“Left Bank Cafe” Chosen for LeRoy Neiman 2024 Collector’s Edition

Last year, J.C. Newman and the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation teamed up for a limited edition cigar that used Neiman’s “Irish-American Bar” painting as part of the cigar’s packaging. When that cigar was announced, J.C. Newman said the plan was to release a new limited edition each year, with a different painting selected for each release.

This year, the painting selected will be “Left Bank Cafe” (1987). The choice of the painting was inspired by the 2024 Olympics, which takes place in Paris. Neiman was the official painter of five Olympic games, so J.C. Newman wanted to honor that tie-in. As for the cigar, it’s a 7 x 50 Churchill that uses the same blend as the 2023 release: an Ecuadorian habano rosado wrapper over a Florida Sun Grown binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the U.S. Like last year’s release, it is rolled at J.C. Newman’s El Reloj factory in Tampa.

Each cigar has an MSRP of $22 and production is limited to 600 boxes of 20 cigars. Every box will come with an authentic lithograph of “Left Bank Cafe,” which is also used for other elements of the cigar’s packaging as well.

“Because LeRoy was the official painter of the Olympic Games and the Summer Olympics are in Paris this year, the LeRoy Neiman 2024 Collectors Edition cigars feature a lithographic of LeRoy’s Left Bank Cafe painting, which depicts a lively crowd enjoying cigars, drinks, and each other’s company in a Paris cafe,” said Drew Newman, fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman, in a text message to halfwheel.

Newman told halfwheel that the cigars will be released in July, ahead of the Olympics, which take place July 27-Aug. 11.

Both J.C. Newman and the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation donate their profits from the sale of the cigars to fund art programs at public schools in Tampa.