It looks like STG is starting to understand that they should leave blending cigars to people who actually care about tobacco instead of bookkeepers who only want to keep the cost down, as for their latest release, a new Sancho Panza, they asked for the help of Matt Booth, who used to own Room 101 before joining STG as a creative director, and the blender team over the Oliva Cigar Company.

“We have always had both a respect and an adoration for the products that come out of the Oliva facility,” Booth and Andrews said in a press release. “And we felt it appropriate to produce with them because their signature direction to cigar composition aligned perfectly with what we were looking to achieve for Sancho Panza. We are also enchanted by Cory Bappert, president of Oliva USA, and were looking for any and all reason to remain close to him…related to production, of course.”

The wrapper of the cigar is Ecuadorian Habano with an Ecuadorian Sumatra as a binder over Nicaraguan fillers from different areas. This results in a medium-bodied cigar with some spice. Matt Booth said that the cigar is “an episodic adventure in taste and transition” that “upon ignition, will take the smoker in a vice-like grip of enhanced enjoyment.” He added that the “hyper-sexual blend provides both pleasure in the combustion experience and depth to the brand’s overall offering,” in what he refers to as a meaningful “next instalment” and “responsible addition” to the Sancho Panza brand franchise.

The Sancho Panza Limited Edition is a 6 x 52 toro which comes in boxes of 10. How many cigars are produced, and where the cigars are produced is not disclosed.

“Following the big news around Sancho Panza last year, we agreed the brand deserved a heightened level of focus this year,” said Matt Wilson, senior brand manager of Sancho Panza, via a press release. “So we developed a special blend to continue the dialogue around Sancho. By releasing a limited-edition blend of this calibre, we’re anticipating that Sancho loyalists and newcomers alike will spread the gospel of this great brand, as they expand their humidors with a new smoke to collect and enjoy.”