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AJ Fernandez Cigars

Few names carry as much weight in Nicaraguan tobacco as AJ Fernandez. Abdel "AJ" Fernandez built his reputation blending for other companies before putting his own name on a band, and that background shows in the balance of his portfolio. This selection covers his core lines: San Lotano Requiem, New World, Enclave, Bellas Artes, Dias de Gloria, Last Call, and the 20th Anniversary.

Every listing here is a full box or a sampler, priced 35 to 40 percent below standard retail.

Who Is AJ Fernandez?

Abdel J. Fernandez was born in 1979 in San Luis, Pinar del Río, the tobacco heartland of Cuba. He is a third-generation cigar maker. His grandfather Andres ran a small brand called San Lutano before the industry was nationalized, and his father Ismael spent years in Cuban tobacco before leaving for Nicaragua in 1995 to work with Nestor Plasencia.

AJ followed roughly eight years later. He started in Estelí with a rundown facility and six rollers.

Rather than launch a brand immediately, he spent years making cigars for other companies. Rocky Patel, Gurkha, Padilla, and Cigars International all came to him. By the time A.J. Fernandez released San Lotano in 2010, the industry already knew the name.

There is a small piece of trivia baked into that brand. The family name was San Lutano, after the Lutanos of San Luis. A clerical error at the trademark office turned the "u" into an "o." He kept it.

Where AJ Fernandez Cigars Are Made

Two factories produce everything in this collection.

Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. sits in Estelí and handles most of the portfolio. The San Lotano factory in Ocotal, roughly 40 miles north, was purchased from the Oliva family and opened in 2016. It runs the New World Dorado and Decenio lines.

What separates AJ Fernandez cigars from most Nicaraguan output is vertical control. He grows his own leaf across Estelí, Condega, Jalapa, Quilalí, Pueblo Nuevo, and the volcanic island of Ometepe. Wrapper, binder, and filler frequently come from farms he owns outright.

In March 2025, a fire tore through the packaging department at the Estelí factory. All 1,500 workers and the 70 children in the on-site kindergarten evacuated safely. Millions of finished cigars were lost. Production resumed, and the Decenio still reached the market that June.

The Lines in This Collection

San Lotano Requiem

The line that put his name on the map, offered in three wrappers.

The San Lotano Requiem Habano uses a Brazilian Cuban-seed wrapper over Nicaraguan binder with Honduran and Nicaraguan filler. Cedar, hickory, caramel. Rated 91 by Cigar Aficionado.

The Requiem Maduro swaps in a Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Darker, with chocolate and black cherry running underneath.

The Requiem Connecticut is the mildest of the three. Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, Honduran binder, and a filler that includes Dominican leaf alongside the Nicaraguan. Cream, toasted nut, brown sugar. Also 91-rated.

Sizes run Robusto, Toro, Gran Toro, and Churchill depending on blend. The San Lotano Bull rounds out the family in Robusto, Toro, and Gordo.

New World

The first project AJ built with his father Ismael, released in 2014 and named for the 1492 encounter that introduced tobacco to Europe. It is the widest line in this collection with six expressions.

Oscuro: is the original blend, a box-pressed Nicaraguan puro with Jalapa binder and filler from Ometepe, Condega, and Estelí. Packed in boxes of 21.

Connecticut: arrived in 2015 with a US Connecticut Shade wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés binder, and Brazilian leaf blended into the Nicaraguan filler. Mild to medium, and one of the more interesting Connecticut constructions on the market.

Puro Especial: is a Nicaraguan puro under a Criollo '98 wrapper. Every leaf comes from Fernandez-owned farms, with wrapper, binder, and filler each drawn from a different property and aged three to five years. Rated 93.

Cameroon: marked the first time AJ used a Cameroon wrapper. Box-pressed, light to medium, with ratings of 90 to 92 across Cigar Aficionado, Cigar Snob, and Cigar Journal.

Dorado: comes almost entirely from a single property, the Dorado farm, which supplies the Habano sun-grown wrapper, the binder, and part of the filler. Boxes of 10.

Decenio: is the newest, released in 2025 to mark ten years of New World. It is the first in the line to wear a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, over Nicaraguan binder with Nicaraguan and Honduran filler. Softly box-pressed, medium-full.

Bellas Artes

AJ Fernandez Bellas Artes is his most technically ambitious blend. The wrapper is a proprietary hybrid called Rojita, developed by cross-pollinating Connecticut Shade, Corojo '99, and Habano 2000 seed and grown in Nicaragua. Underneath sits a Nicaraguan Quilalí binder with Brazilian, Honduran, and Nicaraguan filler.

The result reads closer to a vintage Cuban profile than most modern Nicaraguan work. Cinnamon, cedar, citrus, and light black pepper.

The Maduro version is not a wrapper swap. AJ rebuilt the blend entirely: Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper, Mexican San Andrés binder, and all-Nicaraguan filler from his Estelí farms. Both are available in Toro and Gordo.

Enclave

Three distinct cigars share this name.

The original pairs an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper with a Cameroon binder, the first time AJ used Cameroon leaf. Available in Toro and Churchill.

Enclave Broadleaf arrived in 2017 under a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, listed here in Churchill.

Enclave by Eladio Diaz is the outlier and worth understanding before ordering. It was blended and rolled by Eladio Díaz, the former director of quality at Davidoff, at his own factory Tabacalera Díaz Cabrera in the Dominican Republic. Ecuadorian Criollo '99 wrapper, Ecuadorian binder, 100 percent Dominican filler. There is no Nicaraguan tobacco in it at all, a first for the company. Offered in Robusto, Toro, and Gordo.

If Dominican profiles appeal to you, the wider Dominican cigars collection is worth a look.

Dias de Gloria

Named for the glory days of pre-Castro Cuban tobacco. AJ built it from leaf set aside and aged across his four oldest Nicaraguan farms.

The Brazil expression pairs a thick Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper with his Nicaraguan binder and filler, box-pressed rather than round. Pepper, cedar, and a savory sweetness underneath. Both versions are listed in Toro and Gordo.

Last Call

This one started as a private smoke. AJ handed them out to guests at his Casa Blanca compound during the fourth quarter of Monday and Thursday night football games. Demand made it a national release in 2016.

The Habano uses an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan leaf and earned a 93 rating. The Maduro wears a Pennsylvania Broadleaf-seed wrapper grown in Nicaragua, which keeps it a true Nicaraguan puro despite the seed origin. Molasses, black pepper, chicory coffee.

Sizes are short by design: Corticas, Geniales, and Flaquitas, in boxes of 25.

20th Anniversary

The 20th Anniversary Toro Maduro commemorates two decades since he opened that first Estelí facility. A Nicaraguan puro built from his oldest tobacco reserves, rolled by his most senior torcedores. Production was limited to 7,500 boxes worldwide.

Choosing Your First Box

If you are new to the portfolio, the AJ Fernandez 5-cigar sampler is the low-commitment entry point at $21.99.

For mild to medium, start with the Requiem Connecticut or New World Connecticut. For a middle path, Bellas Artes or Puro Especial. For full and dark, Dias de Gloria Brazil, Requiem Maduro, or the Bellas Artes Maduro.

Smokers still building a palate may find the best cigars for beginners collection a more comfortable place to start before moving into these blends. The full premium cigar range sits alongside this one, and the complete brand directory covers everything from ACID by Drew Estate to the rest of our handmade lineup.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What are the best AJ Fernandez cigars?

It depends on what you want from the smoke. Critically, Puro Especial and Last Call both sit at 93 points, with Bellas Artes, Enclave, and both San Lotano Requiem blends in the 91 to 92 range. Among longtime smokers, the best AJ Fernandez cigars conversation usually lands on Bellas Artes for complexity, New World Oscuro for value, and Dias de Gloria for depth.

Are AJ Fernandez cigars good for the price?

That is much of the appeal. Most of the portfolio was built around delivering the construction and flavor of a more expensive cigar at a moderate price, which is exactly the brief AJ and Ismael set themselves with New World in 2014.

Does AJ Fernandez make cigars for other brands?

Extensively. He produces for Altadis USA, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, and General Cigar, plus smaller houses like Foundation, Espinosa, and Southern Draw. Lines including Diesel, Man O' War, Ave Maria, and the Hoyo AJ Fernandez collaboration all come out of his factories. Searches for AJ Fernandez Hoyo point to Hoyo de Monterrey La Amistad, a General Cigar release he blends rather than owns, so it sits outside his own portfolio and outside this collection.

Is AJ Fernandez The Goat available here?

AJ Fernandez The Goat began as a single-vitola exclusive for Nasser's Lounge in Haiti before reaching US retailers. It is not part of this selection. The blends listed above represent his own core catalog.

How should these be stored?

Hold them at roughly 65 to 70 percent relative humidity and around 68 to 70°F. Boxes of this size benefit from a seasoned humidor or cooler setup, particularly the 25-count Last Call boxes and the box-pressed lines, where uneven humidity can affect the press over time.

Is AJ Fernandez related to Eduardo Fernandez of Aganorsa Leaf?

No. Both are prominent Cuban-descended figures in Nicaraguan tobacco with the same surname, but they run separate companies with no family connection.