United Cigars has announced that The Wise Man Maduro Firecracker from Foundation Cigar Co. will be the newest addition to its annual summertime limited edition series.

Like other cigars in the line, it is being released in a compact vitola, this one measuring just 3 1/2 inches long with a 50 ring gauge. It features a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper, a Nicaraguan corojo binder grown in the Jalapa region, and Nicaraguan fillers from Jalapa and Estelí. The cigar is made at Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. in Nicaragua.

“This was a fun project to be a part of,” said Nicholas Melillo of Foundation Cigar Co. via a press release. “Fitting the depth of The Wise Man Maduro into a 3 1/2″ vitola was a challenge but what a flavor bomb it is.”

Pricing is set at $7.50 per cigar and $150 for a box of 20 cigars, both before taxes. The Wise Man Maduro Firecracker is slated to begin shipping in June, with production limited to 500 boxes.

The Firecracker series traces its roots back to 2007 and a cigar made for 2 Guys Smoke Shop in New Hampshire, the Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label cigar that measured three inches long with a 50 ring gauge. Its cap was decorated with a long strand of tobacco that resembled a fuse, and with a release date around the July 4th holiday, the line was born.

Since that first cigar, the Firecracker line has evolved into its own brand, though it is made at the Leyandas factory in the Dominican Republic. It is an ongoing offering from United Cigars, which along with Two Guys Cigars, is headed by David Garofalo.

The Firecracker series also includes a number of limited edition collaborations with other manufacturers that come in vitolas similar to The Firecracker, including cigars from PerdomoTatuaje, Fratello, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, Kristoff, La Flor Dominicana and RoMa Craft Tobac. These are part of United Cigars’s Series Unidas collection, which features collaborations with other manufacturers in a blend or vitola. As such, they are open to other retailers in limited quantities through United Cigars.

The Wise Man Maduro traces its roots back to 2017, when it was released as the follow-up to the Foundation’s El Güegüense line.

Update (Jan. 9, 2021) — Added production numbers to the story as they had initially not been disclosed.

Images courtesy of United Cigars.

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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.