CAO雪茄的前品牌大使兼烟叶调配师里克·罗德里格斯曾经在通用雪茄公司工作长达25年，如今他自立门户成立了西坦帕烟草公司，总部设在坦帕，未来几周他将推出两个新的雪茄品牌。

罗德里格斯评价自己是地球上最幸运的人，他有机会和雪茄行业内一些最受人尊敬的大师级人物共同工作，向他们学习，比如本吉·梅赛德斯、丹尼尔·努涅斯和埃内斯托·佩雷斯-卡里略。他在通用雪茄公司得到了常人难以得到的机会。

罗德里格斯今年3月离开了通用雪茄公司。

他和通用雪茄公司的曾经的同事格斯·马丁内斯共同创立了新公司，马丁内斯兼任公司总裁。预计5月底或者6月初，他们将推出黑色、白色两个雪茄品牌。

白色系列装在光滑的白色雪茄盒里，茄衣和茄套是厄瓜多尔种植的哈瓦那烟叶，茄芯是尼加拉瓜烟叶。

黑色系列的口味更加强烈，茄衣使用的是植株高层采摘的厄瓜多尔哈瓦那烟叶，茄套是奥梅特佩地区种植的尼加拉瓜烟叶。茄芯有一部分是孔德加地区种植的烟叶，一部分是埃斯特利地区种植的利格罗烟叶。

这两款雪茄都是在尼加拉瓜的加门迪亚雪茄厂卷制，有三个尺寸。罗布图，50环径，5英寸。公牛，52环径，6英寸。巨大（Gigante），60环径，6英寸。每盒20支包装，在美国地区的零售价分别是每支8.99美元、9.99美元和10.99美元。

罗德里格斯的祖父母早年从古巴移民到美国，从事雪茄生产工作，1950年代定居在西坦帕。罗德里格斯如今坚定的追随其家族的脚步。每个雪茄包装盒的内盖上都印有他家族历史的文字。

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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 Núñez 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.