West Tampa Tobacco Co. Circle of Life Gigante

The creation of the line is a bit of a reunion for West Tampa co-founder Rick Rodriguez. West Tampa’s core brands (the Red, White and Black lines), are produced in Nicaragua, but for Circle of Life Rodriguez turned to his former mentor Ernesto Perez-Carrillo and his Casa Carrillo factory in the Dominican Republic. The two previously worked together during their time at General Cigar Co.

When the cigars were previewed at last year’s PCA trade show, tobacco details were undisclosed, but that has since changed. West Tampa recently released info on the blend that it consists of an Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper, Ecuadorian Sumatra binder. And the fillers are from three regions in Nicaragua: Jalapa, Condega and Estelí. There’s some Dominican Corojo ’99 in the filler as well.