Russia: New Smokes from Total Flame in Stores

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 12/02/2014

When Russian-based cigar company Total Flame presented four unique cigars at last summer's IPCPR trade show, the smokes were set for a November 1 release in the United States. Slight production complications with packaging delayed the shipping date a bit, but Total Flame told Cigar Insider that the four new cigars—OTR, Spokes, Wild One and Premium—are in stores now.

Total Flame's cigar model is simple: four separate blends for four separate sizes. Each blend comes in only one size and all are boxed in distinct packaging.

Total Flame's OTR (Off the Rails) consists of a Honduran wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan filler rolled into a 4 1/2 inch by 52 ring gauge robusto. Made in Nicaragua at the Nestor Plasencia factory, OTRs are packaged in comely resealable, four-count canisters designed for portability (specifically a leather motorcycle saddlebag). Pricing for OTR has yet to be determined.

In keeping with the motorcycle theme, Spokes is a 5 by 32 panetela made exclusively with Nicaraguan tobacco, including some leaf from the volcanic island of Ometepe. Packed in 10-count boxes, Spokes are also made by the Plasencias and retail for $4.25 per cigar.

Total Flame turned to a different country for its other two cigar brands: the Dominican Republic. Wild One is a 5 by 50 cigar made in the Dominican Republic by La Aurora S.A. Wild One's Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder and Nicaraguan filler is complemented by a component of andullo tobacco in the filler as well.

More common to pipe tobacco than for premium cigars, andullo tobacco is created by taking cured leaves of tobacco and compressing them into long, tightly-packed logs. The logs are wrapped in palm-tree pods and tied with rope before being hung for fermentation. By the end of the process, the dense cylinders of tobacco take on a hard, near-solid consistency.

Wild Ones are the most full-bodied cigars of the new line-up and come in high-gloss "lip-stick" style pull-cap tubos. They'll retail for $11 each.

Billed by Total Flame as its top-tier release for 2014, Premium is rolled in a double-tapered perfecto shape very similar to the Preferidos vitola also made by La Aurora. Premiums come in a glossy tube and measure 5 by 54. Like the Wild One, it features an Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper as well as a Dominican binder and filler tobacco from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. These perfectos retail for $16 per cigar.

With U.S. headquarters in Amarillo, Texas, Total Flame was started in Russia and is owned by Max Privezentesev. The company began by distributing its cigars throughout Russia and Europe but only started U.S. distribution last year. Enditem