It’s about to be March, which means it’s time for the rash of candela-wrapped cigars.

La Palina has thrown its hat into the ring with a new release called Fuego Verde, green fire. The line is offered in a single 5 1/2 x 50 robusto extra size using a Honduran candela wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan fillers. It is being made at General Cigar Dominicana, the same factory that just took over production of the La Palina Classic.

Production is limited, though numbers have not been disclosed.

Pricing is set at $7.50 per cigar or $150 per box of 20.

Candela is a process where curing barns are heated to as much as 165-170 degrees to process the wrappers in a different manner. While most tobacco is picked and then hung to dry, slowly changing from green to brown under normal conditions, candela is a shorter process where temperature is increased, sucking the moisture out of the leaves while preserving the green color.

While they have fallen out of favor, candela cigars were once the most popular type of cigar sold in the United States. Some companies still sell candela cigars year-round, though most candela cigars are sold in the U.S. only around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.

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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.