CAO雪茄的前品牌大使兼煙葉調配師里克·羅德里格斯曾經在通用雪茄公司工作長達25年，如今他自立門戶成立了西坦帕煙草公司，總部設在坦帕，未來幾周他將推出兩個新的雪茄品牌。

羅德里格斯評價自己是地球上最幸運的人，他有機會和雪茄行業內一些最受人尊敬的大師級人物共同工作，向他們學習，比如本吉·梅賽德斯、丹尼爾·努涅斯和埃內斯托·佩雷斯-卡里略。他在通用雪茄公司得到了常人難以得到的機會。

羅德里格斯今年3月離開了通用雪茄公司。

他和通用雪茄公司的曾經的同事格斯·馬丁內斯共同創立了新公司，馬丁內斯兼任公司總裁。預計5月底或者6月初，他們將推出黑色、白色兩個雪茄品牌。

白色系列裝在光滑的白色雪茄盒里，茄衣和茄套是厄瓜多爾種植的哈瓦那煙葉，茄芯是尼加拉瓜煙葉。

黑色系列的口味更加強烈，茄衣使用的是植株高層采摘的厄瓜多爾哈瓦那煙葉，茄套是奧梅特佩地區種植的尼加拉瓜煙葉。茄芯有一部分是孔德加地區種植的煙葉，一部分是埃斯特利地區種植的利格羅煙葉。

這兩款雪茄都是在尼加拉瓜的加門迪亞雪茄廠卷制，有三個尺寸。羅布圖，50環徑，5英寸。公牛，52環徑，6英寸。巨大（Gigante），60環徑，6英寸。每盒20支包裝，在美國地區的零售價分別是每支8.99美元、9.99美元和10.99美元。

羅德里格斯的祖父母早年從古巴移民到美國，從事雪茄生產工作，1950年代定居在西坦帕。羅德里格斯如今堅定的追隨其家族的腳步。每個雪茄包裝盒的內蓋上都印有他家族歷史的文字。

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Best known for his nearly 25 years with General Cigar Co., former CAO brand ambassador and blender Rick Rodriguez has struck out on his own and formed the West Tampa Tobacco Co., a Tampa-based operation that’s bringing two new brands to the market within the coming weeks.

“I feel as though I am the luckiest guy on earth,” Rodriguez said. “I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the industry's most respected cigar masters, such as Benji Menendez, Daniel Nú?ez and Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, and as a result I have had opportunities that few have been given.”

Rodriguez announced his departure from General in March.

West Tampa Tobacco Co. was co-founded by fellow General alumnus Gus Martinez, who also serves as the company’s president. By late May or early June, the market will see two new brands from West Tampa Tobacco—Black and White.

Packaged in glossy white boxes, the White series consists of an Ecuador Habano wrapper and binder around a blend of all-Nicaraguan tobacco. The more full-bodied Black series comes wrapped in a darker, higher-priming leaf of Ecuador Habano and a Nicaraguan binder from Ometepe. The stronger Nicaraguan tobaccos within the filler include some leaf from Condega and some ligero from Estelí.?

Both the Black and White are made at the Garmendia Cigar Co. factory in Nicaragua and come in three sizes: Robusto, measuring 5 inches by 50 ring gauge; Toro, at 6 by 52 and a 6-by-60 Gigante. They will have suggested retail prices of $8.99, $9.99 and $10.99, respectively, and come in 20-count boxes.

Firmly rooted in the cigar business, Rodriguez follows in his family’s footsteps—his grandparents emigrated from Cuba as cigar rollers and settled in West Tampa in the 1950s to continue in the cigar industry. There’s a written dedication to his family’s history printed on the inner lid of every box.?

Rodriguez expects the cigars to begin shipping by the end of the month, or early June at the latest.?