La Chaveta White

It is both a great pleasure and a special challenge for us to introduce the La Chaveta White as the first series from our new in-house cigar brand, La Chaveta. We have worked on it for a long time and put a great deal of passion into it – we hope you enjoy it!

La Chaveta – From the Idea to the Brand

As many of you know, we at Tabac Benden have been active in the cigar business since the early 1980s and have also been offering our premium products online via CIGARWORLD.de since 1997. We regularly enhance our range, which includes all cigars available in Germany, with our own releases and exclusive collaborations. Among these is Domaine de Lavalette from the Dominican Republic, which we have been very successfully offering as a “house brand” for around 15 years.

Over the decades, we repeatedly discussed launching a premium Nicaraguan cigar under our own brand, but for various reasons we never went ahead with it. It never felt quite right: either the smoking samples and the blends at different stages of development did not meet our expectations, or the collaboration with the producer was not perfect. One thing, however, was clear: it had to be a small producer, not a huge tobacco corporation. We wanted to make sure that this “baby” was just as important to the producer as it was to us.

Creamy with No Harshness: La Chaveta White Cigars

As so often happens in life, fortune favored the persistent. By a happy coincidence, additional production capacity became available at one of our favorite tabacaleras in Nicaragua, run by Ralf Westerwick, allowing us to become involved in the development process. We have known Ralf since 2004 and have a great deal of mutual trust. So it quickly became clear which direction the blend should take.

The blend of the first La Chaveta series – the La Chaveta White – was intended to be creamy and smooth, with no pepper or harshness in the smoke. At the same time, it needed to have more body and aroma “behind it” than Dominican cigars. The vitolas were also to be rolled slightly firmer to ensure a perfect draw resistance and stable ash. Much to our delight – or rather, as confirmation that we were on the right track – we found the blend quickly. For the wrapper, we use a light, silky Connecticut Shade from Ecuador; the binder is Indonesian, and the filler is the mild, creamy blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos described above.

What Does “Chaveta” Actually Mean?

We also spent a great deal of time discussing a name for the project, which until then had remained unnamed, but were never completely satisfied. During one meeting, we went through the cigar-making process step by step and came across the crescent-shaped knife – the Chaveta used to cut the wrapper leaf. This piece of metal, straight along the top and convexly curved along the bottom, is used in almost identical form in cigar production around the world. Its sound and distinctive brevity quickly won us over: the La Chaveta brand was born. Attentive smokers may already have noticed that we have also incorporated the distinctive shape of the Chaveta into the brand logo, cigar bands and Freshpacks.

La Chaveta White: Wide Selection, Fair Price

By sourcing directly from the tabacalera, we can offer you the La Chaveta White in Toro, Robusto, Perla and Minuto formats at fair prices, an advantage we are happy to pass on to you, our customers, as well as to our fellow retailers. In addition to the high-quality wooden boxes, all formats are also available in stylish Freshpacks – and, of course, individual cigars are always available from us as well.

Those who would like to experience La Chaveta with a little more strength will find a spicier, fuller-bodied alternative in the La Chaveta Black.