J.C. Newman Releases The El Reloj Collection Sampler With Two New Lines

J.C. Newman’s Tampa headquarters is named El Reloj, Spanish for the clock, a reference to the large clock that towered over the other cigar factories in the Ybor City neighborhood.

Unlike just about every other cigar company, the company’s American office also houses a cigar factory, two actually. One makes cigars using vintage machines—brands like Decision and Rigoletto—and another is a small but growing handmade cigar factory.

This week, J.C. Newman is shipping a new sampler that showcases some of the blends made at the handmade factory, including two new lines. The sampler is called The El Reloj Collection and it comes with 10 cigars, two each of the following:

• The American Toro (6 x 54)
• Angel Cuesta Rosado Double Toro (6 x 52)
• LeRoy Neiman 2024 Collector’s Edition (7 x 50)
• Angel Cuesta Shade Double Toro (6 x 52)
• Tampa Smokers Toro

Each sampler has an MSRP of $240 and just 500 samplers have been made.

The first three cigars—The American, Angel Cuesta Rosado and LeRoy Neiman Collector’s Edition—are not new. However, this is the first release for both the Tampa Smokers and Angel Cuesta Shade.

Tampa Smokers is a baseball-themed line named after a baseball team played from 1919-1954 in a variety of independent leagues. J.C. Newman has a long history of sponsoring baseball teams dating back to its time in Cleveland and a tradition it carried on with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

J.C. Newman announced the Tampa Smokers line earlier this year with plans to release the cigar ahead of the 2024 World Series in October. Those plans changed, but Tampa Smokers will get released next year in boxes of 20.

Blend-wise, it uses an Ecuadorian wrapper over an undisclosed filler blend. J.C. Newman has announced one other size, a 6 x 54 toro that looks like a baseball bat. The cigar in this sampler is not shaped like a baseball bat.

Also getting a wider release in 2025 is Angel Cuesta Shade, a new version of the Angel Cuesta line that J.C. Newman brought back in 2023. The brand was originally made by Cuesta-Rey and once served as the official cigar of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. J.C. Newman acquired Cuesta-Rey in 1958, though the brand remained dormant for decades.

The modern Angel Cuesta was introduced in one blend with an Ecuadorian Havana wrapper; going forward, that blend will be known as Angela Cuesta Rosado, as there’s now the Angel Cuesta Shade, which uses a Nicaraguan shade-grown wrapper. The company does not disclose the internal blend for Angel Cuesta.

These samplers are exclusive for retailers that are members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA), a membership group made up of approximately 80 retailers—Newman says these are shipping to 51 stores—and roughly 40 manufacturers that gather annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, as well as to have its annual trade show, a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants.

During the event—which took place Oct. 20-24 in Aruba—the organization holds two selling events, one known as the Dream Machine, where the retailers collectively order to secure larger discounts, while the other is a more traditional trade show. Typically, around a dozen manufacturers release new exclusive cigars for the retail members of the organization under the TAA Exclusive Series Program (ESP) banner. Those manufacturers agree to give a portion of the proceeds to the organization, a minimum of $1 per cigar, previously 50 cents.

CLE, Crowned Heads, E.P. Carrillo, Espinosa, Ferio Tego, Gurkha, Joya de Nicaragua, Kristoff, Miami Cigar & Co., Oliva, Plasencia, Quesada, STG and Villiger Cigars North America announced new TAA ESP releases for 2024.

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.