Rick Rodriguez of CAO fame and most recently West Tampa Tobacco Company and Luciano Meirelles of Luciano cigars are collaborating on a new project, The Maker. The new cigar will be released at the “My Old Kentucky Herf” event, The limited-edition cigar is available nationwide and distributed by “My Old Kentucky Herf” (Fatash Cigar cigars and lounge).
Luciano Meirelles and Ricky Rodriguez have been strong supporters of our endeavors from day one, and their presence has always been cherished by our community. We are truly honored that they chose us to release this exceptional collaboration. I’m still speechless; it’s a dream come true.
Dwight Adkins, co-owner of Fatash and My Old Kentucky Herf
The collaboration between Rick Rodriguez, co-founder of West Tampa Tobacco, and Luciano Meirelles of Luciano Cigars came to fruition during a spontaneous visit to Esteli, Nicaragua. Rick Rodriguez was impressed by the exceptional variety of rare and hard-to-find tobaccos stocked by Luciano, and suggested that they create something together that would be unique, rare, and limited.
Luciano‘s tobacco collection, featuring tabacos from Brazil, Connecticut, Ecuador, and Nicaraguan cold-fermented tobaccos from the finest years, was like being in tobacco Disneyland for me.
Ricky Rodriguez, Co-Founder of West Tampa
The deep friendship between the two was strengthened by their shared connection with Dwight and Shannon Adkins, owners of FatAsh Cigars. The annual “My Old Kentucky Herf” event, initiated by Dwight and Shannon, provided a platform for Ricky and Luciano to bond over their passion for cigars. This event became a resounding success, celebrated for its lively music, vibrant ambiance, premium bourbons, and unforgettable festivities.
In our last encounter, we had already discussed the idea of creating something special for ‘My Old Kentucky Herf’ as a tribute to Dwight, Shannon, and the entire Fatash family. However, with Ricky’s visit to our pre-industry earlier this year, the idea was reignited. We decided to craft a cigar where Ricky would curate the tobaccos, and I would blend the first prototype.
Luciano Meirelles, co-owner of Luciano Cigars
After two months of work “The Maker” was born. The blend uses a Broadleaf Ecuadorian Hybrid wrapper, Brazilian Mata fina (2018) and Nicaraguan “Chincagre” binders, and fillers from Brazil (Arapiraca 2016), Pueblo Nuevo (2019), Jalapa (2019), and Mexican San Andrés (2016). The cigar come in just one vitola, a 5 1/4 x 54 robusto.
“The Maker” is exclusively available at Fatash Cigar who is shipping nationwide, with only 200 boxes of 10 cigars released. During the “My Old Kentucky Herf” event, 100 boxes were made available and immediately sold out, An additional 100 boxes are being released nationwide, for a total of 2,000 cigars.
*My Old Kentucky Herf is a regional trade show that welcomes all retailers on day 1 and opens its doors to consumers on day 2. Since its inception in 2020, the My Old Kentucky Herf Trade show and consumer event have successfully hosted more then 2000 people with gatherings with over 500 attendees per event.