Jay-Z and Cohiba Partner to Release Comador
The biggest names in hip-hop and cigars have teamed up to release a special-edition smoke in a unique partnership. General Cigar Co. has announced Cohiba Comador, a collaboration with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter.
Jay-Z—our June 2009 Cigar Aficionado cover star—released a statement saying, "I worked with Cohiba because I knew they'd take my vision of a luxury cigar and bring it to life in the right way. We took our time working on this, to get the blend to exactly where I wanted it to be. Comador looks and tastes the way I think a cigar should."
The wrapper leaf is a Connecticut Havana leaf grown in the United States and, according to General Cigar, aged for four years and finished in Dominican barrels. General Cigar isn't releasing details on the binder and filler tobaccos, except to say that they're Caribbean and Central American in origin.
Comador comes in just one size: a 6 inch by 52 ring gauge toro. It is, however, available in several packaging options- a seven-cigar "toro box" for $210, a travel humidor with seven cigars retailing for $350, and the Comador Humidor, which comes with both a travel humidor with 7 cigars and an additional 14 cigars within the larger package (see photo).
The packages are available online at comadorcigar.com as well as in several New York retailers and multiple Barneys locations.
Cohiba cigars were first created in Cuba in the late 1960s after that country's revolution and the Cuban version has never been legally sold in America due to the U.S embargo on Cuba. General Cigar registered the trademark in the U.S. in 1981 and has been selling a Dominican-made version of Cohiba since the 1980s. The companies have actually been battling since 1997 over who rightfully owns the trademark in the U.S., with Cubatabaco—the Cuban manufacturer of Cohiba products—continuing to lose each claim in court.
