J.C. Newman redesigns the El Baton

J.C. Newman first introduced El Baton cigars in 1914. The original El Baton was a 5-cent cigar rolled with Cuban tobacco in J.C. Newman’s Cleveland cigar factory. A century ago, El Baton was a very popular and famous cigar brand in the Midwest but its popularity waned before World War II.

In 2008, Eric and Bobby Newman relaunched El Baton as J.C. Newman’s first cigar hand rolled in Nicaragua. El Baton is a full-bodied cigar rolled with a blend of rich, Nicaraguan tobaccos. Cigar Aficionado awarded it a 93 rating and named El Baton one of its Top 25 cigars. Since then, El Baton has been J.C. Newman’s under-the-radar cigar. Unsatisfied, Drew Newman decided to tweak the El Baton blend and create new packaging in a more traditional style that better reflects the century-old history of this storied cigar brand. The new El Baton will ship to retailers in late summer.