Jordan Alexander III Cigars Draws on Local Inspiration for New Line, Anthracite
Jordan Alexander III Premium Cigar Company didn’t need to look far to find inspiration for its second regular production cigar line, Anthracite. The company is based in Dalton, Pa., which sits amidst the massive coal mining operations of northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Anthracite line is a tribute to the coal mining history of the region surrounding the company’s headquarters, which is just about 10 miles northwest of Scranton, a hub of coal mining with numerous landmarks to the industry.
Since anthracite is known as being one of the oldest, darkest, hardest, and purest varieties of coal in the world, JA3 Cigars’ Anthracite has been designed from this template. In a press release, the company said that the blend chosen “honors the dark coal and the pure ash it leaves behind by using a rich Mexican San Andres wrapper and a blend that burns with a solid, white and grey ash.”
Underneath that wrapper is a Dominican binder and filler made up of Dominican criollo and tobacco from Nicaragua. Quesada Cigars is producing the cigar in the Dominican Republic, with three sizes offered at launch: The Marvin (5 x 52, $8), The Bellevue (6 1/2 x 48, $8.25) and The Avondale (4 1/2 x 60, $8.50). Each size comes in 18-count boxes, with the names inspired by the coal breakers in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region.
The company turned to the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum and Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour for access to their museum and materials in the early stages of this process. “Our hometown is incredibly important to the JA3 brand,” the owners of JA3 Cigars stated in a press release. “We’re very proud of where we come from and are excited to honor its history with this line. The Anthracite Heritage Museum showed us the incredible history that built the Scranton area, and we’re very thankful for their help and continued efforts in preserving and promoting our region’s past.”
Anthracite will debut in early August at select retailers in northeastern Pennsylvania, with the full launch to happen later in the summer. The company’s other regular production line, the JA3 Corojo, debuted in February 2015.
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, the G-League's Valley Suns, 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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