Cigars commemorating the Longview 150 sesquicentennial are for sale.
Each cigar — available at the Gregg County Historical Museum or from the local company that produced them — comes with a special cigar band saluting Longview 150. They can be bought individually either wrapped in cellophane or encased in a glass tube.
Two varieties of cigars are offered — one for experienced cigar enthusiasts and another for more novice smokers, said Cole Tomberlain, local insurance agent and co-owner of Smoking Aces Mobile Cigar Lounge and Texas Toasted Cigars.
“Our thought process on this was — you’re going to have half your crowd who wants an easy, smooth cigar smoke, and your more experienced cigar smokers are going to want a little bit stronger cigar,” Tomberlain said.
Tomberlain and business co-owner Travis Pyeatt introduced an Ecuadorian sun-grown Connecticut wrapper with a Nicaraguan and Dominican long filler beneath what is referred to as the lighter cigar.
It comes with an unfinished foot — uncommon for most cigars — that looks fancy and sets it apart, Tomberlain said. With an unfinished foot, the filler tobacco protrudes shaggily from underneath the wrapper tobacco on the end that will be lit.
“If you light the unfinished (foot) ... you’re going to get a flavor bomb in your mouth,” he said. “The whole flavor is right there on the tip.”
The stronger cigar is a Cuban-seed Nicaraguan long filler inside a chocolate-hued Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, he said.
Individual cigars wrapped in cellophane are $30. Cigars encased in glass and wax-sealed are $40.
Also, custom glass humidors with the Longview 150 logo are available for $100.
The commemorative cigars come three months after Tomberlain and Pyeatt’s business successfully grew the first commercial cigar tobacco crop in Texas since World War II, Tomberlain said. The first crop was harvested in early November at their T3 Ranch in Harrison County.
“We will actually have a state-of-Texas-grown cigar tobacco now,” he said. “That will be something to look forward to in the next few years.”
The Gregg County Historical Museum also is selling ornaments that commemorate the Longview 150 sesquicentennial celebration, Executive Director Lindsay Loy said. The ornaments cost $20 and are the first in what will be an annual endeavor for the museum, she said.
Longview 150 cigars are available at the Gregg County Historical Museum, 214 N Fredonia St., in downtown Longview, or from the mobile lounge at (903) 806-3338 or thesmokingaces.com .