Lost & Found Antique Line 2006 Ecuadorian Habano Toro

Lost & Found was founded by Tony Bellatto, Robert Caldwell and Jaclyn Sears in 2013 after Caldwell came back from a trip to the Dominican Republic. Upon his return, he shared some special cigars from another manufacturer and the idea was born. Caldwell has always requested cigars from other manufacturers that are interesting, well-aged, and often forgotten limited editions not in production anymore. According to the Lost & Found website: “Bellatto also fell in love with these forgotten gems and asked Caldwell if he could get more to share, and Sears had a brilliant idea about how to market and package them. The concept of Lost & Found is simple: to buy old, special, very well aged cigars from other manufacturers that have been long lost and forgotten, and offer them to consumers at a fair price much less than the original MSRP.”

Over the last few years, Lost & Found has been gaining in popularity with cigar smokers due to the rare and unique blends that have been released, and the Antique Line is no exception. In fact, Caldwell has described the Antique Line as “the oldest, most special, best-tasting cigars… the caviar of what we do with Lost & Found.” This month it’s our pleasure to bring you one from vintage 2006, of which there are multiple varieties. Handcrafted years ago somewhere in the Dominican Republic, this particular smoke features a blend of Mexican and Brazilian filler tobaccos, a Sumatra binder, and a silky Ecuadorian habano wrapper. Medium in body, this rare Antique Line cigar will lend notes of leather, cream, cedar, and natural sweetness. These bad boys are incredibly limited; once they are gone, they are gone forever! These pair well with an aged bourbon on a warm fall afternoon. One panelist recommended trying Knob Creek 12 Bourbon.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.