Viva La Vida Brand Marks Five Years With Anniversary Cigar
Half a decade ago, an unknown company called Artesano del Tobacco launched a brand called Viva la Vida, made by A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua. This month, Artesano is celebrating five years in business with a new brand that comes in two sizes.
The people behind it are the Fakih brothers, Billy, Geson (“Gus”) and Bass, former New York City tobacconists who left the retail world to start a cigar line. Their cigars have since garnered high scores and accolades, including placement on Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 list.
The Viva La Vida 5th Anniversary is slightly different from the core Viva La Vida line. While the all-Nicaraguan internal tobaccos are the same, the wrapper has changed.
“It has been five years since we launched the Viva La Vida Cigars and to celebrate it, we asked Abdel Fernandez to help us create a unique blend that celebrates the success of the Viva La Vida line,” says Billy. “To do so, Abdel was able to find a beautiful, aged, dark, oily Habano Connecticut maduro wrapper that was grown here in the United States.”
Viva La Vida 5th Anniversary comes in two sizes: Jester Belicoso and Club500 Sabroso. The Jester Belicoso is a figurado that Artesano describes as being “flat round,” meaning the belicoso head is topped with a flat tip rather than a pointed one. It measures 5 1/2 inches long by 56 ring gauge and will retail for $19.
The Club500 Sabroso is a double-tapered, box-pressed perfecto that measures 5 1/4 by 56 with a suggested retail price of $18 each. Both sizes come in 10-count boxes. According to Billy, he and his brothers developed the unique shapes with Fernandez to best “enlighten the flavors” of the wrapper.
The cigars will be on display at the PCA trade show in Las Vegas and ship to shops shortly after.
