PCA 2023: Luis Arias Cigar

Until last year, the cigars from Luis Arias Cigar—formally known as Viva Habano—were only available at a few retailers in the New Jersey area. However, according to Santo Trejo, president of Luis Arias Cigar, the company has been steadily expanding and building on its strengths, like the fact that all of the tobacco used in Luis Arias’ products is grown at the company’s farm and that all of the company’s cigars are rolled at its Tabacalera Viva Habano factory in the Dominican Republic.

Along with a new name, the company had an expanded booth for this year’s PCA Convention & Trade Show. Instead of a simple table with products on it like last year, the new booth featured an open design, with a couch and leather chairs for people to sit down and enjoy a smoke, a large backdrop with information about the company printed on it and lighted displays to hold cigars and boxes.

During our conversation, Trejo told me that the company has been experiencing a significant amount of growth in the past year, and while the company was not showing off any new products, at least one new blend was scheduled to be released by the time the 2024 PCA Convention & Trade Show takes place.