Miami, Florida February 1st, 2016 – After a two year hiatus, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Berger & Argenti, Michael Argenti has announced the collaboration between himself and cigar impresario, Abdel Fernandez of world famous AJ Fernandez Cigars on the creation of a new and exciting cigar line called LA GRAN LLAVE.
Argenti has been in the cigar business for over 25 years, functioning as Executive Vice President of Tabacalera Perdomo S.A., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cuban Imports and most recently, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Berger & Argenti. I’ve been working on the LA GRAN LLAVE (LGL) project, on and off, for the better part of 10 years. It wasn’t until recently, while sharing an LGL prototype with my current partner and friend, Angel Aguayo, that he convinced me we need to bring LGL to life, and there was no better person to do it with than his “hermano”, Abdel Fernandez. It was at that very moment, Angel called Abdel and the collaboration on LA GRAN LLAVE began. It has always been our collective goal, from day one, to create the finest cigar in the world by utilizing only select, well-aged materials and in doing so, bringing to market a cigar the world rarely sees.
LA GRAN LLAVE is offered in five sizes, ranging from the diminutive, but powerful, Corona Extra (4 3⁄4 X 48) to the elegant and decadently rich (7 1⁄2 X 55) Double Corona.
When asked about working with Abdel Fernandez, Argenti had nothing but glowing praise. “Abdel could possibly be the finest cigar maker of his generation. From his growing operations, to pre-industry and his state of the art cigar factory, his enterprise is nothing short of remarkable.”
Argenti continues, “For those who really know me, I believe they’ll agree that I’m a simple man and very straightforward. I’ve developed a number of cigars over the years and I’m extremely proud of all of them. With that said, I honestly believe LA GRAN LLAVE is the finest blend I’ve ever been associated with. Working with Abdel and his team of experts at AJ Fernandez Cigars has been one of the best experiences of my life. His materials and methods are incredible.
LA GRAN LLAVE is slated to be released at this year’s Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) show at the Las Vegas Convention Center (March 16th – 18th).
