Bellas Artes Cigars

Bellas Artes Cigars by AJ Fernandez

Two years ago, AJ Fernandez released a cigar that invokes the latter’s name, specifically, fine arts. The original Bellas Artes debuted at the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show; a four-vitola line that features a Nicaraguan hybrid wrapper that Fernandez called rojita, a cross between Connecticut 8212, corojo 99 and Havana 2000 seeds. Underneath that is a Nicaraguan Havana 92 binder and fillers from Brazil, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The line is said to be inspired by Abdel Fernández’s visits to Cuba’s national art museum in Havana, the Museo National de Bellas Artes de la Habana.

For the follow-up maduro version that was released at this year’s trade show, Fernandez selected a Brazilian mata fina wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder and fillers from his farms in Estelí, Nicaragua. As Charlie Minato noted in his coverage of the company’s booth, the combination of a Brazilian mata fina maduro leaf with a Mexican San Andrés leaf is not one seen much in the cigar industry, which sets the cigar up for a profile that many smokers probably weren’t immediately familiar with.