Sindicato Cigar Group

Sindicato is a retailers' brand, and it must be said at once how it differs from Black Swan: it is not a series ordered by one seller from rotating factories, it is a company — the Sindicato Cigar Group — founded in 2013 by a group of shop owners who wanted to own their brand, with a permanent catalogue and a president from the trade, Jim Colucci, former vice-president of Altadis USA. The name states the mode of ownership.

Everything is rolled at Casa Fernández, in Estelí — Aganorsa Leaf today, whose entry this atlas carries — on tobacco from the Fernández farms. The launch came with three blends: Hex, in Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, and two Ecuadorian Connecticuts, Affinity and Casa Bella, over Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The cigar that bears the group's name, Sindicato, came next, then Particulares, an old Cuban brand name taken up again.

A brand conceived by those who sell it and rolled by a named factory: this atlas keeps it, and says why.

Range Depth

• Hex

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Habano · Strength Full

  One of the three launch blends, 2013, over Nicaraguan fillers.

• Affinity

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Connecticut · Strength Medium

  The launch Connecticut, with Casa Bella.

• Sindicato

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium-Full

  The cigar in the group's name, which came after the first three.

• Particulares

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium

  An old Cuban brand name, taken up again.