To celebrate its 20th Anniversary, Atlantic Cigar Co. commissioned four different cigars from four different companies, all of them in the toro vitola. First came the Viaje Atlantic 20th Anniversary WLP 20th Limited Edition Toro, which was released in November 2016, while the second release is the cigar we are focusing on today, the A.J. Fernandez Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario was released shortly thereafter.

New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario Box 1 New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario Box 2 New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario Box 3

According to Atlantic, the Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario is a “tweaked” version of the company’s New World blend that replaces the normal Nicaraguan wrapper found on the rest of the line with a Mexican San Andrés leaf. In addition, the filler features added Nicaraguan ligero which increases the strength of the overall profile. Finally, the limited edition cigar is a round vitola, while the rest of the sizes in the New World line are box-pressed.

Each 6 x 54 toro carries a retail price of $7.50 per cigar or boxes of 10 selling for $70.

New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
  • Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Length: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 54
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $7.50 (Boxes of 10, $70)
  • Release Date: December 2016
  • Number of Cigars Released: 400 Boxes of 10 Cigars (4,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Visually, the New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario is quite distinctive with a gold on black secondary band as well as a red ribbon foot band. The cigar is covered in in a dark mocha brown wrapper that is sandpaper rough to the touch, and features just a bit of oil. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of strong manure, leather, earth, dark chocolate and pepper, while the cold draw brings flavors of espresso beans, hay, licorice, cocoa nibs and slight vague sweetness.

The Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario starts off immediately with a dominant creamy almond note followed by dark cocoa, gritty earth, hay, ground coffee beans and cinnamon. There is a nice amount of milk chocolate sweetness on the finish, as well as significant spice on my tongue and some black pepper on the retrohale that seems to be getting stronger as the first third burns down. Construction-wise, the burn is razor sharp so far, but the draw is a touch tighter than I would like, while the smoke production is massive coming off of the foot. The overall strength starts off fairly mild and fails to reach the medium mark by the time the first third comes to an end.

New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario 2

Coming into the second third of the New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario, the dominant note remains the same creamy almond with aromatic cedar, bitter espresso, baker’s spices, earth, hay and dried tea leaves bringing up the rear. The spice on my tongue has only gotten stronger and the distinct milk chocolate sweetness on the retrohale combined with some remaining black pepper continues to be very overt. Fortunately, the draw improves, the burn continues to impress and the smoke from the foot is well above average. Strength takes a major step forward and ends the second third firmly in the medium range.

New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario 3

The creamy almond note remains the dominant flavor in the final third of the cigar followed a distinct floral note, cedar, gritty earth, charred meat, hay, espresso and leather. Spice on my tongue is still present and the milk chocolate sweetness on the finish is still quite strong, but the black pepper on the retrohale has diminished noticeably. The draw continues to impress, but the burn has started to waver a bit forcing me to touch it up to a avoid it getting out of control. One big change is the strength level, which has increased noticeably, and hits a point just below the full mark right as the final third comes to a close.

New World Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario 4

Final Notes

  • The secondary bands are exactly the same ones that were present on the Viaje WLP Atlantic 20th Anniversary.
  • There will be two additional cigars released in this series. Placeholders on Atlantic’s website name one as the Oliva Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario—a tweaked Melanio blend—while the other is apparently going to be produced by My Father.
  • For what it is worth, of the three regular production vitolas I have smoked in the New World lineup, my favorite is the belicoso.
  • While construction on two of the cigars was excellent, the third one had to be touched up at least once in each third, although it did not seem to make a major difference in the profile.
  • Both Atlantic Cigar and A.J. Fernandez are sponsors of halfwheel.
  • Cigars smoked for this review were sent to halfwheel by Atlantic Cigar.
  • The final smoking time for all three samples averaged one hour and 48 minutes.
  • If you would like to purchase any of the A.J. Fernandez Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario, the only place to get them is at Atlantic Cigar, where 10-count boxes are still available for sale.
88 Overall Score

While I have not smoked every vitola in the New World lineup, I have had a few of them, and I can tell you without a doubt that the Mexican San Andrés wrapper on the A.J. Fernandez Atlantic Cigar 20th Aniversario definitely makes it not just a sweeter blend, but also a more complex profile overall. There is no doubt it is a full-bodied blend, but it is also quite balanced, with a dominant creamy almond flavor that really combines nicely with the milk chocolate sweetness that is present throughout the profile. A very nice cigar at a great price and a nice way to celebrate Atlantic’s anniversary.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.