United Cigars has announced that its upcoming Asylum Green Monstah release will not be coming out due to an apparent trademark issue.
In a press release, the company said that “another cigar brand owner reached out to CLE directly and said that a portion of the name of would need to be concealed.” In pictures, the company showed the “Monstah” portion of the boxes covered up with a graphic that says “censored.”
While United didn’t disclose who the company was, Tatuaje Cigars Inc. owns an active trademark for the word “MONSTER.”
The Green Monstah was a reference to the famous left-field wall found at the Boston Red Sox’ Fenway Park. The company worked with Asylum to create two cigars—a 6 x 60 and a 7 x 70—that would be packaged in nine-count boxes that were painted similar to the wall. It was supposed to be the first in the company’s Stadium Series, which would pay tribute to iconic sporting venues.
Ultimately, United said it didn’t want to release the cigars with the name covered up, so it canceled the project. It did say that it has “plans for this annual release and has begun the early steps for the next one which should be announced by this fall.”
United Cigars has its own brands and is also the U.S. distributor for Selected Tobacco and Jose Dominguez cigars. The company has also worked with a variety of other manufacturers to produce exclusive releases for it to distribute.