PCA | July 20, 2023 – West Tampa Tobacco Company’s Rick Rodriguez and Luciano Meirelles have one more surprise following this year’s Premium Cigar Association (PCA) trade show–a collaboration no one saw coming. The two cigar blenders have created a limited-edition car that will exclusively be available through My Old Kentucky Herf.

This collaboration came out of a meeting between the two men during a trip to Estelí, Nicaragua. Rodriguez was taken aback by the variety of hard-to-find tobaccos stocked by Meirelles at his factory and pitched the idea of creating something together that would be unique, rare, and very limited.

“Luciano’s tobacco collection, featuring tobaccos from Brazil, Connecticut, Ecuador, and Nicaraguan cold-fermented tobaccos from the finest years, was a like being in tobacco Disneyland for me,” Rodriguez shared.

Meirelles added, “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 deiced to craft a cigar where Ricky would curate the tobaccos, and I would blend the first prototype.”

It took two months of blending to create The Maker. The cigar is signed by both artists and features a Broadleaf Ecuadorian Hybrid wrapper, Brazilian Matafina (2018) and Nicaraguan “Chincagre” binders, and filler tobacco from Brazil (Arapiraca 2016), Pueblo Nuevo (2019), Jalapa (2019), and Mexican San Andrés (2016). The cigar measures 5 1/4 x 54 and has a flavor profile that is described as having “sweetness, aroma, and strength [that] are perfectly balanced.”

Dwight Adkins, co-owner of Fatash and My Old Kentucky Herf, commented: “Luciano Meirelles and Rick 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 they chose us to release this exceptional collaboration. I’m still speechless; it’s a dream come true.”

The Maker will be exclusively available at Fatash Cigar. The cigar will come packaged in 10-count boxes with only 200 boxes planned for release. During the My Old Kentucky Herf, a regional trade show open to retailers and consumers, 100 boxes of The Maker were made available and immediately sold out. On July 19, 2023, an additional 100 boxes were released.