Royal Agio Cigars USA has announced that their latest collaboration with La Flor Dominicana, Balmoral Serie Signaturas Paso Doble, is shipping. Last year Balmoral teamed up with E.P. Carrillo for the Balmoral Serie Signaturas DUETO, the first cigar of the Serie Signaturas. The company has said there will be more collaborations like this in the future, but did not say when or how many.
The Balmoral Serie Signaturas Paso Doble was announced this year in June, and shown off that their IPCPR 2019 booth. The blend for Paso Doble uses specially-grown tobaccos from Litto Gomez‘s personal farm in La Canela, Dominican Republic. It starts with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and comes in three vitoals: Robusto 5 3/4 x 50 (MSRP $11.25), Gran Toro 6 ¼ x 54 (MSRP $12.00) and Brindis (Figurado) 7 x 55 (MSRP $16.50). All come in 10 count boxes and sell from $11.25 – $16.50.
Boris Wintermans, 4th generation CEO for Royal Agio Cigars, stated, “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Litto’s work and the fact that, like me, he is obsessively passionate about pushing the boundaries of what can be discovered in premium cigar blending. For this special collaboration project, we placed all of our respective, coveted tobaccos on the table and went to work exploring a wide range of unique and exciting blending possibilities, never really knowing the final outcome. I am proud to say that, in the end, we turned a blank cigar canvas into a one-of-a-kind, inspiring discovery in cigar blending for cigar lovers everywhere to enjoy.”
Litto Gomez commented “Last year we partnered with Boris and his team at Agio to distribute our products in Germany and The Netherlands, and we were so impressed with their professionalism and dedication, that when Boris asked me to collaborate on a blend with him, I did not think twice. This is not something we normally do, in fact we never do it, but for Boris I made an exception because we share the same simple philosophy, to be the best and do things the right way. The process behind Paso Doble has been an absolute pleasure, from concept, to design, to blending, Boris and his team have been phenomenal throughout and the result is a very special cigar that smokes just as beautifully as it looks!”