Asylum Insanity Later / Serenity Now

The first Asylum cigars arrived here as early as January 2015. Since then, they have slowly but steadily gained a growing fan base. The brand initially launched with very large formats like the 8x80 Super Goliath, followed by the affordable Asylum Schizo cigars, and later expanded with several special editions and flavored lines like the 867 Midnight Oil or the “Banana Split” cigar Split Personality.

Christian Eiroa and the CLE Factory: Artisan Cigar Craftsmanship from Honduras

With the series Asylum Serenity Now / Insanity Later presented here, the team led by Christian Eiroa, Tom Lazuka, and Kevin Baxter opens a remarkably thoughtful chapter in the brand’s history. Two blends, two characters – both quintessentially Asylum at their core, yet almost impossibly different in nature. Serenity Now represents calm and balance; Insanity Later stands for strength, intensity, and the conscious loss of control in the experience. This duality is summed up by Eiroa: a balance between craftsmanship and experimentation, between discipline and passion.

Asylum Cigars – Christian Eiroa’s Creative Workshop

Since 2012, Asylum Cigars have been producing handmade longfillers in Honduras under the direction of Christian Eiroa. Known for their uncompromising quality and distinctive profile, these cigars are crafted in the CLE Factory, the heart of Eiroa’s production, using tobaccos from Honduras and other growing regions across Latin America. Tom Lazuka, formerly a representative for Camacho and Colibri, brings his experience and unmistakable sense for bold formats into the mix. Asylum is famous for its large-ring cigars – a trademark that expresses both boldness and self-deprecating humor. But the brand has long outgrown its ring gauge image: today, it stands for honest, unvarnished tobacco characters with depth and integrity.

Serenity Now & Insanity Later – Two Sides of the Asylum Character

The Serenity Now comes with a light Connecticut wrapper over a filler blend of Honduran and other undisclosed South American tobaccos. The binder is not officially revealed. My sample stick was genuinely smooth, creamy, and finely nuanced – truly a cigar for quiet moments and relaxation. Then again, isn’t that flavor profile more of a background pleasure, something you don’t really focus on? Exactly. It’s a matter of taste – to each their own!

Tom Lazuka & Kevin Baxter: Creative Minds Behind the Asylum Concept

Its counterpart, the Insanity Later, features a dark San Andrés Habano wrapper from Mexico. It’s clearly stronger, more complex, and full of temperament – with notes of earth, cocoa, and spicy heat. If you plan to try both, be sure to smoke the lighter one first, then the darker one. In the U.S., both versions are offered in boxes of 100, with 50 cigars per blend. We “only” received 25-count bundles – but who wants to smoke entire boxes anyway!?