Viaje Cigar Company has announced the second installment of its Private Keep line, the Tangerine.

The Private Keep line debuted at the 2018 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, tracing its origins to what brand owner Andre Farkas told halfwheel was the unreleased stashes of cigar blends that he has accumulated over the years, saying that for every cigar that made it to market there were at least five that did not. The cigars ship without any bands are generally only identifiable by the color of the ribbon which holds the bundles of 37 cigars together. They also feature a flag cap and covered foot as distinctive features.

The debut release, the Private Keep Light Blue, was a 6 x 48 Nicaraguan puro that featured all-AGANORSA Leaf tobacco and a corojo 99 wrapper. The company produced 150 boxes of 37 cigars, a total of 5,550 cigars, each priced at about $9.50 per cigar.

The second release comes bound in the aforementioned tangerine colored ribbon and increases in size to a 6 x 52 toro. It comes in 37-count boxes priced at $370, or $10 per cigar.

Shipping to retailers is scheduled to begin on Aug. 12. The company has not yet disclosed blend information, production numbers or the factory producing the cigar.

Update (Aug. 5, 2019) — The company confirmed that the cigar is a Nicaraguan puro that is being produced at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. (TABSA) in Estelí, Nicaragua.

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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.