LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition

During the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show, J.C. Newman showed off a new collaboration with the LeRoy Nieman Foundation. While he was perhaps best known for his colorful expressionist paintings, LeRoy Neiman also developed a love of cigars during his lifetime and was often seen holding a cigar in one hand and a paintbrush in the other.

The resulting cigar is named the LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition, a 6 x 52 toro made with a habano rosado wrapper covering a Florida Sun Grown binder and filler tobaccos grown in Nicaragua and the U.S. Each cigar has an MSRP of $20 and the release is limited to just 500 boxes of 20, for a total of 10,000 cigars.

“Art has been an integral part of the cigar industry for more than 150 years,” said Drew Newman, fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman, in a press release. “No artist is more famous for creating his work while enjoying fine cigars than LeRoy Neiman. It is a true privilege to honor LeRoy’s legacy by creating this one-of-a-kind cigar.”

The packaging for the cigars was designed to show off Neiman’s work in multiple ways: an authentic lithograph of his 1978 “Irish-American Bar” painting is included with each box, while the bottom of each cigar box includes a print that is a replica of the paint-covered floor of Neiman’s New York City studio. In addition, an image of “Irish-American Bar” is printed on the footband of each cigar, while the main band is printed with a depiction of the artist’s signature.

The cigars were rolled at El Reloj—J.C. Newman’s headquarters and factory in Tampa—and boxes started shipping to retailers in November 2023.

• Cigar Reviewed: LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition
• Country of Origin: U.S.A.
• Factory: El Reloj
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano Rosado)
• Binder: U.S.A. (Florida Sun Grown)
• Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A.
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $20 (Box of 20, $400)
• Release Date: November 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition is one of the most striking cigars I have picked up in quite a while: the three bands are obviously high-quality and extremely distinctive, and removing the large footbands reveal reddish-brown wrappers with a few thin veins. All three wrappers are dry to the touch with very little oil present, and all three cigars are extremely firm when squeezed. Aromas from the wrappers include dried tea leaves, earthiness, barnyard, cloves, black pepper and leather, while I pick up some very light cinnamon on two out of the three cigars. Bringing the feet of the cigars to my nose reveals notes of strong but generic nuttiness, earth, coffee beans, yeast, black pepper and citrus peel, along with some generic sweetness. After straight cuts, the cold draws include flavors of nutmeg, lemongrass, earth, cocoa nibs, cedar and milk chocolate sweetness.

From the first few puffs, I can tell that this will be an incredibly creamy profile, and as the burn line progresses, I am not disappointed in that regard. Creamy cedar and some very light spice on my tongue are the first things to greet me after I light up the feet of the cigars, but those are quickly moved to the background, overtaken by an unsalted, roasted cashew flavor. Secondary flavors of earth, cocoa nibs, leather, cloves, lemongrass and the aforementioned cedar flit in and out, while the retrohale includes both white pepper and malty chocolate sweetness that reminds me of Whoppers candy. The flavor ends the first third at medium-full, but the body and the strength both lag behind at mild-plus and a point just under medium, respectively. In terms of construction, I have no issues whatsoever with the draws, smoke production, or burn lines for all three cigars so far.

The profile continues to be extremely creamy overall during the second third of the cigar, but the main flavor changes from unsalted cashew to an interesting combination of dried tea leaves and cedar. Additional flavors make themselves known at various points, with citrus peel, cedar, generic nuttiness, earth, plain popcorn, cloves, coffee beans and a very light charred meat note all vying for attention. As the burn line crosses the halfway point, two of the cigars feature noticeably more of the Whopper candy sweetness, but all three cigars feature about the same amount of white pepper as the first third. Flavor for two of the cigars crosses into full territory—the third cigar sans the increase in sweetness remains at medium-full—while the body increases to land at a solid medium and the strength increases enough to push past the medium mark, albeit just barely. One cigar runs into a very minor burn issue that needs to be corrected in order to avoid larger problems, but other than that, the rest of the construction for the cigars is spot on.

There are multiple changes in the profile of the LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition during the final third, starting with the main flavor, which morphs into a distinct nutmeg flavor that remains on top until the end of the cigar. Notes of unsalted cashew, dry straw, earth, brewed coffee, baker’s spices and a very light floral note all make appearances. While the amount of white pepper on the retrohale remains unchanged, the Whopper candy note has morphed into a raspberry sweetness. The flavor is full, the body remains at a solid medium, and the strength remains at a point just over the medium mark. Finally, the construction reverts back to the excellence that marked the first third, with excellent draws, copious amounts of smoke and no issues at all with the burns before I put the nubs down with an inch remaining.

Final Notes

• Per J.C. Newman, this is the first of four planned cigars to be released annually, each of which will center around a different Neiman painting.
• I was shocked when I saw the price of these cigars. In a world where new brands release debut blends around the same price—or more—all the time, the fact that you are getting a limited cigar this good, with the absolutely amazing packaging that it has for the price of a $20 is astounding.
• LeRoy Neiman was an extremely interesting man who led a fascinating life—including working as a cook in the army—which I encourage you to read about here.
• The transformation that the J.C. Newman brand has undergone in recent years is nothing short of remarkable. The brand has become so much more relevant than it has been in multiple ways, including turning the company’s El Reloj in Tampa into so much more than just a factory and headquarters.
• According to the press release, all of J.C. Newman and the foundation’s profits from the sale of these cigars will be donated to support art programs at Tampa public schools.
• There are many cigars that feature extremely good construction, but the three LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition cigars I smoked for this review were fantastic. The draws literally could not be better, there was no dearth of thick, gray smoke at any point, and other than a single correction, the burn lines never came close to needing any attention from my lighter.
• Visually, the bands that adorn these cigars are incredible, but the combination of the three together does take up more than 80 percent of the total real estate of the cigar. This means that it is virtually impossible to see any real detail of the wrapper until you remove one or all of them.

• Speaking of the bands, the third band—which is the largest of the three by a wide margin—is a work of art in and of itself and is printed with a very obvious embossing on the front. In addition, it is taped together instead of glued per the normal, and when it is taken off of the cigar, has a QR code printed on the back, which takes you to a page on J.C. Newman’s website that includes details on Neiman’s life, his work, the cigar and information on where the profits from the sale of the cigars are being sent.

• One of halfwheel’s favorite parts of the packaging is the bottom of the box. It’s designed to look like the paint-splattered floor of Neiman’s Manhattan studio.
• The whole packaging is extremely impressive, from inserts inside the boxes to the aforementioned floor under the cigars, to the bands. In fact, the entirety of the packaging was good enough to take second place in halfwheel’s Top 10 Packaging Awards last year. Oh, and the company took 10th place in the same awards as well.
• J.C. Newman advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to two hours and eight minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the LeRoy Neiman 2023 Collector’s Edition cigars, site sponsor Corona Cigar Co. has them in stock on its website.