One Cigar Company Won’t Make It to 2027. I’m Naming It.
One cigar company is bought out or out of business by this time next year. I know which one. I’m naming it at the bottom, under the VIP Box, with my odds and my reasons.
Here is the week in cigars first, October 15 to October 22. Eleven new releases. Four industry stories. Five hot takes. One company in this issue is running out of road.
NEW RELEASES AND BLENDS
Casa Carrillo Battleborn 2026 Heroes
Battleborn returns with a new blend and a new size. It honors veterans, active military, police, firefighters and first responders. It debuts at two Old Virginia Tobacco events in Virginia, October 22 and 23, then ships nationwide before Veterans Day, November 11. As a patriot, I approve!
Blend: African Cameroon wrapper, Dominican and Nicaraguan binders, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. Rolled at Casa Carrillo.
Size and price: 6 x 52 Toro, $21 per cigar, $441 per box of 21.
Run: 2,000 numbered boxes (42,000 cigars), each with a dog tag.
Mark’s Take: A Cameroon wrapper makes this a different cigar from last year’s. The 21-count box, a nod to the 21-gun salute, is a great touch. But anyone who loved the first one is gambling on a blend nobody has smoked. Via halfwheel, Cigar Aficionado, Cigar Dojo, Cigar Coop. Oct 21. Casa Carrillo Battleborn 2026 Set for Release +3
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Espinosa 601 La Bomba Warhead TAA Exclusive 2026
Warhead heads to TAA stores next month.
Blend: Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan fillers. Made at San Lotano in Ocotal, Nicaragua.
Size and price: 6 x 55 box-pressed toro, $16 per cigar, $160 per box of 10.
Run: 1,250 boxes, TAA retailers only, shipping in November.
Mark’s Take: Warhead is a fan favorite, and locking it behind TAA shops is a bad look. A blend good enough to be a favorite belongs on every shelf, not just the club’s. Via halfwheel, Cigar Dojo. Oct 21. Espinosa Unveils La Bomba Warhead TAA Exclusive – Cigar Dojo +2
Crowned Heads Belgian Blue LE 2026
Belgian Blue is back for a third year in its smallest vitola yet.
Blend: Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Ecuadorian binder, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, 75 percent ligero. Rolled at D’Hatuey Tabacos S.A.
Size and price: 5 1/4 x 54 box-pressed, $12.50 per cigar, $150 per box of 12.
Run: 2,500 boxes (30,000 cigars), shipping late October.
Mark’s Take: Seventy-five percent ligero will flatten a casual smoker. Trimming the length was the smart move. Smokable beats punishing every time. Via halfwheel, Cigar Dojo. Oct 21. Crowned Heads Belgian Blue LE 2026 Shipping Next Week +3
Warped Cloud Hopper Black
This is the second Cloud Hopper blend since the line debuted in 2017. Never had the 2017 version, so let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Blend: Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan fillers. Rolled at NACSA.
Sizes and price: No. 53 and No. 485 (5 x 48). The No. 485 lists at $12.50 per cigar, $312.50 per box of 25.
Availability: DROP Cigar Club says boxes are available for shipment. Warped has not confirmed that shipping has begun.
Mark’s Take: The original Cloud Hopper was an all-Aganorsa Nicaraguan puro. Move the Black to NACSA, add San Andrés, and you have a different cigar in an old jacket. LOL, give it a new name and nobody gets mad. Via halfwheel. Warped Adds Cloud Hopper Black +2
Rocky Patel America 250
Rocky Patel is shipping its 250th anniversary cigar to stores this week. It was due in September, and packaging delays pushed it back.
Blend: Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan fillers. Rolled early last year and aged at Tabacalera Villa Cuba in Estelí.
Size and price: 6 x 52 toro, $15 per cigar, $300 per box of 20.
Run: 2,000 boxes, released October 20.
Mark’s Take: Every company is milking the 250th. Rocky showed up last, but the delay at least left these cigars extra aging time. Fifteen bucks a stick is somewhat below what I would expect from a Rocky Patel anniversary blend. Not a bad price! Via halfwheel. Oct 20. Rocky Patel America 250 Coming in September +2
Perdomo Legacy Collection Samplers
Perdomo added three new vitolas to Legacy. You can only get them in samplers.
Sizes: Belicoso Fino (5 x 54), Gran Corona (6 x 48), Short Robusto (4 1/4 x 54), each in Connecticut, Maduro and Nicaraguan Shade-Grown versions. Made at Tabacalera Perdomo S.A.
Availability: Next month, inside 11-cigar samplers. No box count or MSRP listed.
Mark’s Take: We say it on the show all the time: Perdomo is consistent. So let us buy the sizes we want. Trapping a Gran Corona and a Short Robusto inside a sampler forces smokers to buy sticks they did not ask for. Box the Gran Corona and sell it straight. Via halfwheel. Oct 20. halfwheel
Caldwell The Queen is Dead
This is Caldwell’s first core line built from scratch since Laudisi bought the company in 2024. It follows The King is Dead.
Blend: Habano 2000 wrapper, Sumatra binder, Dominican Corojo, Habano and Criollo fillers. Rolled at Tabacalera William Ventura.
Sizes: Requiem (5 x 50, $14.50), Scarlet Thread (5 3/4 x 44, $13.75), Crimson Veil (6 x 52, $15.50), Bloodroot (7 3/4 x 40, $15), Revenant (6 x 60, $16). Boxes of 24.
Availability: Retailer pre-orders opened October 19. Shipping is expected at the end of October, with no exact date.
Mark’s Take: Caldwell wore this naming pun out years ago. Staying with William Ventura is the smart play, because that Dominican tobacco does the real work. Five sizes from $13.75 to $16 is a fair ask.
Via Cigar Coop (Oct 18), Cigar Dojo. Caldwell Introduces The Queen Is Dead Core Line +2
Villiger TAA Exclusive 2026
Villiger unveiled its TAA cigar ahead of the TAA convention in the Dominican Republic, October 25 to 29.
Blend: Ecuador Habano Rosado wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder, Nicaraguan fillers. Made at Villiger de Nicaragua.
Size and price: 6 x 52 box-pressed toro, $13 per cigar, $130 per box of 10.
Run: 500 boxes (5,000 cigars), TAA members only, shipping November 2.
Mark’s Take: Not crazy about Villiger, and a 500-box run will not build secondary buzz. But this is the first TAA cigar from its own Nicaraguan factory, and that is worth watching. Via Cigar Aficionado (Oct 16), halfwheel. Villiger TAA Exclusive 2026 Shipping Next Month +3
Viaje Full Moon 13th Anniversary
Full Moon turns 13 with four 6 x 60 gordos.
Versions: Natural and Maduro, each in a standard and a limited version. Some are box-pressed, some are not.
Price: $17.91 per cigar standard ($429.84 per box of 24), $22.08 limited ($529.92 per box).
Availability: Shipping to stores now. Stores are getting fewer limited boxes than standard ones.
Mark’s Take: Blowing the whole release up to 60 ring wrecks a fun project. I think of here, “most smokers want balance, not a jaw workout.” Twenty-two bucks for a limited gordo is a lot to pay for a Halloween stunt.
Via halfwheel. Viaje Full Moon 13th Anniversary Heads to Stores +2
Quesada Don Manolo 79
Quesada’s annual birthday cigar for Manuel “Don Manolo” Quesada is shipping now through SAG Imports. His daughters Raquel and Patricia led the blending for the first time in the history of these releases.
Blend: Honduran wrapper, Dominican binder, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, including tobacco Manolo set aside in the late 1990s. Made at Tabacos de Exportación in the Dominican Republic.
Size and price: 6 x 52 toro, $21.99 per cigar.
Run: 1,000 boxes worldwide, 700 for the U.S.
Mark’s Take: Raquel and Patricia Quesada blending their father’s birthday smoke is what a handoff should look like in a legacy family factory. With 700 boxes for the whole U.S., it will not sit around. Honduran cigars are coming to the front of the line. Via Cigar Dojo, halfwheel. Quesada Don Manolo 79 Now Shipping to Retailers – Cigar Dojo +4
Arturo Fuente OpusX Serie “Heaven and Earth” Big Purple Dream
Arturo Fuente and Prometheus bring back the Big Purple Dream.
The humidor: Made in France with a purple sycamore veneer, holding 110 vintage OpusX cigars across 11 vitolas. It retails for $14,750. Only 60 exist: 30 shipped in December 2025 and the other 30 ship this December.
The smaller sets: Ten-count travel humidors run $650 to $690, and a six-cigar selection runs $425. Production is 300 boxes of each set, except the Diadema 60 (200) and the Purple Rain Torpedo (100).
Mark’s Take: The $14,750 humidor is built for trophy cases, and only 60 exist. That’s a NO from me. The $425 six-cigar set is the way in for the rest of us. It still is not cheap. Via Cigar Aficionado. Oct 15. cigaraficionadocigaraficionado
INDUSTRY, CORPORATE AND REGULATORY NEWS
Adam Levine Puts League of Fat Bastards Up for Sale
This is Adam Levine the Australian-born cigar founder, not the Maroon 5 frontman. After a failed fundraising round earlier this year and employee departures last month, he has put the company up for sale. The brand launched in 2024 on a promise to send 40 percent of profits to men’s mental health causes. A cause I get behind btw. Levine told Halfwheel earlier this month that he is the only one still working there.
Mark’s Take: The column and my full call are below. Via halfwheel. League of Fat Bastards Debuts Department of Honor at PCA 2026 +2
Tabacalera USA Restructures Senior Leadership
Three new senior roles took effect October 16. Brad Winstead, formerly CEO of Casa de Montecristo, is now chief commercial officer. Davide Moro, formerly CEO of Altadis U.S.A., is now chief marketing and brand experience officer. Nicolas Maslowski, formerly CEO of JR Cigar, is now chief direct to consumer officer. All three report to CEO Charles Gibb.
Mark’s Take: Three division bosses became three company-wide executives. Musical chairs like this rarely helps the guy buying one cigar on a Friday. Expect more pressure to push house brands. Via Cigar Coop (Oct 19), Cigar Journal (Oct 20), halfwheel. cigar-coop–halfwheel
Plasencia Promotes Javier Carranza to U.S. VP of Sales
Carranza joined in 2016 as U.S. national sales director. He now runs Plasencia’s U.S. sales organization and commercial strategy, including retailer partnerships, team development and distribution. Before Plasencia he worked at Gurkha, House of Emilio and AJ Fernandez.
Mark’s Take: MARKETING, BRANDING, MARKETING! Promoting a company veteran who has been there since the brand’s early days is a smart call. It keeps relationships steady while other makers burn through outside reps every year. Via halfwheel, Cigar Coop, Cigar Dojo. Oct 20. halfwheelcigardojo
ECMA Reports Wins in Germany, Norway and Spain
The European Cigar Manufacturers Association’s monthly update is good news. Germany’s tobacco tax explosion on cigars was averted, Norway’s cigar registration fees were suspended, and Spain’s smoking ban was cancelled after a snap election call. Good news for Hyacinth and me. Germany is not off the hook. Cigar taxes there still go up by slightly more than double in 2027, far below the 14 times increase proposed over the summer. Norway’s fees would have cost 8,500 kroner per product, plus 3,000 kroner a year.
Mark’s Take: A tax that doubles instead of going up fourteen times counts as a win in this business. Take it, and keep your guard up. Via Cigar Journal (Oct 19), halfwheel (Oct 16). Cigar Regulations Update: Germany, Norway and Spain | Cigar Journal +2
MARK’S RANDOM HOT TAKES
If I cannot tell you where to buy it, I should not be telling you about it. Exclusives make great marketing and bad friendships.
The Gran Corona is the best shape in the humidor, and nobody wants to hear it.
Past 56 ring gauge is a stunt, not a smoke.
Ligero is a seasoning. It is not a personality.
A band prettier than the blend is a warning label, we have these all the time on MITMCIGAR.
THE WRAP
Eleven new cigars, four industry stories, and one pattern. Brands are fencing their best work behind TAA exclusives, sampler-only packs and 500-box runs, then calling it scarcity. Two familiar names swapped their blends and kept the label, so smokers who loved the old one are guessing on the new one. Europe caught a rare break on taxes and bans. The Quesada daughters gave us the best family story of the week.
The release that played it straight was Crowned Heads Belgian Blue. Same blend as last year, a smaller size, a clear price, no gimmicks. If you buy one thing from this issue, buy that.
SIGN-OFF
That’s the week. Smoke what you like, buy from the shop that knows your name, and keep it consistent, the way Perdomo does. See you next week.
Stay real.
Mark
One company in this issue is running out of road. My call on it is waiting below. Paid subscribers get it.