Blackbird Cigar Co.

Blackbird is a Dominican factory that chose to name everything after birds, and it is less a flourish than a system: each blend carries a species name — Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Finch, Cuco, Unkind, Nest, Superb, Cactus Wren — and the name states the character before the band does.

Jonas Santana founded it in 2016 with his brother. He comes from Tabacalera El Artista, a Tamboril factory where he learned the trade and what has obsessed him since, quality control. The factory is called Blackbird Dominicana; the company is in Hialeah, Florida, from where it handles its own distribution — a model this atlas often sees the other way round, the brand in Miami and the making entrusted elsewhere.

What links it to the rest of this atlas is the leaf. Santana does not buy on the market: all his tobacco comes from Jochy Blanco, a fourth-generation grower and head of Tabacalera Palma, whose entry this atlas carries. One factory that rolls, another that grows — the same division as the Reyes of Santiago, between two families instead of one.

Range Depth

• Crow

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Full

  The crow — the darkest line, with the shortest name.

• Finch

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium

  The finch — the lightest register in the aviary.

• Cuco

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium-Full

  The cuckoo, in Spanish. A Criollo.