Privada Cigar Club has launched a new collection of limited edition cigars under the name Subterraneo, some of which will be sold through its associated Limited Cigar Association retailers.

The series is made up of 12 cigars, all of which are Nicaraguan puros that are made by A.J. Fernandez and use tobaccos from Fernandez’s farms. The company is releasing each cigar’s dimensions—all of which are parejos—as well as its wrapper variety, but no additional details about the blend.

  • Cobalum (5 x 50) — Habano Maduro
  • Cobalumakna (4 x 50) — Habano Maduro
  • Sulphuriam (5 x 50) — Habano Claro
  • Sulphuriamchaak (6 x 56) — Habano
  • Kalium (5 x 50) — Sungrown Habano
  • Kaliumcolel (6 x 46) — Sungrown Habano
  • Cuprum (5 x 50) — Habano
  • Cuprumapo (6 x 56) — Habano Maduro
  • Orum (7 x 40) — Golden Habano
  • Arsenicum (6 x 60) — Hybrid Maduro
  • Feric (5 1/2 x 52) — Habano Claro
  • Hydrar (5 1/2 x 60) — Hybrid Maduro

What makes the series particularly unique is how the cigars are being released. The first two, Cobalum and Cobalumakna, were released via Privada Cigar Club’s January subscription box, though each box only contained one of the two cigars. Another cigar will be released in March via Privada’s Farm Rolled subscription. Two more cigars, Golden Eagle, which measures 7 x 40, and One-Eyed Boss, a 6 x 60 gordo, were released via Privada’s online store.

The other cigars will be available through Limited Cigar Association retailers, with release dates spread out over the next several months. Each LCA retailer will be limited to carrying a maximum of Subterraneo cigars, and will not know which ones they are receiving until they arrive, which will also be a surprise. All of the cigars that will end up on store shelves will have an MSRP of $12.50.

Production is limited to 7,500 cigars for each blend.

The company is also offering a collector’s box via its website for $30, which will give consumers the chance to display their collection, as it has 12 labeled slots for the cigars.

According to a press release, the line gets its name from a story that explores the origin of Mayan mythology and fables the eponymous Subterraneo as the underworld responsible for regulating the nutrient content of the soils that make tobacco farming possible in Central America. As the company wrote in a press release:

By 300 B.C.E, the forces that created Mayan culture had already morphed into legends. Believed by the Mayans to have been gods, these beings were anything but. In reality, they were life forms from extraterrestrial planets. Their kind could only stand being in earth’s atmosphere for a few days at a time before having to return to their ships. They possessed many assets that could have been valuable for earth civilization, but inability to communicate ended the possibility of widespread cultivation of these ideas. These aliens were spoken of as gods by the pre-Mayan people, and even worked with a few chosen humans to create order, agriculture and engineering. These were the few that went on to become the Mayan gods of the legends we are familiar with today. During this time, subspecies from other planets that were able to withstand earth’s atmosphere indefinitely were brought to the planet to breed with humans and create hybridized alien human beings to oversee, rule and execute orders for their owners remotely. What happened in the next century, sometime between 1100 B.C.E and 900 B.C.E would leave these hybrid beings stranded, without people to rule or to serve. This is how Subterraneo formed. Unable to reproduce or die, these 14 beings lived underground, close to the earth’s core, feeding from and adding to the nutrient levels of the earth’s soil. Sightings of these more-than-human beings living in the hot magma of earth’s core were interpreted into images and rumors of hell.

The company is hoping that the release will “foster community and cooperation in assembling a full set,” describing the process of getting a full set as being on a massive scavenger hunt, saying that it will almost certainly require teamwork and trading with other cigar collectors in order to assemble a full set.

The original version of this article listed the MSRP of the cigars as $12.95, it has been corrected to $12.50.

Images courtesy of Privada Cigar Club.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.