Artesano Del Tobacco Has Three New Releases in the Pipeline — Including a Mystery Line Four Years in the Making
Boutique cigar brands rarely generate the kind of sustained industry buzz that Artesano Del Tobacco has managed to pull off in just a few years of manufacturing. The company, founded by brothers Billy and Gus Fakih, has built its reputation carefully — one painstakingly developed blend at a time — and it now has its most ambitious release schedule yet sitting on the horizon. The brand recently teased three upcoming cigars across two production years: a new vitola extension for the Viva La Vida Connecticut line, a fresh size for the award-winning El Pulpo, and the first glimpse of a brand-new line called Oro Corojo that has been gestating in secret for nearly half a decade.
For followers of the boutique cigar market, these announcements carry genuine weight. This is not a company that floods the market with SKUs or chases shelf space with underdeveloped blends. Artesano Del Tobacco's approach to new products is one of deliberate restraint — the company averages less than one new line per year, which is an absolute rarity in the cigar world. Every release, from the debut Viva La Vida to the El Pulpo, has arrived with a story behind it, and the three items now on the calendar appear to follow the same philosophy.
From Manhattan Tobacconists to Nicaraguan Manufacturers: The Fakih Brothers' Story
Understanding what makes Artesano Del Tobacco tick requires knowing where Billy and Gus Fakih came from. Right around the peak of the 1990s cigar boom, the brothers — along with a third sibling not involved in the brand — opened the popular Cigar Inn tobacconist locations in the New York City area, which housed the only official Cigar Aficionado humidor and lounge. They spent more than two decades behind the counter, developing an unusually intimate knowledge of what premium cigar consumers actually want from a smoke.
Following the sale of their lounges to Altadis USA in 2015, Billy and his brothers shifted focus to manufacturing premium cigars in Nicaragua. The inception of Artesano Del Tobacco had been a labor of love, initiated shortly after they sold their retail stores to Britain's Imperial Tobacco PLC in June 2015, and the stores were subsequently rebranded as Casa de Montecristo. The timing of that exit proved fortuitous — it freed the Fakihs to pursue manufacturing at exactly the moment they had both the capital and the relationships to do it right.
The partnership with AJ Fernandez was not an accident of convenience. As Billy himself has said, "Me and Gus fell in love with San Lotano; it was our everyday cigar." Their cigars are handcrafted at AJ Fernandez's San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua, using carefully selected tobaccos from AJ's own farms. That embedded supply chain — from Fernandez's fields to the rolling tables to the finished box — gives Artesano Del Tobacco a consistency that many boutique brands struggle to replicate.
The Lines That Built the Brand
The Viva La Vida brand launched on the U.S. market in March 2019, arriving with a full Nicaraguan construction and a Habano Oscuro wrapper that set a bold, unapologetically full-bodied tone. The brand found its footing quickly and developed a loyal retail following at brick-and-mortar shops across the country. Then came the second act.
El Pulpo, translating to "The Octopus," began development in 2016 and it took AJ Fernandez several years to perfect the blend. Made at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars in Nicaragua, El Pulpo utilizes aged Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves grown on the Fernandez family farms, with the star of the show being a gorgeous Mexican San Andrés wrapper leaf. When the cigar finally debuted in 2023, the response from critics was immediate and decisive. When Artesano Del Tobacco and AJ Fernandez launched El Pulpo, they had no idea that it would soon soar to the number ten spot on Cigar Aficionado's Top 25 Cigars of 2023. The El Pulpo Belicoso Grande received that number ten ranking and a 94 rating from the publication. For a brand that had only been manufacturing for four years at that point, the achievement was remarkable.
The Viva La Vida Connecticut followed in 2025, representing a deliberate pivot toward a more accessible flavor profile. After fully exploring bold, full-bodied blends, Artesano Del Tobacco went in the other direction and offered the Viva La Vida line in a lighter, Connecticut-seed wrapper from Ecuador. The Viva La Vida Connecticut features a harmonious blend crafted with Nicaraguan filler and binder, and wrapped in an aged Ecuadorian Connecticut leaf, this variant tempers the robust strength of its Nicaraguan components, resulting in a flavor profile characterized by sweet graham cracker notes and subtle roasting elements. Reviewers took notice — at the PCA Trade Show, the Viva La Vida Connecticut was one of the highlights for the Cigar Coop Coalition team, finishing in a tie for second place for the team's best cigar coming out of the show.
Release One: The Viva La Vida Connecticut Lancero
The first of the three announced releases is actually not a surprise to those who have been paying attention. Artesano Del Tobacco revealed the Viva La Vida Connecticut Lancero last September alongside the announcement of the Viva La Vida Connecticut Churchill. The company had polled its email subscribers asking which vitolas they most wanted added to the Connecticut line. The Churchill finished first in that survey and is due to ship this month. The Lancero came in second and is now confirmed as the next addition.
Details on the Lancero have shifted slightly since its initial announcement. At the 2026 PCA Convention and Trade Show, the company confirmed the cigar will carry an MSRP of $17 per cigar, though the targeted release window has loosened from a specific September date to a broader "summer" timeline. One other update worth noting: the ring gauge is now listed at 40, revised upward from the originally announced 38. That change, while seemingly minor, is meaningful — a 40-ring lancero sits closer to the traditional form of the vitola, offering a tighter, more focused draw than an ultra-slim 38 while maintaining the elegant, elongated format that lancero devotees seek out specifically for its concentrated flavor delivery and slow burn rate.
The Connecticut blend, for those unfamiliar with how it performs, is well suited to the lancero format. The Connecticut expression delivers a smooth, medium-bodied smoke with sweet graham cracker notes, subtle roastiness, and hints of toasted cream, with the Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper adding a mellow elegance that balances the bold Nicaraguan core with a refined, lingering sweetness. Stretched across a narrow lancero, those flavors will be channeled with additional intensity, making this a technically demanding production challenge that AJ Fernandez's rollers are well-equipped to handle. The cigars are handcrafted at AJ Fernandez's San Lotano factory in Ocotal, Nicaragua.
Release Two: The El Pulpo Corona Gorda
The second 2026 release is an expansion of the El Pulpo line and one that should please fans who have found the existing box-pressed sizes either too thick for casual smoking or too committed to a ring-gauge style that doesn't fit every situation. The El Pulpo Corona Gorda is a box-pressed 6½ x 48 vitola, and the company describes it as medium-bodied — a significant and deliberate departure from the El Pulpo's established identity as a full-bodied powerhouse.
The El Pulpo Corona Gorda is a box-pressed 6½ x 48 vitola that the company describes as medium-bodied, with El Pulpo using a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers. No pricing was announced but the cigar is targeted for the fall.
The Corona Gorda format is a savvy choice for several reasons. At 6½ inches with a 48 ring gauge, it sits in a sweet spot that allows for a longer smoking session without the sheer width of the line's existing sizes — the Belicoso Grande runs 5¾ x 58 and the Toro Grande at 6 x 56. The reduced ring gauge will fundamentally change how the Mexican San Andrés wrapper expresses itself, likely producing a drier, spicier character with less of the sweetness that the larger ring gauges tend to coax out of the leaf. It is, in effect, a new cigar wearing a familiar label.
A mild box press ensures a comfortable bite and the precision construction of each cigar lends to an easy draw and a steady flow of thick, blue smoke. Spicy Nicaraguan pepper is unleashed upon lighting, soon followed by a mind-blowing array of dark chocolate and bakers' spices. Coffee beans and nuts are noticeable throughout, and a dark, rich tobacco core holds everything together. The finish is both spicy and sweet, combining the flavor properties of San Andrés Maduro and the bold Nicaraguan intensity that AJ Fernandez is known for. Whether a narrower gauge tones down some of that intensity and creates the "medium-bodied" character Artesano Del Tobacco is claiming remains to be verified when cigars reach retail shelves in the fall.
What is notable here is the self-awareness behind the announcement. El Pulpo earned its reputation as a cigar for committed, experienced smokers. This cigar is for the experienced — to truly enjoy it, a well-developed palate, a patient tempo, and a solid resilience to nicotine are all non-negotiable necessities. A medium-bodied Corona Gorda essentially extends an invitation to a broader audience without diluting the character of the original line. It is a strategic move that boutique brands rarely pull off cleanly, but Artesano Del Tobacco's track record with the Connecticut expansion suggests they understand how to manage that kind of range extension.
Release Three: The Oro Corojo — A Line Four Years in the Making
The most intriguing of the three announcements is the one with the fewest details attached to it. The company is teasing a new line called Oro Corojo. Artesano Del Tobacco says that it has spent four years working on the blend with AJ Fernandez and that it is 80 percent done. No details were given about the blend, sizes or pricing, but the company said it is targeting a release at PCA 2027, which takes place March 6–8 in Las Vegas.
The name alone carries considerable weight for anyone with even a passing familiarity with premium cigar tobacco. Corojo is among the most storied leaf varieties in the history of cigars — a Cuban-origin tobacco that produces a distinctly spicy, complex, and aromatic character when grown under the right conditions. "Oro," the Spanish word for gold, signals the positioning this brand intends for the line: premium, refined, and worth waiting for. The combination suggests a blend that could push the envelope on what the Fakih brothers and Fernandez have accomplished together so far.
Four years of development is not an unusual timeline for the Artesano Del Tobacco model. El Pulpo began in 2016 and it took AJ Fernandez several years to perfect the blend before it debuted in 2023. To achieve El Pulpo's Top 10 status with Cigar Aficionado, the team worked with Fernandez for many years until they were able to secure a Mexican San Andrés wrapper that had been aged and fermented for far longer than what is considered the norm. The patience that approach requires is extraordinary in a marketplace where many brands rush new products out the door. The Oro Corojo announcement — made while the blend is still 20 percent unfinished — reflects a confidence that the underlying work is already far enough along to justify putting it on the public radar nearly two years before its intended debut.
The fact that the PCA 2027 convention in Las Vegas serves as the targeted launch window is also significant. The PCA (Premium Cigar Association) convention is the cigar industry's primary annual trade event, the place where brands make their biggest announcements and debut their most anticipated products to retailers and press simultaneously. Artesano Del Tobacco debuted the Viva La Vida Connecticut at PCA 2025, and the energy surrounding that release validated the convention-launch strategy. Oro Corojo appears positioned to be their PCA 2027 statement cigar — the product that defines the next chapter of the brand's story.
The AJ Fernandez Factor
It would be impossible to discuss Artesano Del Tobacco's pipeline without spending time on the man behind every blend. AJ Fernandez Cigars was founded by Abdel J. Fernandez, a third-generation tobacco grower born in Cuba. The brand traces its roots back to San Luís, Cuba, where Abdel's grandfather started the San Lotano brand, and Tabacalera Fernandez started in a decrepit facility in Estelí, Nicaragua with just six rollers. From those humble origins, Fernandez built one of the most respected manufacturing operations in the premium segment, known equally for the quality of cigars made under his own labels and the consistency he delivers to the brands he produces on behalf of others.
AJ Fernandez Cigars has earned numerous accolades over the years, including high ratings from prestigious cigar publications, with blends like New World and San Lotano consistently scoring 90-plus ratings. The partnership with Artesano Del Tobacco represents a particular kind of collaboration — one where the manufacturer is also deeply invested in the creative process. Fernandez is not simply rolling someone else's recipe; the partnership has proven pivotal in crafting the exceptional blends that define the Artesano Del Tobacco portfolio.
The Oro Corojo development timeline underscores just how committed that collaboration is. Spending four years on a single blend — while running multiple active lines, managing tobacco farms, and operating a production facility — reflects an unusually deep investment in a project that has not yet generated a single dollar of revenue. For Fernandez, whose reputation is on the line with every cigar that leaves his factory, that commitment is worth noting. The brand is rooted in tradition, but Fernandez's philosophy includes a dedication to innovation, and his hands-on approach and deep connection to the art of cigar-making influence the production of handmade cigars.
What the Releases Mean for the Broader Market
The boutique cigar segment has grown increasingly competitive over the past decade, with hundreds of brands competing for finite retail space in an industry still navigating post-pandemic demand shifts, new tariff pressures, and evolving consumer preferences. Artesano Del Tobacco recently implemented its first price increase in company history, applying only to its Viva La Vida Classic line, citing rising manufacturing costs and tariffs. That decision reflects the same kind of deliberate thinking that governs the product release strategy — protect the lines that carry the most heritage while creating pricing room for new introductions.
The three upcoming releases are diversified across flavor profile, body, and format in a way that reads like a deliberate portfolio map. The Viva La Vida Connecticut Lancero serves the enthusiast crowd — the people who understand what a perfectly made, narrow-ring-gauge cigar delivers and are willing to pay $17 for that experience. The El Pulpo Corona Gorda reaches for a slightly wider audience by bringing the El Pulpo wrapper and DNA into a more approachable strength range without abandoning what made the line famous. And the Oro Corojo, still shrouded in mystery, will serve as the brand's flagship statement when it arrives in Las Vegas in early 2027.
For retailers, the cadence is also well-designed. Having a confirmed summer release in the Connecticut Lancero, a fall release in the El Pulpo Corona Gorda, and a major convention launch 18 months out in Oro Corojo gives brick-and-mortar shops — which remain the brand's primary distribution channel — a predictable reorder rhythm. Viva La Vida cigars are not available online, as the brand is intended to be sold at brick-and-mortar locations exclusively. That commitment to the traditional retail channel is increasingly rare and increasingly appreciated by the independent tobacconists who form the backbone of the premium cigar business.
The Long Game
Artesano Del Tobacco's trajectory from a pair of Manhattan cigar shop owners to a nationally recognized boutique manufacturer with a top-ten Cigar Aficionado ranking is one of the more compelling origin stories in the modern cigar industry. Founded in 2012, Artesano Del Tobacco began its mission to redefine the cigar experience — and what separates it from the dozens of similar brands that emerge each year is the refusal to rush. Every blend has been worked until it was ready. Every new vitola has been added only after consumer feedback validated the demand. Even Oro Corojo, the company's most ambitious project to date, is being announced while openly acknowledging that 20 percent of the work remains ahead.
The patient approach is the right way, but the more difficult path. A company has to make sure it picks the right brand, invest in that brand, and be willing to go through some ups and downs for long-term success. The Fakih brothers have demonstrated that willingness at every turn — from the years spent developing El Pulpo to the consumer surveys that produced the Viva La Vida Connecticut. Three new releases on the horizon suggests they are not content to rest on what they have already built. The box on Oro Corojo is not yet closed, but when it is, the cigar world will be paying close attention.
