At the 2025 Premium Cigar Association Trade (PCA) Show in New Orleans, JC Newman Cigar Company formally launched the Angel Cuesta Shade. As the name indicates, this is a Shade Grown offering under the Angel Cuesta line.
Angel Cuesta is named for Angel LaMadrid Cuesta, one of the co-founders of the iconic Cuesta-Rey line. Cuesta arrived in the U.S. in 1884 and established a cigar factory. Eventually, Cuesta joined forces with Peregrino Rey, and the Cuesta-Rey partnership was formed. Cuesta was friends with Spain’s King Alfonso XIII, leading to Cuesta-Rey becoming the King’s official cigar. In 2023, J.C. Newman launched the Angel Cuesta line in a Rosado wrapper. That Angel Cuesta cigar became J.C. Newman’s second hand-rolled cigar out of its Tampa El Reloj factory.
The Angel Cuesta Shade becomes the second blend under the Angel Cuesta line. Like its Rosado counterpart, it is handmade at El Reloj. It features a Nicaraguan Shade wrapper over undisclosed binder and filler tobaccos from three continents. It comes in three sizes: Doble Robusto, Toro, and Salomones. Each cigar has a pig-tail cap and is packed in 20-count boxes.
This is a widespread launch for the Angel Cuesta Shade. This past fall, a Toro-sized Angel Cuesta Shade was included in the El Reloj Collection box set, a sampler for the Tobacconists Association of America (TAA).
At a glance, here is a look at the Angel Cuesta Shade:
Blend and Origin
- Wrapper: Nicaraguan Shade Grown
- Binder: Undisclosed
- Filler: Undisclosed
- Country of Origin: United States
- Factory: El Reloj
Vitolas Offered
- Doble Robusto: 5 1/2 x 56 (SRP $20.00/cigar)
- Toro: 5 1/2 x 56 (SRP $20.00/cigar)
- Salamones: 7 1/4 x 57 (SRP $23.00/cigar)
Photo Credit: Erron Nielsen for Cigar Coop
