PCA 2021: Elie Bleu

Every year people will ask me a pretty basic question, “what have you smoked (at the trade show) that you like?” Each time, I reply with the same answer, “I don’t really smoke cigars at the trade show.” Given all of the equipment we carry and the rushed nature of going from booth to booth, I gave up on trying to smoke cigars on the show floor many years ago. So after I explain that I haven’t smoked any of the new cigars they were hoping to get opinions about, I usually tell them about the accessory that caught my eye the most. This year, it’s from Elie Bleu.

The Elie Bleu booth is actually the Rëyns International booth, which is the company’s U.S. distributor. It’s the same as it has been for quite some time: a great deep blue color with lots of high gloss white displays. While the LED lights used in the cabinets are bright and make the booth stand out from a pretty far distance, it’s not the best for photographing the items inside.

Elie Bleu / Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 Humidor

The undisputed star of the booth is the new collection that pays tribute to the 25th anniversary of Fuente Fuente OpusX. Most notably, there’s a humidor that contains 25 Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 cigars, which weren’t in the Fuente booth. I didn’t bother asking Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. what the blend for the cigar is, whenever Fuente—both the company and family—wants the world to know, we will know. As I alluded to in my Arturo Fuente booth write-up, this is an item that more or less no one in the Fuente booth knew about until they arrived in Las Vegas.

As for the humidor, it measures 15.15 inches x 6.69 x 9.84. It uses red gum wood with marquetry and rose gold accents.

Each humidor includes 25 Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 cigars, measuring 7 x 50. I have no idea whether the cigars will be sold outside of the humidors because (virtually) no one in the Fuente booth knew these were a thing until Thursday.

MSRP: $9,250

Production: 225 Humidors

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu / Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 Humidor Cabinet

If that wasn’t enough, there’s a planned cabinet humidor that will include 144 Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 cigars along with the Elie Bleu OpusX 25th accessories (lighter and cigar scissors). It measures 24 inches tall x 15 inches in length and 15 inches in width. It isn’t in Las Vegas, which is a real shame.

The woods used are red gum with marquetry and bronze accents.

At $70,000, making it one of the most expensive non-Cuban cigar releases ever sold at retail.

MSRP: $70,000

Production: 25 Humidors

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu / Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 Ashtray

This is a four-cigar ashtray that measures 9 inches x 9 x 2. It is made in Limoges, France out of the city’s famed porcelain. Each ashtray comes with two rose gold bridges that can be moved alongside the ashtray as you smoke down your cigar. If you are trying to save pennies, the El Azul and El Rojo ashtrays are the same size but $30 less expensive, though if you are trying to save pennies at the Elie Bleu booth buying OpusX accessories, what are you doing with your life?

MSRP: $1,130

Production: 250 Ashtrays

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu / Fuente Fuente OpusX Cigar Scissors

Functionally, these seem pretty similar to the Elie Bleu cigar scissors that you can buy for around $250. They are a lot longer and, obviously, a lot more detailed thanks to the OpusX branding. It uses stainless steel for both the blade and body, while the handles are rose gold.

MSRP: $480.

Production: 250 Pairs

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu / Fuente Fuente OpusX 25 J-14 Lighter

Elie Bleu’s J-14 torch lighter is also part of the collection, actually the most affordable piece in the series. This lighter looks like a soft flame lighter but actually features a single-flame jet torch. Brian Burt has been using the J-14 lighter all week here, though not an OpusX-branded version.

MSRP: $450

Production: 250 Lighters

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu Casa Cubana Sycamores The Theater

The ongoing Casa Cubana series, which is a series of humidors painted to look like buildings in Havana, has one of its more interesting releases: The Theater. It measures 12.6 inches x 10.63 x 9.25. This series has always had some playful details, you can see some posters on the bottom levels for example, and is super impressive. From what I understand there’s at least one collector who has tried to buy every piece in the collection. If that’s the case, that person has bought multiple full-size houses worth of Elie Bleu humidors.

MSRP: $6,000

Production: 12 Humidors

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu Gun Teal Sycamore & Marquetry

Elie Bleu’s ongoing series of gun-themed humidors gets another new piece this year. This is the first time the company has used this teal color for the series, but my favorite part is the bullet key in front, which of course isn’t on the humidor in the picture above.

The humidor measures 19.09 inches x 10.63 x 4.13. It is rated to hold 110 cigars.

MSRP: $5,800

Production: 88 Humidors

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu Olive Wood Humidor

This is that piece that I was telling everyone about. From the outside, it looks like a nice humidor, but nothing special from Elie Bleu.

But once the humidor is open, the inside reveals itself to also be made from olive wood, which is a first for the company. The patterns aren’t identical, but the interior is strikingly different than every other humidor inside of the booth. What’s most surprising is that it’s not that expensive for an Elie Bleu humidor. I was actually a bit surprised to open the humidor and not see a price of at least $4,500.

It’s the standard Elie Bleu 110-count size: 15.75 inches x 10.63 x 4.41.

MSRP: $3,100

Production: Not Limited

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu Route 66 Humidor

This humidor is made from sycamore and red gum with the stand-out feature being the continuation of the image down the front of the body. The humidor measures 15.75 inches x 10.63 x 4.41. It is rated to hold 110 cigars.

MSRP: $4,780

Production: 66 Humidors

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu Route 66 Ashtray

To accompany the humidor is this porcelain ashtray, which measures 7.8 inches x 6.34 x 1.42.

MSRP: $680

Production: Limited, Numbers Not Disclosed

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu Rainbow Humidor

We are planning on reviewing an Elie Bleu humidor and this might be it. I’ve been trying to figure out which color I like the best, and to some degree, this solves the problem. It doesn’t produce as much contrast as some of the company’s humidors, but I was more impressed with it seeing it in person. It measures 15.75 inches x 10.63 x 4.41 and is rated to hold 110 cigars.

Because I had seen this on Elie Bleu’s website earlier this year, I didn’t take a picture of it thinking it wasn’t new. Of note, Elie Bleu has another version of a rainbow humidor before, but this one features the multi-color pattern in full-length—the old one just used it for the lid—and the stripes are horizontal now instead of vertical.

MSRP: $3,200

Production: 100 Humidors

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu EBC-4 Cigar Cutter

It’s a new pocket-friendly double guillotine cigar cutter from Elie Bleu. Push the logo button down and the top piece opens up. The blades are made from “surgical stainless steel” and Elie Bleu is offering an optional $60 leather case.

There are five regular colors to start: Black Lacquer, Blue Lacquer, Red Lacquer, Satin, Yellow Lacquer; though there are also some limited edition versions through Manny Iriarte Enterprises. The body measures 1.75 inches x .31 x 2.56.

MSRP: $190

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu J-15 Lighter

This is a new lighter from Elie Bleu, which uses an ignition system triggered by opening the cap. it features a fuel window and a single flame. There’s an optional leather case that is offered for $60.

It’s offered in five regular colors to start: Black Lacquer, Blue Lacquer, Red Lacquer, Satin, Yellow Lacquer; though there are also some limited edition versions through Manny Iriarte Enterprises. The body measures 1.44 inches x .5 x 2.6875.

MSRP: $200

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu J-14 Diamond Jet Flame Lighter Casa Cubana Limited Edition / Cuban Flag Limited Edition

The J-14 lighter is also getting a limited edition colorway as part of the Casa Cubana series, as well as a new Cuban Flag series.

MSRP: $440

Production: 159 Lighters (Casa Cubana) & 98 Lighters (Cuban Flag)

Release Date: TBA

Elie Bleu EBC-4 Cigar Cutter Casa Cubana Limited Edition / Cuban Flag Limited Edition

The new EBC-4 double guillotine cigar cutter also gets limited edition Casa Cubana and Cuban Flag colorways.

MSRP: $220

Production: 459 Cutters (Casa Cubana) & 98 Cutters (Cuban Flag)

Release Date: TBA

The OpusX Society / Elie Bleu Ashtrays

I covered nearly every OpusX Society item in the Manny Iriarte Enterprises booth write-up, but the Elie Bleu items for this collection are featured in both booths. The one thing(s) I didn’t cover before are these Limoges porcelain ashtrays. There are two different colors: El Azul (blue) and El Rojo (red). They measure 9 inches x 9 x 2. One note, these are said to be the first time that the factory in Limoges has made this ashtray with four stirrups. Each color is limited to 50 pieces.

MSRP: $1,100

Production: 50 Ashtrays Per Color

Release Date: July 2021

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.