Vintage is a term that is at times misunderstood and overused. However when Nelson Alfonso of Selected Tobacco releases blends with 5 years of post-roll age decorated by a uniquely designed humidor, the term is fitting. Byron using a unique distinction for their lines. Each line is named after a century, because Nelson tried to capture the true essence of what a great cigar was, or is, in that century. This year’s edition of Byron Humidors are limited to one size in each blend, with only 7,500 cigars rolled for each “century”; the Byron cigar line has a “century” interpretation for any cigar enthusiast.
The annual Habanos Festival is scheduled to begin February 26th, 2018 this year. Nelson Alfonso is the creator of Atabey, Byron and Bandolero cigars and also remains working for Habanos in a creative capacity for packaging design. Among the most anticipated items he is going to show off is the Montecristo ashtray design.
The Atabey Black Ritos, originally announced and sold as a "virtual cigar" in the form of an NFT in 2021, is making it's way to the real world in the latter half of 2023. After going through Selected Tobacco owner Nelson Alfonso’s five year aging process, the cigars are now ready to be enjoyed in United Cigar Lounges across the US. Atabey Black Ritos claimed to be the first NFT cigar in the world, limited to 25 single cigar and 10 boxes as unique digital images. The Atabey Black Ritos NFT sales proceeds were raised for Cigar Rights of the World. Now, the real life cigar will be featured at PCA 2023 in Las Vegas, NV with a scheduled ship time to retailers in December 2023.
This is such a handsome cigar, it was so well constructed. From the wrapper to the roll it was picture perfect. There were no soft spots, burn issues, and the draw was perfect. The ever changing profile kept me fully engaged. This is more of a medium flavor profile with a just slightly above mild strength. If I'm being very nitpicky I personally would have liked a slightly thicker smoke; but it was in no way thin or wispy. From a price stand point this is definitely more of a special occasion cigar but I would highly recommend one.
Next week, Selected Tobacco is launching a new blend in the Byron portfolio at the Byron Cigar Lounge in Schaumburg, IL. The Byron 1850 line was created to celebrate almost 175 years of the Byron family line. Selected Tobacco was created by Nelson Alfonso to offer cigars that are aged with a purpose. All the Selected Tobacco lines are placed into cedar lined rooms after they are rolled, the cigars are “cleaned” as they age with cedar notes. Humidity is raised and lowered to allow the cigars to breathe for 2 to 5 years, depending on the line.
"If the draw was better I would be signing it praises. With this sample I found the profile to be excellent but the draw and size are a problem. It is a weird feeling to be almost an hour and a half into a cigar and only reach the halfway point. The flavors were good and there were enough profile transitions to keep me engaged though. I would smoke this again but I would have to block out a substantial amount of time to do so." -Alan (Eulogy)
The 2024 release of Atabey Black Ritos brings a unique blend of aged tobaccos to a select group of retailers and NFT Box holders, encapsulating the essence of luxury and innovation in the cigar industry.
"Very good cigar. Since this was a flavor over strength type of cigar, this is another winner in my book. If I smoke a cigar that is sweet, creamy, woody and nutty, I will always like it. The only let down were the pockets of bitterness. I am going to bet on the bitterness subsiding after some additional humidor time. Fiver for me to smoke when the bitterness subsides." -Jiunn (jliu)
United Cigars has announced the 19th Century Byron Epique Poemas 30 Count Humidor. It is scheduled to begin shipping first week of November. It was first shown off at the 2022 PCA show in Las Vegas and contains 30 cigars inside and a carton of 50 cigars to refill. The cigars have been aged Four Years Post-Roll. The Epique Poemas cigars are part of the 19th Century blend by Nelson Alfonso of Selected Tobacco and feature a dark, oily Ecuadorian wrapper. We reviewed the cigar here and gave it a 90 in our blind testing.
"Overall this was an enjoyable cigar. It makes me wonder if the draw was on point, how much better it may have been, The chocolate notes in the prelight, that didn't appear until later in the cigar would have made this cigar a star from start to finish. I will be interested to see what it is and see if it comes in a smaller size, as I typically do not have the 2+ hours of time required to smoke this monster. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience" -Kevin A. (Kevin A.)