J.C. Newman Releases José Gaspar 2025 Cigar

For the fourth consecutive year, J.C. Newman has created an exclusive cigar for its home market of Tampa and the city’s most famous parade.

The José Gaspar 2025 is a 6 x 54 toro that uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, the first time that wrapper option has been used. It is made at the company’s J.C. Newman PENSA factory in Estelí.

Like previous releases, each cigar has an MSRP of $8 and it is sold in packs of five. It will only be sold at 17 locations around Tampa:

• Bruton’s Cigar Shop
• Casa de Montecristo (Soho)
• Casa Santo Stefano
• Central Cigars
• Cigar Castle
• Cigar City Brewery Co.
• The Columbia
• Corona Cigar Company
• Grand Cathedral
• Hotel Haya
• J.C. Newman Cigar Museum and Factory Store
• King Corona Cigars Ybor
• King Corona International Plaza
• Sterling Cigar Lounge
• Tampero Cigars Ybor City
• Tobacco Depot
• Visit Tampa Bay

The name, José Gaspar, is a reference to the legendary pirate who inspired the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, which is celebrated each year in late January. While he might be one of the most famous pirates in history—and has his own Wikipedia page—there’s little to no evidence there was a real pirate named José Gaspar. Each year, Tampa plays host to a festival that begins each January and lasts into March, during which three major parades and other smaller events take place.

“José Gaspar was one of most feared pirates in the Americas,” said Drew Newman, fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman, in a press release. “Sailing from his base near Tampa Bay in the late 1700s, he terrorized the Gulf of Mexico and amassed a great fortune. Gaspar celebrated victories with a bold and flavorful cigar. This cigar honors his legacy and the tradition of Gasparilla.”