Aganorsa Leaf Ships Arsenio Line
Arsenio Ramos, who served as Aganorsa Leaf’s master blender for 18 years until his death in 2018, is shipping to retailers on Monday. The line was originally scheduled for a release in the spring, but was delayed.
“We felt they needed more time to rest before packing,” Aganorsa’s vice president of sales and marketing Terence Reilly tells Cigar Aficionado. “This is an important release in honor of Arsenio’s life and contribution to Aganorsa and so we decided to let the cigars rest a couple extra months. Now they are validated and ready to smoke.”
Intended to recreate Ramos’ personal favorite blend, the new line is made entirely of Nicaraguan tobaccos grown on farms owned by Aganorsa Leaf. The wrapper is grown in Jalapa from Corojo ’99 seed, the two binder leaves are Criollo ’98 from Estelí and the fillers are a mix of tobaccos from Jalapa and Condega. According to the company, the cigars are medium in body.
Aganorsa Leaf Arsenio comes in three sizes: Robusto, measuring 5 1/4 inches by 54 ring gauge ($15.99); Toro, 6 by 52 ($16.99); and a 6-by-44 Corona ($14.99), which was Arsenio’s favorite size. An image of Ramos adorns the blue 15-count boxes and cigar bands.
This year’s production is limited to 2,000 boxes of both the Toro and Robusto, and 1,500 boxes of the Corona.
