Montecristo Epic Vintage 2012

Following the release of the  Montecristo 1935 Anniversary, Altadis U.S.A. continues to focus on its most iconic premium brand with the upcoming Montecristo Epic Vintage 12, a cigar that the company says contains tobacco from a 2012 harvest. It’s the newest addition to the vintage-specific Montecristo Epic series.

Rafael Nodal, head of product capability for Altadis USA, tells Cigar Aficionado that the Epic Vintage 12 consists of an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder, and a filler blend of Nicaraguan leaf as well as some Dominican tobacco grown in 2012—the cigar’s defining element.

“It is not a limited edition but it is a small production due to the availability of the tobaccos,” Nodal says.

“To create our Epic line, we select only the very best seeds and let them grow in our most exclusive soils until we have a crop worthy of the Epic name,” says Tabacalera de Garcia    product development manager, Pedro Ventura. Some of those “exclusive soils” he’s referring to include those of leaf growers Jose Mendez & Co. in the Dominican Republic and Plasencia Tobacco S.A. in Nicaragua.