Two New La Instructora Sizes Ship

The two new sizes in the La Instructora portfolio are finally on their way to retailers, after a delay with the boxes and some design tweaks pushed their release back a month.

Each of the two La Instructora lines is getting a new size; the La Instructora Perfección line, which wears the multi-colored band, is adding a Short Robusto that measures 4 1/2 x 52 and comes priced at $10 per cigar. The Perfección line uses an Ecuadorian habano rosado wrapper and Dominican criollo 98 binder from Potrero, with a blend of Dominican tobaccos for the filler. José “Jochy” Blanco grew the Dominican criollo 98 seco and ligero from Potrero, while a Dominican piloto seco comes from La Canela and farmer Ernesto “Campeón” Infante. Some Dominican piloto viso from the Quisqueya Cia farm in La Canela rounds out the filler.

The line now sits at five sizes:

• La Instructora Perfección Belicoso Extra (6 x 57) — $15 (Box of 15, $225)
• La Instructora Perfección Invicto (5 3/4 x 56) — $18 (Box of 15, $270)
• La Instructora Perfección Petite Salomón (5 1/2 x 47) — $12.50 (Box of 15, $187.50)
• La Instructora Perfección Royal Corona (5 1/8 x 48) — $11 (Box of 15, $165)
• La Instructora Perfección Short Robusto (4 1/2 x 52) — $10 (Box of 15, $150)

Meanwhile, the La Instructora Box Pressed line, which comes in the black-and-white bands, adds the #5, a 5 1/2 x 55 robusto priced at $15. That line uses a Brazilian cubra wrapper, Dominican piloto binder from Jacagua, and a filler blend of Dominican criollo 98 ligero and seco from Potrero, and Dominican piloto seco and viso from La Canela. All but the wrapper is grown by Blanco.

It also now stands at five sizes in the line:

• La Instructora Box Pressed 1 (7 x 54) — $17 (Box of 15, $255)
• La Instructora Box Pressed 2 (5 3/4 x 52) — $18 (Box of 15, $270
• La Instructora Box Pressed 3 (5 1/2 x 47) — $12.50 (Box of 15, $187.50)
• La Instructora Box Pressed 4 (4 1/4 x 46) — $10 (Box of 15, $150)
• La Instructora Box Pressed 5 (5 1/2 x 55) — $15 (Box of 15, $225)

Both of the new sizes come in 15-count boxes and are produced at Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic.

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, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, 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.