Luxury Cigar Club has begun shipping Choshi, its second widespread release, to members of its Preferred Retailer Program.

The cigar is a 5 x 54 robusto that was blended by Billy and Gus Fakih of Artesano del Tobacco, which produces the Viva La Vida brand. The blend uses a Nicaraguan habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, with production handled by AJ Fernandez’s factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. The company calls it a profile that starts full bodied before turning mild and smooth in the second third, with the final third a marriage of the two.

According to a press release from Luxury Cigar Club, the cigar gets its name from the Japanese word for first born, as it was supposed to be the company’s first cigar to be released. While work began on the cigar more than a year ago, delays in the production process and supply chain and the COVID-19 pandemic prevented that from happening, so the Hangry cigar ended up being the company’s debut.

The Choshi is a regular production cigar that has an MSRP of $12.50 per cigar and is offered in 10-count boxes.

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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, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, 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.