Altadis U.S.A. has been crafting some of your favorite premium cigars such as Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and H. Upmann since 1918. Located in South Florida, Altadis has a handful of factories located in the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Their team down at the factories, known as the Grupo de Maestros have a combined 300 years of tobacco experience between all eight members. Each “Maestro” lends its endless dedication and perfection to each and every cigar that is manufactured under the Altadis brand.

In recent success, the Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua landing the #1 spot on Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year in 2019. There is proof in the pudding that all cigars under AUSA mean business. So, for this week we are going over our Top 5 favorite cigars from Altadis USA. Don’t forget to get this limited Altadis cigars sampler right here today.

Cincuenta, meaning “50” in Spanish, was released in 2019, to honor the 50^th anniversary of Tabacalera de Garcia. Tabacalera de Garcia is AUSA’s iconic factory that continuously produces gem after gem. Out of all cigars that are under the AUSA brand, I’d say Montecristo is the most popular, and the Cincuenta pretty much cements their status as such.

This medium-bodied smoke in the Toro is cloaked in an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, with a binder from the Dominican Republic, and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Some flavor notes you’ll experience while smoking the Cincuenta are coffee, cedar, vanilla, and subtle hints of spice. If you’re looking to try out a cigar from Montecristo, or AUSA, the Cincuenta is definitely the way to go.

One of the oldest cigar brands to date, Henry Clay brings a defiant new line to the company with the War Hawk. The War Hawk was also released in 2019 at IPCPR and took the festival by storm. The Henry Clay kept with tradition by being manufactured and hand-rolled at one of the oldest cigar factories in Honduras at La Flor de Copan.

The original Henry Clay line always used a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, but the War Hawk in the Corona size uses an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, with a Broadleaf binder, and fillers from Honduras. This medium-bodied cigar has inviting flavor notes of nuts, earth, cocoa, and a peppery finish. The top-notch construction throughout the War Hawk is what makes this smoke so successful. It was recently rewarded a 93 rating by cigar aficionado, so investing in greatness such as the Henry Clay War Hawk is a must for every cigar lover.

Manufacturing cigars for 175 years, the H. Upmann brand has paid homage to themselves in a big way. The H. Upmann 175^th Anniversary is a collaboration between AUSA and tobacco extraordinaire, AJ Fernandez. Together, these two made one hell of a cigar that put H. Upmann in the forefront of the industry this time last year. One of many elements that makes the 175^th Anniversary a phenomenal cigar is that AJ Fernandez used rare Medio Tiempo leaves, and then aged that tobacco for three years.

For now, the 175^th is only available in the Churchill size, but this Nicaraguan puro is a medium to full-bodied smoke that is exceptionally smooth. The flavor notes that flow through this smoke is sweet cream, leather, white pepper, cashews, and vanilla. Here at JR, we ranked the H. Upmann 175^th Anniversary as our #1 Cigar of 2019 for a reason. Go grab yourself a box of the H. Upmann 175^th today on our website before these highly sought-after cigars are all gone!

The Romeo y Julieta brand came to be in 1875 when it started in Havana Club. Since the birth of the brand, it has been worshiped by millions for its consistency in smoothness and flavor. The Romeo by Romeo y Julieta has taken that status to a whole new level. This unique twist on the popular classic is one of Altadis’ top tier cigar that fans love and always come back to when they want their Romeo y Julieta fix.

The Romeo by Romeo y Julieta in the Robusto size has binder and filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic and is cloaked in an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. This full-bodied cigar provides rich, full-flavored notes of pepper, earth, coffee, and dark chocolate. Romeo y Julieta is an ever so popular brand throughout the industry, and Romeo by Romeo is a must-try for all cigar lovers out there.

With another release in 2019, AUSA came out swinging with the H. Upmann Hispaniola by Jose Mendez. This anticipated line extension comes from the minds and hands of AJ Fernandez and the Grupo de Maestros. With that much knowledge, experience, and love each of them bring to the table, you know the Hispaniola is a smoke you absolutely need to try.

The Belicoso size of the Hispaniola is drenched in an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, while having binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, specifically in the Andullo and Pilotico region. This full-bodied smoke is filled with rich, full notes of nuts, cocoa, cedar, and hints of spice throughout the smoke. If you’ve tried and enjoyed the 175^th, then the next H. Upmann on your list has to be the Hispaniola. We promise you that you will not be disappointed.