TPE 2024 is around the corner and several cigar brands have announced cigars that they will introduce at the Total Product Expo in Las Vegas next week. We try to list all of them, but we may have missed some.

Where PCA, formerly known as ICPCR and before that as the RTDA, is the major cigar trade show, of the last few years, more and more cigar companies decide to have a presence at the TPE show as well. TPE isn’t specialized in just cigars and pipe tobacco, but also focusses on other parts of the tobacco business like cigarettes, vapes, accessories and business solutions for retailers. In a way, TPE is much like InterTabac, the European tobacco trade show which takes place in September.

Aladino

In TPE 2023, JRE Tobacco Co. unveiled the Aladino Candela Robusto, and now, for TPE 2024, they are set to release the Aladino Candela Toro. The Aladino Candela Toro, measuring 6 x 50, is crafted entirely from Honduran tobacco, featuring a corojo-seed green candela wrapper. Priced at $10.50 per cigar, the MSRP reflects its exclusivity. Production is limited to 1,200 boxes of 20 cigars, with shipping scheduled to commence in February.

Candela refers to a unique process that imparts a green hue to cigars, a phenomenon particularly prominent around St. Patrick’s Day. This distinctive color arises from a heating process applied to the tobacco in specialized barns at higher temperatures compared to standard practices. Unlike traditional tobacco, candela retains its green color as chlorophyll is not removed during this expedited drying process.

Vivi Eiroa, in homage to her grandfather Julio, a major candela grower in the 80s and 90s, expressed a desire to revive the popularity of candela wrappers. Historically, candela was the predominant wrapper in the U.S., but today it is more of a novelty than a mainstream choice. One significant advantage for growers and makers is the time efficiency of the candela process, taking less than a week and requiring minimal processing in factories.

While the Aladino Candela Toro follows the limited release of the Candela Robusto, JRE Tobacco Co. has yet to commit to making it a regular production line. Notably, the Aladino Candela Queen’s Perfecto, the second vitola in the blend, was exclusively launched on Smokingpipes.com in November.

Somm Rioja

Technically not exactly a new release, as the Somm Rioja had an exclusive pre-release through the Luxury Cigar Club, but the cigar makes its debut for other retailers at TPE24

Somm Rioja boasts a sophisticated blend, featuring a three-year-old Dominican corojo wrapper, a three-year-old Sumatra binder, and fillers sourced from the Dominican Republic, all meticulously aged between three and four years. The choice of Eladio Diaz’s Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera reflects Stojanov’s dedication to partnering with esteemed names in the industry.

In a press release, Stojanov expressed, “With this blend, I wanted to pay homage to one of the last, great bastions of value – the famed Spanish region of Rioja and its Gran Reserva wines. Nowhere else do you find such an exceptional combination of tradition, prowess, and skill at such an amazing quality to price ratio. With that in mind, who better to team up for this release than the famed Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera.”

Rioja is presented in two vitolas:
• Somm Rioja Robusto (5 x 54) — $13.50 (Box of 10, $135)
• Somm Rioja Toro (6 x 52) — $14 (Box of 10, $140)

Crowned Heads

Making its debut at TPE 2024 later this month, the Mil Días Maduro introduces a rich and distinctive profile to the Mil Días brand. Diverging from the original Mil Días, this Maduro edition boasts a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and fillers sourced from Nicaragua’s Condega, Jalapa, and Ometepe regions. In contrast, the regular Mil Días features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers hailing from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru.

This marks the second Maduro release under the Mil Días line, following Crowned Heads’ earlier launch of the Mil Días Marranitos, which incorporated an Ecuadorian Sumatra maduro wrapper into the traditional Mil Días blend.

Available in three sizes, the Mil Días Maduro offerings and their respective prices are as follows:

• Mil Días Maduro Edmundo (5 3/8 x 52) — $10.95 (Box of 20, $219)
• Mil Días Maduro Sublime (6 x 54) — $12.50 (Box of 20, $250)
• Mil Días Maduro Topes (4 7/8 x 56) — $12.25 (Box of 20, $245)

Jon Huber, co-founder of Crowned Heads, emphasized that Mil Días Maduro is not a mere variation of the original blend but an entirely new creation. Collaborating with Eradio Pichardo since the summer of 2023, the blend promises a dense and lush flavor profile, featuring notes of dark chocolate, baking spices, and a prominent pepper element on the retro-hale.

Produced at Pichardo’s TacaNicsa factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, Mil Días Maduro maintains the quality associated with the Mil Días brand. TPE 2024, where the cigar will be showcased, is scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 2 in Las Vegas, with shipments of Mil Días Maduro expected to commence in late February.

United Cigars

At the upcoming TPE 2024 trade show, United Cigars is set to unveil the latest addition to its extensive Firecracker lineup.

Named the Firecracker Connecticut, this cigar features a shade-grown Connecticut-seed wrapper from Ecuador, enveloping a binder and fillers sourced from the Dominican Republic. Maintaining the signature Firecracker style, it is a 3 1/2 x 50 Parejo with an elongated pigtail designed to mimic the fuse of a firework.

Produced at the Tabacalera Magia Cubana factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic, the Firecracker Connecticut will be presented in boxes of 25, with an MSRP of $6 per cigar.

Expressing his enthusiasm for the new addition, Oliver Nivaud, director of operations for United Cigars, remarked, “The United Firecracker Connecticut is a beautiful addition. This Connecticut Firecracker surprised me during the blending process, the final blend represents the line perfectly.”

As part of the Firecracker Series, the United Firecracker Connecticut will be distributed by United Cigars to retailers nationwide. The roots of this line trace back to 2007 and Two Guys Smoke Shop, a New Hampshire-based retail chain owned by Dave Garofalo, who is also the proprietor of United Cigars. The Firecracker cigars, characterized by their 3 1/2 x 50 petit robusto size and distinctive pigtail, have been produced over the years by various manufacturers, including All Saints, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, E.P. Carrillo, El Artista, Fratello, Kristoff, La Flor Dominicana, My Father, Perdomo, RoMa Craft Tobac, Rojas Cigars, Selected Tobacco, and Tatuaje.

The Firecracker Connecticut joins a select few blends created exclusively for the Firecracker Series by United Cigars, such as the Firecracker Sun Grown and the Firecracker Maduro (previously known as the Firecracker Black Bomb). Unlike cigars from other manufacturers, these offerings from United Cigars are often available as regular production items year-round.

This announcement comes shortly after the revelation of another new addition to the Firecracker lineup—the JFR Lunatic Loco Firecracker, scheduled for release in June.

Fratello

Fratello Cigars is excited to unveil its latest version of the Premium Fresh Pack, set to launch at the upcoming Total Product Expo (TPE). This innovative offering introduces a thoughtfully curated selection of premium cigars.

The cigars featured in the new Fresh Pack are elegantly presented in a 6 x 50 format and encompass the following varieties:

• 1 Classico
• 1 Bianco
• 1 Sorella
• 1 Navetta
• 1 Arlequin

Priced at an MSRP of $30.00, each box of Fresh Packs contains 10 packs, with each pack housing 5 cigars.

Omar de Frias, the proprietor of Fratello Cigars, shared his thoughts on the launch:

“This marks our third iteration of our Fresh Packs. We aimed for a high-end feel combined with five of our premium lines. This offers a combined value of $57.00, but with an MSRP of $30.00. Our customers will enjoy incredible value.”

La Aurora

La Aurora is set to unveil the third installment in its relatively recent Small Batch Series—a cigar that has undergone nearly two decades of aging.

Showcasing at the TPE 2024 trade show in Las Vegas, the Small Batch Lot No. 003 is a 5.78 x 58 toro gordo. This exquisite cigar features an Ecuadorian wrapper, paired with dual binders—Cameroon and Dominican—and fillers sourced from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Peru. Limited to 400 boxes of 10 cigars, each unit carries an MSRP of $13.

Remarkably, La Aurora reveals that these cigars have been patiently aged for an impressive 19 years.

Manuel Inoa, La Aurora’s master blender, expressed his sentiments about the Small Batch Series in a press release, stating, “Small Batch will continue to be a series that is very special to me. These cigars will only ever exist in small batches: each release features distinct tasting notes and are unable to be blended and rolled in large scale quantities. Lot No. 003 was aged for 19 years and features a flavor profile and complexity that are unlike any other smoke. With its oily, bright red wrapper, Lot No. 003 is flavorful and medium/full-bodied cigar that offers a creamy smoke with notes of pepper and tobacco tones like leather and cedar that accompany until the end of the smoke.”

The La Aurora Small Batch Series is characterized by different blends, each released in limited quantities. While the inaugural Small Batch Series release was exclusively available in the Dominican Republic, La Aurora specifies that Lot No. 003 will be exclusive to the U.S. The details for Lot No. 004 are expected to be announced in late 2024.

Blackbird

Blackbird Cigar Co. is set to unveil its inaugural core line offering from the newly established Dominican factory later this month. This release also marks the company’s first inclusion of a Habano wrapper in its core line offerings, introducing the Superb.

The Superb comes in two sizes and features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, concealing an undisclosed binder and filler blend. Blackbird initiated the blending process for this line in the third quarter of the previous year, recognizing the absence of a Habano line in its current portfolio.

The company shared its journey in a press release, stating, “We started blending with that wrapper and the challenge began… We did too many blends, mixed with too many tobaccos in the filler that, honestly, it was exhausting. But one day, after several tests, a burned-out palate, at 3 a.m. in the morning, we decided to try the last blend… suddenly the room went silent… we all realized that THIS blend felt like we had just arrived in Paradise!”

The Blackbird Superb line is available in two sizes:

• Blackbird Superb Robusto Gordo (5 x 54) — $9.36 (Box of 21, $196.56)
• Blackbird Superb Toro (6 x 52) — $10.72 (Box of 21, $225.28)

Additionally, Blackbird announces updates to the packaging of its existing core lines, aligning with the 21-count boxes used for the Superb.