PCA 2021: Arturo Fuente

Covering the Arturo Fuente booth at a trade show requires an intimate knowledge of the company’s products because if you don’t know what’s new, the company surely isn’t going to tell you. Then you need to find someone that works at Fuente that actually might know, and even then, there’s always going to be at least one thing that just randomly is placed in the company’s booth that no one seems able to talk about.

While 99 percent of the attention is on Arturo Fuente’s partner and neighbor—J.C. Newman’s cardboard booth—this is actually a new booth for Fuente as well. Unlike J.C. Newman’s booth which is a deliberate attempt at showing off something other than products—it’s a cardboard replica of the company’s factory—the new Fuente booth is an incredibly efficient design at showing off new products. It’s more or less a square made of display cases that houses a meeting room inside. Other than that, it’s just elaborately filled display cases and sitting areas. This is far more effective than the company’s old booth, which was essentially a narrow hallway.

Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Extensions

The Rare Pink line is getting two new vitolas in October: Queen of Hearts and Sophisticated Hooker. Yes, the box says, “Sophisticated Hooker.” It’s a reference to a boat that was docked in Key West the night of a Cigar Family Charitable Foundation event. The boat’s name was “Sophisticated Hooker,” which made me think of this quote. These are regular production cigars but due to the limited supply Fuente puts into the market, it’s tough finding them on shelves.

As with the first four sizes, each is a perfecto. Furthermore, Fuente donates $13 for every box sold to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation as this project is being used to help promote breast cancer awareness and find a cure. The project is spearheaded by Liana Fuente, though Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. has also used the project to harken back to his memories of the 1960s.

That extended to this imagery, a burnt bra, that was placed in the same display case.

• Wrapper: Undisclosed (Sun Grown Rosado)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Domincian Republic

• Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Queen of Hearts (3 3/4 x 54) — TBA
• Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Sophisticated Hooker (7 1/4 x 53) — TBA

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: October 2021

Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2021

The Unnamed Reserve is back, and unlike most years, Fuente is sort of talking about the cigar. It’s supposed to be the same cigar as the Unnamed Reserve 2012.

The company representatives and the boxes make it clear these cigars were rolled in September 2016 and have been aging ever since.

• Wrapper: Undisclosed (Sun Grown Rosado)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Domincian Republic

• Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2021 (5 3/4 x 48) — $10.93 (Box of 20, $218.66)

Production: 1,000 Boxes of 20 Cigars (20,000 Total Cigars)

Release Date: September 2021

Carlos A. Fuente Commemorative Humidor (2021)

This is another version of the Carlos A. Fuente Commemorative Humidor that debuted in 2018 alongside the Don Carlos The Man cigars. If you didn’t know any better—and don’t have the old humidor on-hand to compare it to—you would likely think this is just a new paint job. The panels on the side are now orange instead of yellow and the picture up top is a bit different. But it’s actually 30 percent larger than the original humidor and embossed leather. It also has a new tray design and built-in Boveda holders. The image on top has also been updated compared to the original.

As with the original humidor, there’s a special secret compartment on the backside of the humidor that pops open to reveal a secret cigar storage tray. I was told these will ship with the option for retailers to buy one box of Don Carlos The Man cigars—the original humidor included an option for two boxes—the MSRP is $850 which does not include the price of cigars.

Production: 858 Humidors

Release Date: October 2021

Casa Cuba Ashtray

There were two new ashtrays on display in the booth, one is available for sale while the other is a prototype.

The Casa Cuba ashtray is already on sale, it actually started shipping during Father’s Day, and then there’s the one above which is a prototype.

MSRP is $50.

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: June 2021