Well folks, it’s been a fairly eventful news week in the world of cigars, and we’ve got the scoop, so without further ado lets get into this week’s Weekend Roundup.
This week both Macanudo and CAO announced the introduction of new front-marks to some of their more successful brand lines. Macanudo has added a “Gigante” size (6×60) to their best-selling Café, and Macanudo Maduro lines, joining the “big-ring” trend that has been increasingly popular in recent years, while CAO has expanded upon their La Traviata Luminoso (4 ½x50) with a new maduro-wrapped version. In both cases, the new additions are intended to cater to their customer’s preferences, and offer more variety. According to The Cigar Nut.com, CAO senior brand manager Ed Mckenna was quoted as saying “CAO La Traviata Luminoso is one of our top sellers, so it was only natural that we give CAO fans a new take on one of their favorite cigars.” I personally have no doubts that these new stogies will be as successful as their predecessors.
In other news, Eddie Ortega stepped down from his role as president of EOBrands Inc., the company that brought us Cubao and 601 cigars, among others, to pursue an independent venture based out of Sunrise, Florida. Eddie’s new company, Ortega Cigars is set to debut their first line, the Ortega Serie D sometime next month. In an industry that seems to be leaning more and more towards limited release “boutique” brands, Ortega has stated he is only interested in building solid, on-going-production brands that he hopes will be here to stay. In a particularly humble quote from Cigar Aficionado.com, Ortega stated: “I have no interest in the so called limited-release market— plenty of those around. I’d much rather build solid brands. And I’m not looking to be the next big thing”. Here’s wishing Mr. Ortega good luck with his new endeavor, hopefully we can expect some great new smokes from Ortega Cigars.
