced with entirely habano-seed tobaccos.

• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Hoyo La Amistad Silver Robusto (5 x 50) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, ($139.80)
• Hoyo La Amistad Silver Pancho (5 1/2 x 52) — $7.49 (Boxes of 20, $149.80)
• Hoyo La Amistad Silver Churchill (6 7/8 x 48) — $7.99 (Boxes of 20, $159.80)

Launch Date: August 2017

Ultimate Accessory Collection by Cohiba

The most ambitious product in the General Cigar Co. booth is aptly titled The Ultimate Accessory Collection. It’s a pair of cigar accessories: one triple-flame torch and one guillotine cutter. Both feature ebony lacquer accompanied by stainless steel and palladium. The cutter was of particular interest as the bottom blade actually moves inward as the cutter closes.

Pricing is $720 and it is limited to 300 units.

Launch Date: August 2017

Macanudo Inspirado Orange Tube

The original Macanduo Inspirado line will get a tubo for the U.S. market. This is actually the third tubo for the line after two were lunched in Europe last year.

• Wrapper: Honduran Rosada (San Agustin)
• Binder: Honduras (Jamastran Valley)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras & Nicaragua

• Macanudo Inspirado Orange Tube (5 1/2 x 50) — $7.49

Humi-Care

Along with Diesel, Humi-Care—Cigars International’s private label brand of humidification products—is now being sold by General and its sales reps. I think this is actually a really smart move as General will likely be able to undercut XIKAR and some of the other companies competing in this space.

It’s not the full line of Humi-Care, for example, the brand’s blue electronic humidifiers are not being offered, but it’s a pretty wide array of offerings.

• Cigar Juice — Proplyne glycol solution. Offered in 8- and 16-ounce bottles priced at $6.99 and $8.99)
• Crystal Jar — The super absorbant polymer jar is apparently the best-selling Humi-Care item.
• Black Ice Pie Jar — A super absorbent polymer jar that contains four individual pieces, which can be placed in different parts of your humidifier.
• HX10 Crystal Rectangle Humidifier — A super absorbant polymer humidifier.
• Portable Humidification Pillows — A Water Pillows competitor.
• Seasoning Wipes — There’s a review of these coming at some point shortly.
• Black Ice Round Digital Hygrometer
• Humi-Care Rectangle Digital Hygrometer

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.