Citing a love of tradition and traditional cigars, this fall Dr. Gaby Kafie will be releasing one of the most unique and storied vitolas in the cigar world, the culebra.

Each cigar in the Kafie 1901 Culebra measures 6 x 38 and uses a Nicaraguan habano maduro wrapper, a Honduran binder from Jamastran, and fillers from the Jamastran region as well as Jalapa in Nicaragua. Kafie said that the cigar is “really packed with flavor and a very elegant and clean strength, a testament of the continued double fermentation method our tobacco undergoes at the factory.”

The finished culebra then gets placed into a Spanish cedar coffin with a sliding lid indicating its contents. Each culebra has an MSRP of $30, before taxes.

“At Tabacalera Kafie/San Jerónimo, we’re always looking for ways to show off the talents of our cigar rollers,” Kafie told halfwheel. “Our entire team is always excited to debut new cigar styles and new blends. Now that FDA regulations have been pushed off into the future, we can get back to doing what we love most, creating special cigars.”

For 2020, Kafie has slated production at 1,000 culebras, but said it will be an ongoing, regular production item going forward.

Culebras have a storied history in the cigar industry, and have several origin stories. Kafie cited one of the most well-known, which is that they were created in Cuba in order to prevent the rollers from stealing part of the day’s production. They were allowed to take home one culebra of three cigars per day, which meant that any straight cigars leaving the factory were being taken out without permission. The unique design gets its name from the Spanish word for snake.

Kafie told halfwheel that at the Tabacalera Kafie factory today, staff are allowed to take time to enjoy the cigars they roll, “so that they too can appreciate the blends and have a better understanding in maintaining the quality and the consistency of our cigars.”

The Kafie 1901 Culebras are slated to arrive at retailers in October, though Kafie acknowledged that with shipping delays and the ongoing pandemic, that date my fluctuate a bit.

Update (Oct. 6) — Dr. Gaby Kafie told halfwheel that these have been delayed until mid to late November.

Image courtesy of Kafie 1901 Cigars.

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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 MLB.com, 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.