Atabey Black Ritos is coming to market in the latter half of 2023. After going through Selected Tobacco owner Nelson Alfonso’s five-year aging process, the cigars are now ready to be enjoyed in United Cigar Lounges across the US. Launched as an NFT in 2021, Atabey Black Ritos was the first NFT cigar in the world, limited to 25 single cigars and ten boxes as unique digital images. The Atabey Black Ritos NFT sales proceeds were raised for Cigar Rights of the World, and now the cigar will be featured at PCA 2023.
As the Goddess of the Taino Indians, Atabey is rich in history. It was the Taino Indians who first smoked a primitive form of what is known today as a cigar while praying to their Goddess Atabey. This spiritual ceremony was known as the Cohiba, and the tribe communicated to Atabey through their spiritual guide, the Behike. Today, the Atabey line is aged in multi-cedar lined humidors, where humidity is reduced and raised to help the cigars breathe in the different cedar notes and cleanse themselves in Nelson’s version of a spiritual ceremony.
“Sometimes the tobacco I select has already chosen its journey,” said Nelson Alfonso of Selected Tobacco. “This Ecuador Maduro wrapper went on to the Atabey Black Ritos more than five years ago, now my journey ends, and someone’s experience will begin.”
Atabey Black Ritos will only be available in a single 55 x 155 mm (6 1/8″) size and will be limited to 200 25-ct boxes upon release. The blend consists of an Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper over an undisclosed binder and other undisclosed tobaccos, alongside Peruvian Ligero, in the filler. They are rolled in the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory in Costa Rica.
Atabey Black will be showcased this year at PCA 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a scheduled release in December 2023. The Limited production of the Atabey Black Ritos will dictate its availability and only be sold to the NFT holders and Official United Cigar branded lounges for the first release.