Altadis USA produces more premium cigars in the world then almost anybody. Their brands can be seen on the shelves of every cigar shop in America and their Montecristo line is universally recognized as one of the finest cigars in the industry. Recently, they have began to adapt some of their products for the booming boutique and small batch cigar areas of the business. After dominating the Dominican, Altadis is now throwing its hat in the Nicaraguan ring. As the birth place of many of the small batch cigar companies, Altadis felt this was the place to begin, all they needed was a Nicaraguan powerhouse to work with them. The man they found was AJ Fernandez, and the work this two legendary companies are doing will forever change how we view the boutique cigar.
The two teams started small, by making a private label Montecristo for Altadis USA's sister company Santa Clara. The Montecristo Crafted by AJ was a small batch, box pressed beauty. It is only available in boxes of 10, and began to sell much quicker then anticipated. The mixture of Altadis reliability with a powerful, intriguing flavor profile from AJ made this cigar a highly sought after product. .
The group followed this up with another exclusive release, the Romeo by AJ. This full bodied masterpiece was one of Romeos strongest releases in terms of flavor and popularity. Its Habana 2000 wrapper blended perfectly with AJs aged Nicaraguan filler and binder tobaccos. With the success of these two limited releases, Altadis and AJ set the stage for two more cigars that would be released to the general public.
A few years ago, Altadis first began to shift their blends to a stronger, more full bodied range. The Monte by Montecristo proved to be the most successful. Finally, aficionados had a bold Montecristo with the same high quality but an increased amount of rich flavor. Using that marque, AJ began to develop one of the finest full bodied cigars of this year. The Monte by Montecristo AJ is another box pressed smoke, made in AJs signature style. This Ecuadorian wrapped gem has bold spicy notes along with a subtle but noticeable chocolate tone as well..
The world was impressed by the collaborations thus far, but it was this next release that took everyone by surprise. It is no secret that the H. Upmann line has struggled. The Vintage Cameroon was always a fan favorite, but with all the new brands released in the past few years, it was relegated to secondary status for many smokers. The H. Upmann by AJ changed all of that. It was flawless, bold, flavorful, burned even and had an amazing open draw. For us here at Cigars.com, this was not only the finest H.Upmann every made, but may even be the finest AJ cigar yet, and that is saying something. .
Altadis has begun to work with many fine Nicaraguan manufacturers in recent years. Their collaborations with Plasencia are well known, particularly this years Romeo 505. They have also just released their Ciudad de Musica, which they made with The Crowned Heads. However, it is their work with AJ that has not only reinvigorated their image in the minds of cigar connoisseurs, but also placed AJ Fernandez as one of the most desirable manufacturers in the industry.