For Erik Espinosa and Espinosa Cigars, the third time is a charm. At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas, the Murcielago is getting a relaunch. This time, the cigar features a further refined that the company collaborated on with AJ Fernandez as well as updated packaging.
The Murcielago (which is Spanish for “bat”) is a brand that was originally released in 2009 by EO Brands, the partnership between Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega. In 2012, Espinosa and Ortega dissolved the EO Brands and divided the company’s brands between the two. One of the brands that went to Espinosa was the Murcielago. When the brand was a part of EO Brands, it was made at the My Father Cigars factory. Following the split, the original Murcielago blend was not made available to Espinosa Cigars. As a result, the company had to embark on a reverse engineering process to recreate the blend. After three years, Espinosa Cigars re-released the Murcielago in 2015.
Murcielago has been a cigar close to Erik’s heart and he wanted to work further to restore the original essence of the blend. That is when Erik started working with AJ Fernandez to further develop the blend. Over the past few years, Erik and AJ had become good friends and earlier this year, Espinosa Cigars moved some of the production of its 601 line to AJ’s new San Lotano factory in Ocotel, Nicaragua. The newly refined Murcielago blend will be produced out of that factory.
The blend still features a Mexican San Andres wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. It will be released in two box-pressed sizes (Robusto and Toro) and one rounded size (Rabito). The cigars are packaged in 20-count boxes.
The reworked Murcielago will also feature updated packaging that will debut at the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show.
At a glance, here is a look at the reworked Murcielago:
Blend Profile
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (San Lotano)
Vitolas Available
Robusto (Box Press): 5 x 54 ($8.50 SRP)
Toro (Box Press): 6 x 52 ($8.70 SRP)
Rabito (Rounded): 6 1/2 x 46 ($8.60 SRP)
Photo Credit: Cigar Coop
