JR Cigar, one of the most popular cigar retailers in the world, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. As is often the case with anniversaries in the cigar business, there will be a special cigar.

The Romeo y Julieta Edición Limitada JR 50th is a 5 x 54 robusto extra made by JR’s sister company, Altadis U.S.A. It uses a Mexican criollo wrapper over a Connecticut broadleaf binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It is being produced at Tabacalera de García in La Romana, the Dominican Republic.

MSRP is set at $15 per cigar and it is limited to 500 boxes of 12 cigars. JR will begin selling the cigar on Monday, Feb. 22 through its website.

“We are incredibly fortunate to work with JR Cigar on this momentous project,” said Rafael Nodal, head of product capability for Altadis U.S.A., in a press release. “From its complex blend, to its packaging and even the band, Romeo y Julieta Edicion Limitada JR 50th is the perfect cigar to launch this year-long celebration. We are looking forward to many more years of working with the JR team.”

JR Cigar was founded by Lew Rothman in 1971 as a small cigar store in Manhattan. Rothman would expand the business with more stores in New Jersey, North Carolina, Michigan and Washington D.C. In addition, he created Santa Clara as a wholesale distribution company to sell products to other stores. In 1997, 800-JR Cigar, Inc. went public on the NASDAQ and in 2003, Altadis S.A.—now Imperial Brands, plc—purchased a controlling stake. Last year, Imperial sold JR and others to an unnamed Chinese buyer.

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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.