Yaya Begins Arriving in U.S. Stores

Yaya, Carlos Guillermo’s Dominican cigar brand, has begun arriving in stores.

United Cigars—the company’s U.S. distributor—says that it began shipping the products to stores late last month. Yaya is not new, the brand launched in 2019, but it previously has not been sold in the U.S. Its eponymous line, Yaya, is offered in four sizes: Short Robusto (4 x 54), Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 54) and Gordo (6 x 60). Three of the sizes have previously been sold in the Dominican Republic, but the Short Robusto is a new vitola. There are also other Yaya vitolas that are sold in the Dominican Republic, but that are not currently offered here in the U.S.

Blend-wise, Yaya uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper over a Cuban-seed Dominican wrapper and fillers from the Dominican Republic. It is made at the Tabacalera Magia factory in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

The name “Yaya” refers to an old woman who made cigars that Guillermo and his friends would “sneak” from the woman as kids. The kids referred to the woman as Yaya and Guillermo opted to pay tribute to the woman for his first cigar line. In addition to Yaya, Gullermo also owns CigarZona, which makes customized cigar accessories including humidors, ashtrays and domino tables