L’Atelier SEC Slated for Late November Release

The cigar that L’Atelier Imports has been planning for a handful of retailers in the southeastern United States has a new name and a release date, as Pete Johnson told halfwheel that the L’Atelier SEC is scheduled to be on store shelves at the end of November.

The 6 x 50 box-pressed toro has been talked about since mid-September, and in other reports was referred to as the L’Atelier M.A.M., but a formal announcement from the company wasn’t released until earlier this week. Johnson confirmed that 500 boxes of 15 cigars are being produced, making for a total run of 7,500 cigars being produced by My Father Cigars S.A. The cigar shares its blend with L’Atelier’s debut release, known as the LAT line and which uses an Ecuadorian Sancti Spiritus wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler.

While pricing has not been announced yet, the release will be split up among 20 retailers, with each receiving 25 boxes. While the name could be seen to have a connection to the southeast, it actually comes from the wine world; sec (pronounced sehk) is the French word for dry, and is a term used to denote the level of sweetness in wine, though in Champagne sec refers to a sweet version, while demi-sec refers to a semi-sweet Champagne. SEC is of course the acronym for the Southeastern Conference, a collection universities based largely in the southeastern U.S.

The L’Atelier SEC adds to a small group of extensions that the LAT line has seen since its 2012 debut, joining the LAT Lancero, released in 2014; the LAT Selection Spéciale, an offshoot line using a higher priming of the wrapper leaf that debuted in 2013; and the LAT Maduro, also released in 2013.

Suggested retail pricing is $9 per cigar.