262 Cigars

The name is a date: February 1962, the month the American embargo on Cuba was signed. Clint Aaron had been working on blends since 2008 and had first called his house Revolution Cigars; a trademark conflict forced a change, and he chose the number over the word.

The first cigar, Paradigm, came out in 2010. Ideology followed.

262 has never had a factory. Its cigars have come out of two Estelí workshops: Tabacalera Carreras, Craig Cunningham's, and TacaNicsa, Eradio Pichardo's. Choosing the workshop to suit the blend has become common among American brands without a factory; the atlas notes it every time, because it explains how one name can change hands from line to line.

Clint Aaron sold the house in June 2019 to Madison Money, who bought it with his father. The father has since stepped back, and Gabriel Seamen has become a partner.

Range Depth

• Paradigm

  Wrapper Nicaraguan blend · Strength Medium-Full

  The house's first cigar, out in 2010, five years before most of today's boutique brands existed.

  Robusto · Toro · Corona

• Ideology

  Wrapper Nicaraguan blend · Strength Full

  The fuller side, following Paradigm. The name continues the series of abstract words the house chose against the trade's custom.

  Robusto · Toro

• Revere

  Wrapper Nicaraguan blend · Strength Medium-Full

  Named after Paul Revere. The house is American in name and imagery, Nicaraguan in manufacture — and does not hide the gap.

  Lonsdale · Toro · Box-pressed Toro

• Allegiance

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Habano · Strength Medium-Full

  2014 — allegiance, Ecuadorian Habano wrapper.