Balmoral Anejo XO

Cigars from Balmoral have been present on the German market for many years, initially only with cigarillos and “simpler” cigars in the “back then” red, green, and blue series. In 2012, the manufacturer AGIO increasingly moved toward premium longfillers and gave its three classic lines a facelift before discontinuing them completely in the early 2020s. In 2019, it was then announced that the tobacco giant STG (Scandinavian Tobacco Group) would acquire the family business. After the takeover, STG first significantly streamlined the portfolio, as has unfortunately been the case with other acquisitions in the past. What remains are the Anejo XO cigars presented here, the Anejo XO Nicaragua, as well as some formats of the Oscuro XO and the Connecticut XO.

Balmoral Anejo XO Cigars: The Evolution of a Premium Brand

The Anejo XO were originally launched on the German market in 2013 as “18 Years” and have since sold remarkably well. This is not meant in a disparaging way, but simply reflects the fact that a company originally rooted in cigarillo production is now focusing on the manufacture of premium longfillers. A similar attempt was made by the company Dannemann with its Artist Line: building a brand and elevating its image with a premium cigar line. It did not really succeed there; therefore, great compliments to AGIO!

In September 2015 came the moment when AGIO had to announce that the very rare 18-year-old wrapper was slowly running out. The immense success of the Anejo series and the great popularity of the cigars led the Wintermans family to present an (almost) identical successor.

The Success Story of Balmoral Cigars: From Cigarillos to Premium Longfillers

The origin of the tobaccos has remained the same; only slightly younger crops were used for the wrapper. A touch of Brazilian tobacco was added to the filler, which results in the new blends labeled XO being even somewhat sweeter and creamier than the “old” ones labeled “18 Years.” As the son of the family patriarch Art Wintermans, Boris Wintermans, assured us in an interview at the Dortmund trade fair in September 2015, the tobaccos used for the XOs are also significantly older than those in comparable products on the market. As mentioned at the beginning, we were initially surprised by the success and can now only tip our hats: chapeau! You can find an overview of all Balmoral cigar series here!