There are cigars that come and go without much fanfare, and then there are cigars that carry a story heavy enough to make you stop and think before you even light one up. The Ashlar from Hiram & Solomon falls firmly into the second category. Its return to production is not just a business announcement — it is the conclusion of a chapter that began with celebration, was interrupted by grief, and ends with a commitment to doing things the right way.
A Cigar Built to Mark a Milestone
Hiram & Solomon Cigars created the Ashlar as a commemorative release tied directly to the company's 10th anniversary. These kinds of milestone cigars can sometimes feel like marketing exercises — a new band slapped on an existing blend, a limited run meant to generate buzz before fading into the background. The Ashlar was not that. It was built from the ground up as something meant to stand apart, and the care that went into it showed in how it was made.
The cigar made its debut at the PCA Trade Show in 2025, which is one of the most important stages in the premium cigar world. Getting a cigar in front of buyers, retailers, and enthusiasts at the PCA is a big deal, and the Ashlar's introduction there signaled that Hiram & Solomon was treating this anniversary release with the seriousness it deserved. The reception it received put the cigar on the radar of serious smokers across the country.
Then everything stopped.
When Tragedy Forced a Decision
Shortly after the Ashlar was introduced at the PCA Trade Show, production came to an unexpected halt. The master torcedor who had been solely responsible for rolling the Ashlar had passed away. This was not a supply chain issue or a business decision. It was a human loss, and Hiram & Solomon treated it accordingly.
The situation the company found itself in was one that tests character. They had a product that had just been introduced to the market, a product tied to a milestone anniversary, and a product that people were already asking about. The easy path would have been to find another roller quickly, put them to work, and keep the orders flowing. That is not what Hiram & Solomon chose to do.
Instead, the company made the deliberate decision to pause production entirely. The reasoning was straightforward and speaks to how they approach their craft — they were not willing to compromise the integrity of the cigar. The Ashlar had been built a specific way, by specific hands, with a specific level of skill. To simply hand that responsibility off without proper preparation would have meant putting a different cigar in the same box with the same band. That was not acceptable to them.
The Work of Rebuilding
In the months that followed the pause, Hiram & Solomon did not sit still. They went through the careful and time-consuming process of identifying and training a new torcedor. This kind of training is not something that happens over a weekend. Cigar construction at the level required for a release like the Ashlar demands a deep understanding of the wrapper, the filler, the binder, and how all of those components interact under different conditions.
The new torcedor was brought up under close supervision, trained specifically to master the wrapper on the Ashlar and to replicate the construction that had defined the cigar from the beginning. The goal was not to produce something close to the original — it was to produce something that matched it in every meaningful way. That standard of replication is harder to hit than most people outside the industry realize.
Rolling a premium cigar consistently, especially one with a distinctive wrapper and a particular construction profile, is a skilled trade that takes years to develop. Asking someone to step into that role and meet the standard set by a master takes patience from both the trainer and the trainee. Hiram & Solomon committed to that patience rather than rushing the process.
What the Ashlar Represents
The name Ashlar itself carries meaning worth understanding. In masonry, an ashlar is a finely cut and worked stone used in construction — smooth, precise, and dependable. The term also holds significance in Masonic tradition, where the ashlar represents the process of self-improvement and the pursuit of perfection in one's craft. For a company named Hiram & Solomon, which draws its identity from the traditions of Freemasonry, the choice of name for this cigar was not accidental.
That symbolism lines up directly with how the company handled the production halt. Rather than rushing to fill orders with an inferior product, they chose to take the longer road — the one that required more time, more effort, and more patience — because the integrity of the cigar demanded it. The decision to pause was itself an act consistent with what the Ashlar name is supposed to represent.
Why This Matters to Cigar Smokers
For the man who takes his cigars seriously, the story behind the Ashlar matters for practical reasons. When a company demonstrates that it will halt production rather than put out a product it is not confident in, that tells you something real about how they operate. It is not a guarantee that every stick will be perfect — cigars are handmade, and variation is part of the nature of the thing — but it does suggest that quality is not something they treat as optional.
The premium cigar market is full of companies that talk about their commitment to quality while making decisions that suggest otherwise. Releasing an inferior product to meet demand is common. Cutting corners when the pressure is on is common. Stopping production entirely because the person who understood the cigar best was no longer there is not common. That decision cost Hiram & Solomon time and revenue. They made it anyway.
For someone looking to invest in a box of cigars — not just buy a few sticks but actually commit to a line — that kind of decision-making history is worth knowing about.
The Return
With the new torcedor trained and production back on track, the Ashlar has officially been announced as returning to availability. Hiram & Solomon has framed this as a proud moment, and the pride seems earned. They navigated a genuinely difficult situation — one that combined personal grief with business pressure — and came out the other side with the product intact and their standards upheld.
The Ashlar is still a commemorative cigar tied to the company's 10th anniversary, but it now carries an additional layer of meaning. It is a cigar that survived a real test. The production halt, the loss of the master roller, the months of training and supervision — all of that is now part of what this cigar is. When someone lights one up, they are smoking something that almost did not make it back to them, and that only exists in its current form because a company decided that doing things right mattered more than doing things fast.
That is a story worth knowing. It is also, by most accounts, a cigar worth smoking.
