New Alfonso Line From Selected Tobacco Debuting At PCA Trade Show
Selected Tobacco is releasing a darker sequel to last year’s Alfonso Añejo line. Called the Alfonso Gran Selección, the new series is intended to offer a bolder contrast to its predecessor while maintaining some of the core characteristics of the original blend. The Gran Selección will be available in five sizes and is set to debut at the Cigar Association trade show this July in Las Vegas with an expected shipping date in the fall.
The original Alfonso Añejo line was covered in a light Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper, but the new Gran Selección is made with a dark, richer Ecuadoran Habano wrapper along with a Peruvian binder that holds together Dominican and Nicaraguan filler, all for a blend intended to be medium-to-full-bodied in strength.
The five sizes of the Gran Selección line are: Exclusivos, measuring 6 inches by 54 ring gauge; Preciosos, at 7 1/2 by 40; Estelares, 5 1/2 by 54; Enormes, 6 1/2 by 60; and Grandiosos, 8 by 50. Suggested retail prices will range from $30 to $50 per cigar.
The new cigars come from Nelson Alfonso of Selected Tobacco, known for brands such as Atabey and Byron. According to Selected Tobacco, the Gran Selección line was aged five years after rolling, primarily in cedar-lined rooms at varying humidity levels. But unlike most brands from Selected, these smokes underwent an additional aging step in rooms lined with French oak, as was also done for the Alfonso Añejo and Byron 1850 lines.
The new smokes are made at the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory in Santiago de Puriscal, Costa Rica and are distributed by New Hampshire-based United Cigars. Production is limited to 5,000 cigars per size, or 200 25-count boxes per vitola.
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