Celebrating the year of the dragon with cigars

The Chinese New Year starts on a different date from those of us who follow the Gregorian calendar, between January 21 and February 20. Each Chinese year, and therefore the Chinese zodiac, is associated with a particular creature, of which there is specific symbolism.

The twelve animals are the dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger and rabbit, paired with one of the five elements: earth, metal, water, wood and fire. 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon.

Every year different cigar manufacturers release commemorative cigars to celebrate that specific year. Last year — the Year of the Rabbit — saw brands like EP Carrillo, Davidoff, Cohiba, Liga Privada (Drew Estate), Plasencia, Macanudo, VegaFina and Maya Selva all celebrate with releases. 2024 is no different. Whether you are born in a dragon year, that is 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, or not, collecting a couple of these is not a bad thing.

Plasencia 2024 Year of the Dragon Limited Edition

This 6 ¼ x 54 torpedo cigar has Nicaraguan wrapper, binder and filler all harvested from Plasencia’s farms and rolled in Esteli. Each box comes with 10 cigars and Plasencia has produced only 3,000 boxes. The band retains Plasencia’s distinct branding with Year of the Dragon embossed beneath the logo. Red and gold is the order of the day and the box is beautiful with gold dragons delicately decorating it.

Davidoff Year of the Dragon Limited Edition 2024

The year 2024 marks the 12th celebration of the Chinese zodiac and the brand has covered all the zodiacs since they started in 2013. In terms of the cigars, Davidoff released two, namely a 7 ½ x 50 Double Corona and a 6 x 56 Gran Toro. The Double Corona comes in a box of 10, while the Gran Toro comes in either a box of 24 or 88 cigars in the Dragon Masterpiece Humidor.

Only 600 boxes of the Gran Toro have been produced while there are only 25 numbered Dragon Masterpiece humidors. Each box is beautifully made, featuring dragon scales patterning and a pearl at the centre of the Year of the Dragon icon. The Masterpiece humidor features an artwork from Chinese artist Zhang Zhaoying interpreted by French mosaicist Sika Viagbo.

The cigars are a blend of eight different tobaccos said to have “been aged for a combined 60 years”. The wrapper is Ecuadorean, the binder from Dominican Republic and the filler is a blend of tobacco from Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Davidoff also produced 588 numbered gold-coated cigar cutters engraved with the dragon scaled pattern and the same number of porcelain ashtrays as part of the Year of the Dragon celebration.

Rocky Patel ‘Year of the Dragon’

Rocky Patel’s celebration cigar is a 6 ½ x 52 toro that has a Mexican San Andres wrapper, two binders (Honduran and Nicaraguan) and a blended Nicaraguan filler with tobacco from Rocky Patel’s farms, said to have been aged since 2014.

Gurkha Cigars Year of the Dragon releases

Gurkha collaborated with five different cigar manufacturers to release commemorative Year of the Dragon cigars shipped at the end of 2023. Produced in collaboration with the El Arista Cigar Factory, it is a Dominican Republic made 6 ¾ x 52 Figurado cigar that comes in a box of 15 cigars of which only 1,000 individually numbered boxes were produced.

The second is the made by AJ Fernandez with an Ecuadorean Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. The 6 5/8 x 52 perfecto comes in a box of 10 cigars.

Next is the Gurkha Year of the Dragon made by EP Carrillo, a 6 5/8 x 54 Toro also in a box of 10, with a Mexican San Andres wrapper, Ecuadorean Connecticut binder and a blended Dominican Republic and Nicaraguan filler.

The fourth cigar in the Year of the Dragon series by Oliva which was made at Oliva’s Nicaraguan factory with a Mexican San Andres wrapper, Cameroonian binger and Nicaraguan filler. It is a 6 ½ x 60 Figurado Gordo cigar.

The final release, which is to happen later in the year, will be by a 6 x 60 Toro cigar in collaboration with Oscar Valladares.

There are only 2,000 boxes of the four releases being produced with colour used to set each apart, green for AJ Fernandez, black for EP Carillo, orange for Oliva and yellow for Oscar.

Other brands with limited edition releases of Year of the Dragon cigars include Cohiba, VegaFina, Montecristo and Punch. Each is beautifully packaged and made and would make a great addition to any collection.