Over a year ago, Patrick Vivalo, who handles in-house sales for Rocky Patel Premium Cigars, saw his name on a cigar for the first time in the form of a 6 x 44 Nicaraguan puro known as the Vivalo Serie Exclusivo. Now, the line is expanding to five vitolas as it heads out of Maryland and onto a national stage.

The Vivalo Exclusivo Serie Lonsdale ($7.50) will be joined by a Belicoso (5 1/2 x 52, $8.40), Robusto (4 7/8 x 50, $7.90), Gordo (6 x 60, $9) Robusto Grande (5 1/2 x 54, $8.75), all of which will be sold in boxes of 20. The new sizes will debut at an event on Sept. 13, 2014 at the Tinder Box of Waldorf, Md. That Tinder Box is important as it was one of two Maryland retailers that launched the Lonsdale after a trip to Honduras where the retailers were able to smoke the cigar, a blend Vivalo himself smoked privately in Honduras.

As for the brand’s retail footprint, Vivalo told halfwheel the brand will head to select stores national before the end of the year. While the Vivalo mark is owned by Patrick Vivalo, he is still employed by Rocky Patel.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.