Company News
J.C. Newman's The American Wins Best Brand at 2026 Cigar Trophy Awards
J.C. Newman Cigar Co., the family-owned Tampa manufacturer whose value-priced Factory Throwouts bundles sit on A2Z Tobacco's cigar shelf, has picked up one of the industry's best-known consumer awards. On September 15, 2026, Cigar Journal announced the winners of its 2026 Cigar Trophy awards, and The American, the company's cigar made entirely from U.S.-grown tobacco and U.S.-made components, took Best Brand in the "Other Countries" category.
This specific category is the slot reserved for cigars produced outside the traditional powerhouses of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
What the Cigar Trophy Represents
The Cigar Trophy is run by Cigar Journal, the Austrian-based magazine that is one of the largest cigar publications in Europe. Unlike a blind tasting panel, it is a public award: readers nominate candidates in categories such as Best Brand, Best Cigar, Best Value, Best Boutique Brand, Best Accessory, and Best Lounge. The top five in each category make a shortlist, and readers vote for the winner.
The 2026 results were unveiled on Tuesday, September 15, the week of the InterTabac trade fair in Dortmund, Germany, and streamed on the magazine's social channels.
The rest of the 2026 Best Brand field gives a sense of the company The American is keeping:
- Cuba: Partagás Serie D
- Dominican Republic: Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente
- Honduras: Leaf by Oscar Valladares Maduro
- Nicaragua: Perdomo Legacy Shade Grown
Additionally, Drew Estate's Blackened M81 Maduro won Best Cigar for Nicaragua, and Jorge Padrón received the Lifetime Achievement award.
Why The American Matters
The American is J.C. Newman's showcase project. The company describes it as the first 100 percent American cigar: a Florida-grown wrapper, a Connecticut binder, Connecticut and Pennsylvania fillers, cigar molds made in Florida, and boxes, bands, and labels produced from Ohio wood, Wisconsin paper, and inks from Illinois and North Carolina.
It is rolled at El Reloj, the 1910 brick factory in Tampa's Ybor City that is the last operating cigar factory of its era in the United States, using both hand rolling and antique 1930s machinery.
The brand name itself dates to the factory's opening, when The American was the first cigar rolled there; J.C. Newman revived it in 2019 to mark the company's 125th anniversary. It is not a cheap smoke; retail listings put boxes of 20 between about $370 for the Robusto and $460 for the Churchill, which works out to roughly $18 to $23 per cigar, and the line is produced in limited quantities.
The Connection to Factory Throwouts
The same Tampa operation is where J.C. Newman's value business lives. Factory Throwouts, the brand's long-running bundle line, is built from the company's machine-made production and sold in 20-count bundles rather than dressed boxes.
A2Z Tobacco carries several Factory Throwouts sizes, including the No. 49 Robusto, the No. 59 Lonsdale, and the No. 99 Double Corona, at a fraction of The American's price.
An award for the company's top-of-the-line cigar does not change the blend in a Throwouts bundle, but it does say something about where those bundles come from: the same family, factory, and tobacco-buying operation that just beat every other non-traditional-origin brand in a reader vote. These machine cigars offer a consistent experience for everyday smokers.
That factory is also in the middle of a growth spurt. J.C. Newman is hiring roughly 100 people to staff a hotel, restaurant, and cigar club it is opening beside El Reloj, a project covered here earlier in September.
The Caveats
A reader-voted award rewards popularity and brand affection as much as tobacco quality, and Cigar Journal's audience skews European, so a win in the "Other Countries" category partly reflects how well J.C. Newman has marketed The American abroad. Cigars are also a higher-tax, more regulated product in many states than they were a few years ago, and availability of any specific size varies by jurisdiction.
None of this is a health claim: premium and machine-made cigars alike carry the risks that come with tobacco. The American is a patriotic showpiece and a genuinely unusual product, and the 2026 Cigar Trophy confirms that European readers, not only U.S. ones, have noticed.