J.C. Newman Introduced Tampa Smokers Cigar with Baseball All Stars

This new brand honors Tampa’s historic minor-league baseball team, the Tampa Smokers.

Tampa, Florida – Last night, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. introduced Tampa Smokers cigars at an event hosted by the Florida Sports Hall of Fame at J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. This new cigar celebrates the Tampa Smokers, a minor-league baseball team that played in the Cigar City from 1919 to 1954. Numerous Major League Baseball alumni attended last night’s event, including Wade Boggs, Clint Hurdle, and Dave Magadan.
 
“Baseball and cigars are two of America’s historic pastimes,” said fourth-generation owner Drew Newman. “It seems only fitting to celebrate the new baseball season with a cigar that honors Tampa’s historic minor-league baseball team, the Tampa Smokers.”

A century ago, Tampa was known as the Fine Cigar Capital of the World. The 150 cigar factories in Tampa handcrafted more than 500 million cigars per year. In 1919, Tampa’s local baseball team was named the Tampa Smokers to celebrate its place as Cigar City. Many famous athletes played for the Tampa Smokers, including Al Lopez, who was the son of cigar workers and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A photo of the 1947 Tampa Smokers team from the Smithsonian Institution.

“The Tampa Smokers packaging incorporates the original design of the Tampa Smokers jersey, which prominently featured a Tampa cigar,” said Newman. “These special cigars are packed in boxes with rounded corners that are reminiscent of the shape of a baseball.”
 
Tampa Smokers cigars are hand rolled at J.C. Newman’s iconic El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida. They will be on display this weekend at the Premium Cigar Association Trade Show in Las Vegas along with a unique humidor constructed from baseball bats. J.C. Newman plans to ship Tampa Smokers cigars to premium cigar retailers in time for the World Series this fall.

J.C. Newman Cigar Co. Ships The American Black Bison Cigar Case

This uniquely American cigar accessory is handmade in the USA and contains 100% American cigars.
J.C. Newman is also shipping the fall release of The American and Angel Cuesta cigars.

Today, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. is shipping The American Black Bison Cigar Case. This limited-edition cigar case is unique because both the case and the special cigars inside are all-American. Both the case and the cigars were made in the United States using all-American components. J.C. Newman is releasing 350 cases with a suggested retail price of $300.

“The American Black Bison cigar case celebrates the centuries-old tradition of American cigar making,” said Drew Newman.  “The craftsmanship of the case and the cigars contained inside is exquisite, and I am very proud that this case is all-American.”  

The case was handcrafted by Brizard and Co. in California using leather from one of the most iconic symbols of the United States, the American Bison. The Bison leather used in this cigar case came from Ted Turner’s ranch in Montana. Inside are three cigars from the first release of The American cigar in 2019. They were rolled in 2018 with wrapper from the 2016 crop of Florida Sun Grown tobacco. These cigars have been aging in the basement Cigar Vault of J.C. Newman’s 113-year-old El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida, for the past five years. 
 
In addition to The American Black Bison Cigar Case, J.C. Newman is shipping the fall allocation of The American and Angel Cuesta cigars to 107 of the finest premium cigar retailers in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.  Both The American and Angel Cuesta are hand rolled in El Reloj.

J.C. Newman Ships Brick House Ciento por Ciento 2023 Cigars

This limited-edition cigar is exclusive to members of the Tobacconist Association of America

Yesterday, J.C. Newman Cigar Co. began shipping the 2023 release of Brick House Ciento por Ciento cigars.  This year’s release is a 6.25” x 54 toro packed in boxes of 10 cigars.  The suggested retail price is $11 per cigar.  J.C. is shipping 800 boxes to TAA members across the United States.

“First rolled in the 1930s, Brick House was one of my great-grandfather’s original cigar brands,” said fourth-generation owner Drew Newman.  “He created this brand to honor the rural village where he was born in Austria-Hungary. The house where he was born was known as the ‘brick house’ because it was the only house in the village made of brick. The bottom floor was a general store and tavern and my family lived on the second floor.”

Brick House Ciento por Ciento cigars are bold and flavorful.  They featured a dark wrapper grown in Nicaragua’s Jalapa Valley.  The binder tobacco is grown in Esteli and the filler comes from three regions in Nicaragua.

“These Brick House cigars are very special because we roll them with 100% Nicaraguan tobacco,” said Newman.  “‘Ciento por Ciento’ means 100 percent in Spanish. These are the only cigars that we roll entirely with Nicaraguan tobacco.”

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J.C. Newman Cigar Co. Introduces the El Reloj Set

201 LEGO Bricks Build a Replica of the Historic El Reloj Cigar Factory in Tampa

Brizard and J.C. Newman Introduce The American Black Bison Cigar Case

The limited-edition luxury cigars and case are both handcrafted in the United States

Tampa, Fla. — In celebration of Independence Day, Brizard & Co. and J.C. Newman Cigar Co. are introducing The American Black Bison Cigar Case.  This three-finger cedar-lined luxury cigar case is handcrafted in California by Brizard with genuine American Bison leather from Ted Turner’s Bison herd in Montana.  Each case contains three vintage three-year-old The American Robusto cigars, which were rolled with 2018 Florida Sun Grown wrapper in J.C. Newman’s historic El Reloj cigar factory in Florida.  This is a limited edition of 350 cases with a suggested retail price of $350. 

“One of the fundamental requests from J.C. Newman was to have, like the cigar, a 100% American made product,” said Cyril Brizard.  “Bison leather is supple, with many characteristics ranging from natural wrinkles, pebble grains and is four times as resistant as regular cow leather.”

“I am very proud that The American Black Bison Cigar Case is a 100% American luxury product,” said Drew Newman.  “Bison is an iconic American animal.  Because it is handcrafted in America with American components, this case honors the history of the United States and the tradition of American cigar-making.”

Brizard further described the case as follows:

“This three-finger cedar lined case is very masculine yet elegant and packed with understated details that make it so unique. The black bison leather is trimmed with a handmade thin red leather pipping. Inside the case, the edge of the cedar lining is trimmed with The American cigar boxes original cigar box edge strips featuring The American logo. This can only be seen when the case opens. At the base, a polished brass plate features a laser engraved The American logo and a Bison silhouette. On the lower part, an oblong shaped matching brass plate features the serial number ranging from 1/350 to 350/350. After being hand polished and engraved, both plates are sealed with a special brass lacquer used on musical instrument which prevents it from tarnishing over time. The case includes two solid Spanish cedar dividers which have multiple functions; they add structural rigidity, separate three cigars and while seasoned help retain humidity inside the case. Like all Brizard & Co cases, The American Bison case has a tight fit between top and bottom parts in order to ensure optimal seal and ideal humidity. The cases although very light are made mounting the leather of thin galvanized steel plates in order to have structural rigidity and prevent accidental crushing of cigars. They can fit up to three 60 ring gage cigars and can open to different lengths.”

J.C. Newman Celebrates the 137th Anniversary of First Cigar Rolled in Tampa By Reintroducing Sanchez y Haya Cigars

Sanchez y Haya Rolled the First Cigar in Tampa on April 13, 1886

One hundred thirty-seven years ago today, Sanchez y Haya rolled the first cigar in Tampa, Florida.  Many others followed, causing Tampa to become known as “Cigar City” and the “Fine Cigar Capital of the World.”  In celebration of this anniversary, J.C. Newman has recreated the original Sanchez y Haya cigars and will reintroduce them at a celebration this evening at Hotel Haya in Ybor City.  Hotel Haya is located on the site of the original Sanchez y Haya cigar factory in Tampa’s Ybor City historic cigar district.

Although Vicente Martinez Ybor decided to build the first cigar factory in Tampa, his friends Serafin Sanchez and Ignacio Haya opened their factory a few weeks before Ybor’s factory was complete.  Because of this, Sanchez y Haya was designated as “Factory No. 1” in Tampa.

Because cigars were much smaller a century ago, J.C. Newman’s recreated Sanchez y Haya cigars are short robustos measuring 4.5” x 50.  Each is hand rolled with either a Sumatra Sungrown or a Oscuro Maduro wrapper and Cuban-seed binder and filler tobaccos, just like Sanchez y Haya used in 1886.  These cigars are sold individually inside vintage Sanchez y Haya cigar boxes with a suggested retail price of $8.  Sanchez y Haya cigars are sold exclusively in Tampa.  In addition to Hotel Haya, they are available at the J.C. Newman Factory Store in the historic El Reloj Cigar factory and other select premium cigar retailers in Cigar City.

J.C. Newman Honors Veterans Day with The American Cigar
 

Each retailer will have a special selection of The American cigars that were rolled with the 2019 crop of Florida Sun Grown wrapper and have been aged for one year.   Each retailer will also be giving away a selection of The American hats and felt pennants, which are also made in the United States.  The grand prize at each store is an authentic Louisville Slugger baseball bat emblazoned with The American shield.

The American is a highly acclaimed medium-bodied cigar.  As J.C. Newman rolls just 160 of them per day, The American is a very special, limited, boutique cigar.  The American received the Cigar Trophy for Best Brand and Cigar from the United States in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

“There is simply no cigar like The American,” said Drew Newman.  “We invite cigar enthusiasts to tour our El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa so that we can show you how we hand roll The American and keep America’s historic cigar-making tradition alive.”

The American Veterans Day Participating Retailers

J.C. Newman Celebrates 127 Years with Cuesta-Rey No. 95 Cameroon
These special cigars are an El Reloj factory exclusive.
 

“After the Cuban Embargo was imposed in 1962, my grandfather, Stanford J. Newman, scoured the world for new types of tobacco. He discovered exquisite African Cameroon Wrapper (ACW) and was the first premium cigar maker to use it in the United States. Stanford wrapped ACW with a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and long filler tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic to create the Cuesta-Rey No. 95. It was smooth, elegant, and flavorful, and became the top-selling premium cigar in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.  Sixty years later, we are proud to have recreated the original blend of my grandfather’s most famous cigar, the Cuesta-Rey No. 95.”

Before we could start on the major restoration we just completed at our El Reloj Cigar Factory in Tampa, our team had to clear out almost 70 years’ worth of items from the building. During this process, we uncovered some hidden gems.

One of those was a trap door from the 1930s with a secret staircase that went from the General Managers’ office down into the basement where he could hide when the Tampa Mafia would come through looking for payroll cash. Another was J.C.’s travel trunk that accompanied him on his voyage from Hungary to Cleveland in 1889. But perhaps the most exciting find for fans of our brands was a stash of 10-year-old Brick House cigars that was tucked away in the basement years ago to age and wait for a special occasion to arise. When we rediscovered them during our 125th year, we thought that sharing them with our TAA retailers would be a perfect fit.

Fans of Brick House will recognize the flavor of its distinctive blend but will taste some notable differences in this aged version. The many years that have passed since these were rolled have created a smooth and balanced taste that only time has the ability to do. Through the aging process, the flavors have married and created a cigar more mellow and a bit less spicy than its contemporary counterpart. Discover a taste of history and savor this once-in-a-decade Brick House. 

This cigar has now shipped and will be arriving on TAA Retailers’ shelves soon.

Brick House Beginnings – TAA Exclusive Original Aged Blend
Mighty Mighty Maduro (6 ¼” x 60)
10 cigars per box
$9.80
 
Mighty Mighty Natural (6 ¼” x 60)
10 cigars per box
$9.80
 
Churchill Natural (7 ¼ x 50)
10 cigars per box
$9.60

Brick House Beginnings Retailers