Meerapfel, best known as the family behind most of the Cameroon wrappers you see on cigars, has announced its first line as part of its new cigar company called Meerapfel Cigar.

That line is called the Meerapfel Cigar Richard, paying tribute to the late Richard Meerapfel, who suddenly passed away in 2003. Jeremiah Meerapfel, chairman of M. Meerapfel & Söhne Belgium S.A., is leading the project.

Many of the details about the cigars themselves are not being disclosed but the company has said that the Richard will use a vintage Cameroon wrapper, although it is not disclosing the other tobaccos. When asked if the cigars were being made by Arturo Fuente—the Meerapfels are partners in Arturo Fuente’s international distribution—Reinhard Pohorec, vice-president of Meerapfel Cigar, replied that “the finest craftsmen in the industry are involved in the manufacturing” but declined to disclose the name of the factory.

There is one vitola that is ready to ship to stores, the Meerapfel Cigar Richard Double Robusto, a 5 3/4 x 52 parejo vitola with a twisted cap. It has an MSRP of $86 per cigar in the U.S. or €94 per cigar in the Meerapfel’s home market of Belgium.

It will also be fairly limited, the company will make just 613 boxes of 10 cigars per vitola per year.

As for those other vitolas, the company plans on releasing, they are:

  • Meerapfel Cigar Richard Robusto (4 7/8 x 50)
  • Meerapfel Cigar Richard Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 46)
  • Meerapfel Cigar Richard Pyramide (6 1/8 x 52)
  • Meerapfel Cigar Richard Lonsdale (6 3/4 x 43)
  • Meerapfel Cigar Richard Churchill (7 x 47)
  • Meerapfel Cigar Richard Lancero (7 1/2 x 40)

The MSRPs for the other vitolas will range from $38-63 or €41-68 in Belgium.

Meerapfel describes the boxes as “chests” and they are rather unique. At the bottom of each box is a tray which can be used to either display the cigars or as an ashtray.

“A tribute to our past; respecting our future,” said Jeremiah Meerapfel in a press release. “The UberLuxury is an expression of tradition, values, and respect. It is the mission of MEERAPFEL to preserve and perpetuate this expression.”

Meerapfel Cigar will be distributing its cigars in the U.S.

This is not the first time it has sold its own cigars recently. In 2014, the family introduced La Estancia, a cigar made in Honduras that used tobacco from Cuba, but not Cameroon.

Correction (March 20, 2023) — An earlier version of this article stated the cigar were offered in 25-count boxes, when in fact they are offered in 10-count boxes. We have corrected the article and regret the error.

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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.