Cigar Aficionado #12 Cigar of the Year 2017 Rated 93

New World Puro Especial Cigars by AJ Fernandez

Coming soon - AJ Fernandez has crafted a new cigar that might be his most profound expression of Nicaragua's Estelí region to date. Called New World Puro Especial, it's a Nicaraguan puro blended with tobaccos cultivated exclusively from different Fernandez-owned farms across Estelí. It's an extension of the New World line and is being rolled at Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua.

The all-Nicaraguan blend was developed by Fernandez and his father, Ismael, over the course of several years. For the wrapper, Fernandez chose Criollo '98 tobacco grown on the company's San José farm. Tobaccos from La Soledad were blended to crop up flavor, while tobacco cultivated on the La Providencia farm contributed to the cigar's desired aroma. The blend also incorporates tobacco from Fernandez's San Diego farm, which the father-and-son duo favor for the mineral quality of its soil. Each of these tobaccos have been aged three to five years.