WM BROWN
From Issue 18 of the Wm Brown Magazine (Fall 2024) by Aaron Sigmond
SMOKING SECTION doesn’t carry a headline. If it did, though, this one would say something along the lines of “J.C. Newman x Wm Brown Team Up for a First-of-Its-Kind Cigar Collaboration:’
Private banded cigars-often given as corporate gifts in the postwar years through the 1970s, though some were sold as white-label smokes-have been around for the better part of a century, though less so today. There were Cuban Romeo y Julieta Yale Club cigars, and other Havanas with bands bearing the logos of everything from the Union Pacific Railroad to Cadillac automobiles. These were standard-production hand-rolled stogies, but the bands were custom. That’s not the case with J.C. Newman’s Wm Brown cigar-about which more in a moment. True collectible limited-edition and collaboration cigars were later to the party than other luxury-good categories. The first limited-edition cigars created with collectability in mind were the Cubatabaco 25 Aniversario Humidor (1987) and the follow-up Cubatabaco 1492 Commemorative Humidor (1992); both would become “Holy Grail” cigars among collectors. By the turn of the millennium, limited editions (Cuban, Dominican and Nicaraguan) had decidedly arrived on the cigar scene. Still, true collaborations, in which both parties contribute, didn’t gain traction until the last decade.
J.C. Newman x Wm Brown began to take shape in these pages when yours truly penned a piece on the American heritage cigar companies (Wm Brown Issue 5). While writing that column, I formally introduced Wm Brown and Matt to Drew Newman, the fourth-generation scion of the oldest family-owned American premium cigarmaker, J.C. Newman, which will celebrate its 130th anniversary next year: The Midwestern concern-now known for its Diamond Crown, Brick House and The American cigars-was founded in 1895.
In 1954, old J.C. himself decided to move his family and business to Tampa and sent his son Stanford south to scout new digs. They settled on a thoroughly imposing edifice: The E. Regensburg & Sons Factory, colloquially known as El Reloj (Spanish for “The Clock”), in what’s now the National Historic Landmark District of Ybor City.
Built in 1910, El Reloj, which indeed has a clock tower incorporated into its facade, still serves as company headquarters, as well as a museum, a machine-made cigar manufacture and a hand-rolled factory where the Wm Brown cigars are made by a lone torcedor, or cigar roller. Yep, made in the USA. Its multi-origin blend comprises a flawless Ecuadorian Havana Rosado wrapper, a Nicaraguan Corojo binder and filler leaves from both the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.
I introduced Drew and Matt, but they knew of each other; at one time they lived in the same Brooklyn neighborhood. And Drew was a fan before he ever collaborated with Matt and Wm Brown. “Matt is a beacon of style, class and elegance,” he says. “He seems to be a man from another time, when people truly appreciated all the finer things.”
After the article ran, Matt and Drew got to know each other and slowly started to work together. Initially, J.C. Newman furnished the cigars at the now-legendary Wm Brown Pitti Immagine Uomo events. Drew, though, is the sort who is always brimming with new ideas-all of which relate to cigars in some way. “The first time I saw the Wm Brown bullseye logo, I said to myself, ‘Wow, that would be outstanding on a cigar [band]’,” Drew says. And now it is.
Like many, Matt started exploring the world of cigars in Manhattan during the earliest years of what is now remembered as the 1990s “cigar boom.” (Its origins can be traced to the early ’80s, however). “I’ve always had an emotional connection to cigars,” Matt says. “I like the flavor, the smell, the elegance and the romance they convey of a bygone golden Hollywood era.” The camaraderie they promote is another point in their favor.
Once Matt started traveling more frequently, he was drawn to the allure of Cuban cigars, especially the Havana-rolled Partagas. He eventually settled on the Partagas Serie D No. 6, which he dubbed the “Dog Walker” (3.5-inch x 50 rg, uncoincidentally the same vitola as the first Wm Brown x J.C. Newman model). Other Partagas sizes came into play as well.
When Drew approached Matt with the prospect of a pair-up, the latter didn’t hesitate. “J.C. Newman just made so much sense to me-the great American history, the quality-and working with Drew was seamless,” Matt says. “The simplicity and grace of this great collaboration was just effortless and captures all the qualities I look for in a cigar.”
j.c. newman x wm brown
3.5″ x 50
WRAPPER: Ecuador Havana Rosado
BINDER: Nicaraguan Corojo
FILLER: Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
FACTORY: J.C. Newman El Reloj, Tampa, FL
About J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
Founded in 1895 by Julius Caeser Newman, J.C. Newman Cigar Company is the oldest family-owned premium cigar maker in America. J.C. Newman handcrafts premium cigars at its historic El Reloj cigar factory in Tampa, Florida; at the J.C. Newman PENSA cigar factory in Estelí, Nicaragua; and with its longtime partners at Tabacalera A. Fuente in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The Fuente and Newman families founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which supports low-income families in the Dominican Republic with education, health care, vocational training, and clean water.
About the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation
The LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation seeks to perpetuate the legacy and philanthropic spirit of LeRoy Neiman, and to advance and share the impact of his life, his ideals and artwork in the U.S. and throughout the world. The Foundation supports organizations that promote the study, improvement and advancement of the arts and provide opportunities for at- risk youth to develop paths to successful futures.
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