Room101''s Uncle Lee Shipping In May

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 04/29/2015

Uncle Lee, the Room101 cigar that Davidoff initially disapproved of, is now set to hit the national retail market in May.

When Matt Booth, owner of Room101 Cigars put the finishing touches on his Uncle Lee cigar line last year, he not only intended it as a tribute to his Uncle Lee (who introduced him to cigars) but had a December release date in mind. That didn't happen. Some internal disputes about the packaging halted the project.

Davidoff of Geneva (FL), which distributes the Room101 brand, had some apprehensions about the cartoonish nature of the outer box. So, Booth discarded the brand's outer packaging and quietly staggered Uncle Lee into the market, sending advanced shipments of the limited-edition cigar to a few retailers who especially supported the Room101 brand. Now, Uncle Lee is set to start shipping nationally in May.

According to Booth, all of the "cereal box" packaging has been destroyed. What retailers will get are wooden varnished boxes of 10 perfectos measuring 6 inches by 50 ring, a size that Booth has dubbed Ranfla and used before in other releases. Every box has the image of Booth's uncle on the top lid.

Uncle Lee's blend consists of an Ecuadoran Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and a filler combination of Dominican Piloto Cubano and Honduran Corojo. It will retail for $10. Enditem