The creative design mind behind many of Arturo Fuentes products is back at PCA yet again and Manny Iriarte and Co brought perhaps their best line up with them. Manny used the same booth we have seen the last few years which is mostly yellow and blue. In the center of the booth is a main display with the new Opus X Society Opus X cigar, which I will get to later. The rest of the booth displaying some of Manny’s existing creations.

A booth while not big now, I expect to see grow much larger in the years to come and perhaps be attached to the Arturo Fuente booth later on. As always, we were greeted by Belkys Sanchez, Mike Taus and Manny himself to show us what offerings they were showing this year.

The first of two new products was the new Humi-Winder watch winder and humidor combination that Manny partnered with WOLF 1834, a British-Swedish company who specializes in making luxury watch winders, to create. The top part of the unit is the humidor which holds approximately 50 cigars. The bottom half however houses three watch winders made by WOLF. In addition, there are sliding drawers made for storing other accessories.

There will be two different versions of the Humi-Winder made, both physically the same albeit one blue and yellow and the other black and red. WOLF 1834 claims they are the only company to manufacture precise numbers of rotations, making these incredibly reliable and accurate to keep any automatic watch but especially a high-end Swiss made time piece ticking without missing a beat. Total production is limited to a total of 50 units, 25 of each of the two-color schemes. The MSRP is set at $16,000 each.

The other new item we saw at the MIE booth was perhaps the one most people heard about. Manny and Carlito unveiled the Fuente Fuente OpusX La Edicion de la Sociedad and while we have seen it there are not many details regarding its background. What we DO know is that it is an entirely new blend, it will only be offered to MIE’s top accounts and that it will ship in around Q1/Q2 2024. The bands and box both feature the signature blue and yellow theme that mostly centers around the brand as a whole. The bands also feature a base color beneath the blue and yellow with what I would call a sharp slate grey which really allows the colors to explode and show themselves off. They also feature a large royal blue and silver secondary body band and a light blue foot ribbon.

We only saw one size of the Fuente Fuente OpusX La Edicion de la Sociedad but were not able to find out if there are or will be others in the future. I am going to assume this will start in one vitola and possibly expand in the years that follow.

In addition, (not pictured) we saw updated colors and designs on the OpusX Society J-30 lighters that will now include Don Carlos, Freedom, Rose and Sugar. In is a single flame with lid ignition. These have an MSRP of $330 and the new designs will be available in September.

We also saw (not pictured) the introduction of the C-30 double guillotine cutter. It is available in five different finishes and can cut up to 60 ring gauge. It carries a very heavy price tag for a cutter at $310. This is a price even other luxury brand accessories companies havent hit on a cutter including ST Dupont, Elie Bleu, Prometheus and Davidoff. Time will tell whether the customer base for Manny Iriarte will line up to spend over $300 for a cutter but if Manny’s reputation for quality means anything, I think they just might. This cutter is also expected in September.

Matthew Tabacco – President

Born and raised in New England, Matthew Tabacco began smoking cigars and living up to his unique namesake in 2017. What began as just a social indulgence became a world of everything premium cigars- learning from some of the biggest and best in the business. From casual smoking to lighting up on the hit podcast The Smokin Tabacco Show, Matthew can usually be found in some of the largest smoke shops in the Northeast enjoying a cigar, talking business, or preparing for a show.