Southern Draw Announces 300 HANDS Project

Southern Draw Cigars has announced the company’s second new project to be debuted at next week’s IPCPR trade show in Las Vegas. Southern Draw has long been focused on family and charities, such as with the IGNITE Some Good project from earlier this year. The company now turns their efforts towards the struggling Nicaraguan community with a new series dubbed 300 HANDS.

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The name is sure to be familiar with many cigar enthusiasts, as it is often estimated that a cigar will come into contact with 300 hands throughout the entire manufacturing process—from seed to final product. But Southern Draw (SD) has put a new spin on the term, attempting to share the stories from 300 Nicaraguans throughout the cigar manufacturing industry.

We hereby ask our valued retail and media partners to join us as we endeavor to share the stories of 300 Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, using their words, their emotions and their heartfelt pleas to help their neighbors. We have high hopes for a better Nicaragua as they fight to overcome decades old struggles that have just recently escalated into what has been deemed a “newsworthy” crisis. They are 300 HANDS” and “this is their story.Robert Holt, co-founder of Southern Draw

The cigars themselves consist of two blends and are said to be “part of our original private blend collection and are now in full production.” 300 HANDS Maduro uses an Estelí-grown maduro wrapper over an Indonesian binder and fillers of Nicaragua and the DR. The cigar’s counterpart—300 MANOS Habano (pronounced Trescientos MANOS)—features an Ecuadorian wrapper over a Cameroon binder and fillers of Nicaragua and the DR. Both blends will be offered in the same five sizes, retailing between $5.99 and $6.49.

Aiming for affordability, SD hopes to drive attention to “one of the least developed [countries] in Latin America.” Southern Draw will also be donating 25% of profits from 300 HANDS to the Nicaraguans that are featured throughout the project. At launch, they will be sharing the stories of five Nicaraguans: José Efraim Flores Arauz (Farm Supervisor), Pedro Osniel Perez Rivadulla (Fermentation Technician), Anielka Romero Perez (tobacco sorter), Elsa Guadalupe Vallecillo (manager of quality control), and Roxanna Judith Martinez Flores (cigar roller).

300 HANDS will debut on Sunday, July 15th, at 11 am in SD’s booth location at IPCPR. The cigars are limited to 150,000 for 2018 and are only available to retailers that attend the trade show; with an estimated ship date of August and October 2018.

“Given the current circumstances in Nicaragua, smoking either of these flavorful blends, 300 HANDS Maduro or 300 MANOS Habano, should not be considered an indulgence but rather a true gesture of support.”

Petit Edmundo: 4¾” x 52 | $5.99 (MSRP)
Coloniales: 5¼” x 44 | $6.19 (MSRP)
Corona Gorda: 5⅝” x 46 | $6.29 (MSRP)
Piramides: 6⅛” x 52 | $6.39 (MSRP)
Churchill: 7″ x 48 | $6.49 (MSRP)