Nomads Weekly: Fat Cigars, Italian Experiments and Oktoberfest

It has only been five days since our last look at the cigar world, which should theoretically mean there isn't much to report. Apparently nobody told the cigar companies. Since September 25, we've had new releases from Alec Bradley and Fermín Pérez, a new Toscano developed with thousands of actual smokers, another round of limited-edition Brick House Bricktoberfest cigars, and a few interesting leftovers from InterTabac finally getting their proper introductions.

Let's begin with Alec Bradley Chunk Sumatra, because subtlety clearly wasn't invited to this meeting. The Chunk series began as oversized frontmarks within other Alec Bradley lines before becoming a family of its own. Sumatra now joins Chunk Maduro and Chunk Shade as the third permanent member. It uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, American Broadleaf binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, with production taking place in Honduras.

The sizes are where things become entertaining. There's a 4 x 60 XL for $6.49, a 4 x 66 3XL for $8.49 and a 4 x 80 4XL for $9.49. Yes, 80 ring gauge. At some point we're going to have to stop calling these cigars and start measuring them at Home Depot. Still, the pricing is surprisingly reasonable, and Chunk Sumatra begins shipping to retailers in October.

A much more traditional proposition arrived today from Fermín Pérez Cigars. The company officially launched Puro Estelí, a 5 1/2 x 42 Corona made entirely from tobacco grown in Estelí, Nicaragua. Sun-grown Habano wrapper, Estelí binder, Estelí filler. No international tobacco scavenger hunt here. One region, one cigar, twenty to a box and an $8 suggested retail price. Production is handled by Tabacalera Familia Disla. In an industry increasingly fascinated with elaborate packaging and increasingly elaborate prices, an eight-dollar Corona made entirely from Estelí tobacco feels almost rebellious.

Italy brought us perhaps the most interesting story of the week. Manifatture Sigaro Toscano has introduced the Toscano T, and rather than handing the project entirely to a blending room and marketing department, the company spent two years developing it with more than 2,500 members of Club Amici del Toscano. Growers, blenders, cigar rollers, tobacconists and smokers all participated in the process.

The resulting cigar is a Robusto made entirely from North American Kentucky tobacco, including dark wrapper leaves subjected to extended fermentation and aging. Toscano describes a progression through pink pepper and red fruit into toast, oak, ripe fruit and leather. More interesting than the tasting notes is the idea itself. Cigar companies spend fortunes trying to determine what smokers want. Toscano apparently decided to commit the radical act of asking them.

Then there's Brick House Bricktoberfest 2026, which is available now in the United States and Germany. J.C. Newman makes the limited edition at its PENSA factory in Estelí as a 7 3/4 x 48 Churchill with a pigtail cap, Ecuadorian Havana Rosado wrapper and Nicaraguan tobaccos underneath. The blend was specifically designed to accompany a big, malty Oktoberfest lager. Buy a ten-count box from participating retailers and, while supplies last, you also get a hand-painted Bricktoberfest beer stein.

This is marketing I can understand.

Cigar. Beer. Stein.

Nobody needed a focus group.

A few more interesting cigars also emerged from the aftermath of InterTabac. Aladino showed its Gorbustos, while Tabacalera Díaz Cabrera introduced Mi Vieja, or "My Mom." There is also continued movement around Cavalier Genève's Limited Edition 2026, the latest installment in the Swiss-Honduran company's annual limited-edition series.

There was one accessory story worth mentioning too. Daniel Marshall has created a one-of-a-kind Oktoberfest humidor for Munich luxury retailer Lodenfrey. The piece is handmade and carries an oil painting by Colombian artist Juan Rosillo directly on the wood depicting Munich's Oktoberfest celebrations. Marshall's work has always occupied that strange territory where a box intended to keep cigars humid becomes legitimate furniture, collectible art and eventually something you're afraid to put a sweating glass anywhere near.

That's where things stand as September closes.

We've got an 80-ring-gauge Alec Bradley for the man who thinks a Toro feels like a cigarette, an honest eight-dollar Estelí puro, an Italian cigar designed with help from 2,500 smokers, and a Nicaraguan Churchill specifically built to accompany German beer.

The cigar business remains wonderfully incapable of being normal.

Sources

Cigar Journal: New Releases

Cigar Coop: Latest Cigar News