PCA 2022: Dissident

Dissident is back again this year, still inside the Oveja Negra Brands booth as it was last year. This time around though, there are new owners at the helm of the rebellious-themed brand.

At the end of last year, Dissident was sold to Cynn and Joshua Coburn, a husband and wife team that had moved to Nicaragua and been involved in the cigar world for a while. When the opportunity arose to purchase the Dissident brand, the couple said the brand’s theme fit perfectly with their world views and personalities, so they purchased it.

To look at the Coburns you would immediately think they fit Dissident perfectly. Body modifications, tattoos, an epic beard and dreads. But to them, Dissident, and the term dissident, isn’t about anarchy and rebellion against everything. In an interview on Smokin’ Tabacco, Cynn said this:

Our message, Josh and I, it’s always been the same, to spread kindness and acceptance. We like to explain dissident as, you can’t look at dissident as the people, the war starters, or the fighters, or whatever people think a dissident is, we are trying to show people that dissident is it’s ok to be different, it’s ok to be unique and just stand in your own truth and to go against the grain and do what you feel you want to do without having to fit into that cookie cutter mold. That’s our view of Dissident. Us being a dissident, that’s what that means.

It’s a positive message, one that isn’t foreign to the couple as they have both worked as motivational speakers for many years. Cynn will look to continue to spread this message and grow the brand as the face of Dissident along with being in charge of the blends, while Joshua will be more in the background on the business side of things. But on to the cigars, there is a new limited edition cigar at the show and a reblend of one of the core lines.

Dissident Molotov

For their first PCA Convention & Trade Show as owners, it is appropriate that the first new blend from the couple is a PCA exclusive.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Rojiso)
• Binder: Ecuador (Habano)
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua (Estelí, Ometepe)

• Dissident Molotov (5 x 50) — $12 (Box of 20, $240)

Production: 500 Boxes of 20 Cigars (10,000 Total Cigars)

Release Date: Late July/Early August 2022

Dissident Soapbox

While it wasn’t the intention to buy the brand and revamp the whole portfolio, due to tobacco availability the Soapbox line did get a blend update in the form of a Sumatran wrapper out of necessity.

• Wrapper: Undisclosed (Sumatra)
• Binder: Ecuador
• Filler: Nicaragua

• Dissident Soapbox Petite Corona (4 3/4 x 46) — $8 (Box of 20, $160)
• Dissident Soapbox Robusto (5 1/2 x 52) — $10 (Box of 20, $200)
• Dissident Soapbox Toro Gordo (6 3/4 x 54) — $11 (Box of 20, $220)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 2022