Tony Bellatto’s latest project isn’t coming out under the La Barba header, but he says that shouldn’t lead to any doubts about the quality of Siempre Tambroil, a project he describes as a happy accident.
In the summer of 2014, Bellatto was on a trip with several friends to Tabacalera William Ventura in the Dominican Republic with the intent of beginning the blending process on the company’s Purple line, the second in the La Barba portfolio which was released in the second half of 2014. Henderson Ventura introduced the group to a crop of tobacco they weren’t expecting to work with and which they soon realized a cigar needed to be based around.
Siempre Tamboril uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and a blend of Dominican corojo ligero and Dominican Habano Vuelta Abajo seco, Bellatto says the cigar could easily be an everyday choice for any smoker.
Bellatto is limiting the release to just a handful of retailers, and while the cigar isn’t limited, he is only producing it in batches of 2,000 cigars in each of the four sizes so he can maintain a high level of quality control. He says he would like to keep each run under 10,000 cigars.
The first run is available in four vitolas, a 4 x 42 Perla ($4.50), a 5 x 50 robusto ($6.95), 6 x 50 toro ($7.50) and 6 x 60 double toro ($7.95). The first run is being shipped without bands or boxes, but the second batch will be banded. Boxes remain a possibility, though Bellatto said he didn’t want to have to increase the price, so the discussion remains an ongoing one.
The cigars began shipping to retailers in March, and a pair of stores — Fine Ash Cigars in Avondale, Ariz. and Havana House West in Bath, Ohio — will soon be getting an exclusive corona vitola with a yet-to-be finalized price.
