Añejo
Cigar name: Añejo cigars
Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf maduro (aged 7 years)
Binder: ?? unknown (Dominican)
Filler: Anejo blend
Released: 2000
Notes: From left to right:
1. No.49 (7 5/8" x 49) ....................... MSRP = $8.75 x 25 per box = $218.75
2. No.48 (7" x 48) ............................. MSRP = $8.00 x 25 per box = $200.00
3. No.55 (6" x 55) ............................. MSRP = $9.00 x 25 per box = $225.00
4. No.77 aka "Shark" (5 5/8" x 54) .... MSRP = $8.50 x 20 per box = $170.00
5. No.46 (5 5/8" x 46) ....................... MSRP = $6.50 x 25 per box = $162.50
6. No.50 (5 ¼" x 50) ......................... MSRP = $7.25 x 25 per box = $181.25
MSRP does not include state sales tax, nor state tobacco tax, the latter of which can be quite significant.
The names of the various Añejo vitolas (eg "No.48") are derived from the ring gauge of the cigar in question (except for the "Shark"; see below).
Añejo (which means "aged, refined" in Spanish) cigars were originally released in June 2000 (in a very small batch), and then again in December 2000 due to Fuente being skittish about whether enough Opus X tobacco would be available after the hurricane hit their farm in 1998.
Añejos have a blend of Opus X, Don Carlos, and Hemingway filler, with Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrappers that are cured in cognac barrels after they've been aged.
Contrary to popular belief, all releases of the Añejos have their tobacco aged/cured in cognac barrels for only 6-8 months... the bulk of the aging time is done in tightly packed bales.
The Añejo Shark was actually made and named because of Marvin Shanken (Cigar Aficionado owner). Carlito named it for him because he loved it so much when he gave it to him on a visit to his office. Thus he called it the Shanken Shark.
The "No.77" designation for the Shark comes not from the ring gauge of this cigar, as it does for the other cigars in the Añejo line, but rather from a more amusing reason altogether. Carlito took his kids to Sea World in Orlando, FL, and there noticed that some of the sharks in the tank had two pectoral fins, which looked sort of like two 7's.