United Cigars is based here in New Hampshire, along with Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. There isn’t a lot of us here but its more than most states can say they have for cigar headquarters. They have quite an extensive portfolio for how long they have been around but they also know how to execute, they were our Company of the Year in 2022. They were situated next to the Selected Tobacco booth, which is another company whom they distribute. More on them separately later.
For United, we met up with Oliver Nivaud who showed us the new Gold Star and two firecracker releases, something United is famous for, coming later this year.
Gold Star
Last year, United debuted a limited edition Gold Star cigar. This year, a new version has been released and this will be a regular production. It has already been shipped to stores, but outside the two firecrackers this was the primary showcase for the trade show. These cigars are made at the Tabacalera William Ventura factory in the Dominican Republic and are aged one full year before release.
- Wrapper: Ecuador Habano 2000
- Binder: Indonesia Sumatra
- Filler: Dominican Republic & U.S.A.
- Size: Robusto (5 x 52), Toro (6 x 54), and Gordo (6 x 60)
- MSRP: $12 – $14
- Production: Regular Production
Micallef Black Firecracker
Since 2007, David Garofalo and Two Guys Smoke Shop have released a small cigar with a “wick” on it to represent a firecracker, usually in time for the Fourth of July. It has since become a staple in the United Cigars portfolio and now features multiple releases every year. Over the years brands like Tatuaje, La Flor Dominicana, and more have all made different iterations of it, usually based off of one of their own core blends. This year there are two, the first one is the Micallef Black Firecracker. It will be manufactured at the Micallef Cigars S.A. factory in Nicaragua.
- Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
- Binder: Ecuador
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Size: 3 1/2 x 50
- MSRP: $9 / Box: $180
- Production: Undisclosed
The Micallef Black Firecracker is currently scheduled for June of this year just in time of the Fourth of July.
El Baton Cameroon Firecracker
When I heard about this one, my friend and competitor William Cooper at Cigar-Coop.com suggested to me this might be a test run for a full Cameroon line in El Baton. Makes sense to me but I guess we wont know until we see how this goes. But J.C. Newman Cigar Co. was picked as the second collaborator in the Firecracker series for 2025. It will be manufactured at the PENSA factory in Nicaragua.
- Wrapper: Cameroon
- Binder: Nicaragua
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Size: 4 1/2 x 50
- MSRP: $9 / Box: $180
- Production: 500 Boxes
The El Baton Cameroon Firecracker is scheduled for release in August of 2025 later this year.
Check out tour interview with Oliver Nivaud of United Cigars at PCA 2025 below:
