July 10, 2019 Patrick Lagreid IPCPR 2019

IPCPR 2019: Boutique Blends

Boutique Blends had one wall of the Altadis U.S.A. booth this year, feeling a bit smaller than in years past but by no means underrepresented as part of one the largest booths on the show floor. After a fairly sizable rebranding of the company’s core lines this year, Rafael Nodal released just a single new line this year.

The new line shows an interesting growth for the company, as Nodal turns to the Plasencia family and a fairly small tobacco-growing region in Nicaragua for the line.

Aging Room Bin No. 2

While Rafael Nodal and Aging Room has its roots in the Dominican Republic, he has been turning to other growing regions of the world for his latest releases, and in this case he releases a Nicaraguan puro that is centered around tobacco from Ometepe, an island in Lake Nicaragua known for its rich and hearty volcanic soil, as the island is home to two volcanoes. The blend also uses tobaccos grown in Estelí and Jalapa, with the cigar produced at the Plasencia Cigars S.A. factory in Estelí.

  • Wrapper: Nicaragua
  • Binder: Nicaragua (Ometepe)
  • Filler: Nicaragua (Ometepe and undisclosed)
  • Aging Room Small Batch Bin No. 2 B Minor (5 x 52) — $13 (Box of 20, $260)
  • Aging Room Small Batch Bin No. 2 C Major (5 3/4 x 54) — $13.25 (Box of 20, $265)
  • Aging Room Small Batch Bin No. 2 Grande (6 x 60) — $13.50 (Box of 20, $270)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 2019

Overall Score

Davidoff is the official sponsor of halfwheel's coverage of the 2019 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.
Aging Room Bin No. 2 Altadis U.S.A. Boutique Blends IPCPR 2019 Rafael Nodal
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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 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.

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