PCA 2023: Freud Cigar Co.

Freud Cigar Co. made its sophomore appearance at the PCA Convention & Trade Show this year, returning with a bigger booth space but less in the way of flash than what I remember from 2022. That debut booth was marked by a number of TVs running a stream of highlights from reviews, while this year, those were moved to a static display and numbers.

This year’s booth was highlighted by a circular banner hanging from the ceiling, while a series of display cases framed much of the border and seating making up the bulk of the middle of the booth, including a custom Freud-themed domino table, though I didn’t see any games break out. One corner of the booth had a display that featured the ratings that Freud’s cigars have received thus far.

As for the new cigars, the company released a new limited edition that will celebrate the birthday of its namesake, as well as a new line that didn’t bear any Freud branding from what I could see, though I will say that I didn’t give the boxes a thorough inspection.

Carlos & Maria Amorío

When browsing the booths at the PCA Convention & Trade Show, there are times you see things that are seemingly perfectly aligned with the company and brand, and then there are times that you see things that aren’t quite off-brand but that seem to indicate there must be something else going on. The latter of those two sentiments is how I felt when I saw the Carlos & Maria Amorío line in the Freud Cigar Co. booth.

There’s no Freud branding on the boxes, which use a rather simplistic white and gold color scheme that reminds me of the cigars I saw in the first half of 2016 when companies were rushing to have things on the market ahead of the FDA’s deadline to have new products commercially available, a requirement that has since gone away. The marketing materials don’t mention Freud, either, instead referring to Carlos & Maria as its own entity, noting that “Carlos & Maria Cigar Co. will release additional collections this year, blended by other notable names in the cigar industry,” adding a website that as of now is just a parked page.

The cigar is being produced by Wiber Ventura at the El Maestro factory in the Dominican Republic.

• Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano)
• Binder: Indonesia (Sumatra)
• Filler: Nicaragua (Seco), Ecuador (Habano Visos), Dominican Republic (San Vicente Ligero) and Undisclosed (Criollo 98 Visos)

• Carlos & Maria Amorío Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 46) — $17 (Box of 10, $170)
• Carlos & Maria Amorío Robusto (5 x 50) — $19 (Box of 10, $190)
• Carlos & Maria Amorío Churchill (7 x 48) — $21 (Box of 10, $210)
• Carlos & Maria Amorío Toro (6 x 54) — $23 (Box of 10, $230)

Production: Regular Production

Release Date: July 2023

Sigmund: Chapter One — The Disruptor

This new limited edition will be an annual release, with future editions slated to come out on May 6 in celebration of Sigmund Freud’s birthday. This first edition was blended by Eladio Diaz, and produced at his factory, Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera. The blend is undisclosed, but Freud Cigar Co. says it uses seven distinct tobaccos, with five different fillers. The company calls the blend medium-bodied and marked by notes of wood, walnut and cocoa.

Freud released the cigar at an event at Tobacconist of Greenwich on May 3, while the cigar began shipping to other retailers in June.

• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed

• Sigmund: Chapter One — The Disruptor (7 1/2 x 50) — $42 (Box of 10, $420)

Production: 3,500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (35,000 Total Cigars)

Release Date: May 3, 2023