Photo taken at Outland Cigars

Ortega
Premium Cigars has recently shipped their eighth installment of the Ortega Wild Bunch 2013 series.  This cigar introduces the first lancero and first Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper into the line.  The cigar is called “Fast Eddie”

The
concept behind the Ortega Wild Bunch is to dedicate a cigar to various
cigar enthusiasts whom company president Eddie Ortega has personally met
during his time in the cigar industry.  During 2013, each month a
different cigar – in a different size and blend will be released as a
tribute to these various people. 
 Since January, the company has released a monthly installment.  The
release of Fast Eddie came a little late in the month as it was shipped just before the month of August came to a close.

With the Fast Eddie, the dedication is a little different.  This character is based on Ortega Premium Cigars owner Eddie Ortega himself.  The image on the box portrays Ortega playing pool.  As recent as the 2013 Chattanooga Tweet-Up and Cigar Festival, Ortega could be seen playing pool at the host location Burns Tobacconist’s pool hall.

The
vitola of the Fast Eddie is “Eight Ball”.  This marks the line’s first lancero.  Ortega is known to be a fan of the lancero vitola.  This vitola is a little shorter than a traditional lancero – measuring 6 1/2 x 38.  This is the size he used on the Ortega Serie “D” Maduro Lancero.

The
inner box cover has been used on this series to describe the character
for whom the cigar is dedicated to.  The character of Fast Eddie is described as follows:

They
should call him “Smiling Eddie” instead of fast.  Eddie seems to be having fun no matter what he’s doing, the way he figures, life is short might might as well enjoy.  Don’t let the smile fool you, although always with a smile on his face, he is a workaholic with a passion for the business at hand and puts great enthusiasm when it comes to creating each and every product for his loyal customer base.  Like Eddie says “life is good, enjoy”.

At a glance, let’s take a look at the Ortega Wild Bunch Fast Eddie Eight-Ball:

Blend Profile

As mentioned above, this is the first of the series to use an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Not disclosed
Filler: Not disclosed

Vitolas Available

As mentioned the Fast Eddie “Eight Ball” is a 6 1/2 x 38 lancero.  The cigars are packaged 20 per box.

At press time, the following are the names confirmed for the Ortega Wild Bunch series. 

January: Big Bad John “Jackhammer”
February: Iron Mike “I Beam”
March: Island Jim “WaHoo”
April: Tony The Boss “Enforcer”
May: Dandy McCoy “Empire State”
June: Honest Abe “Ringmaster”
July: Wild Bill “Cheroot”
August: Fast Eddie “Eight Ball”
September: Gearhead Gary “Crankshaft”
October: Warrior Joe
November: The Byrdman
December: Crazy Jack