Ken Hamlin is no stranger to putting in work, as his previous career playing in the NFL was defined by a lifetime of grit, endless practice and dedication to his craft.
He’s taken that same commitment to excellence and applied it to his other passion, cigars. On November 7th, 2020 Ken will launch his new cigar ‘The Arrival’ in Houston, TX.
While he’s currently best known for his career as a professional athlete, he wants to make one thing clear; ‘The Arrival’ isn’t just another cigar by another athlete. It’s a manifestation of a journey that started five years ago with an inspiration to create an amazing cigar for consumers to enjoy.
Nearly half a decade ago, he began taking trips to Procigar in the Dominican Republic where his appreciation for the inner workings of the cigar industry grew with each visit. As he became a regular presence, he forged a close relationship with Manual Inoa.
Inoa is La Aurora’s Master Blender and has been with the famed cigar company for 24 years. In total, he’s been in the tobacco industry for 34+ years.
Renowned for his depth of knowledge throughout the cigar world, he and Ken spent many days and nights together cycling through blend after blend with ever so slight variations to arrive at the perfect combination of Ecuadorian Sumatra Wrapper & Binder around a blend of Brazilian, Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers.
Ken’s vision for his cigar was so particular and focused, Manual immediately felt he could aim for the ultra-luxury market, but Ken decided that excluding day to day enthusiasts from his new cigar wasn’t something he wanted to do.
He didn’t want ‘The Arrival’ to be a vanity project for an elite market, his aspiration was then and still is now for it to be a cigar that sits alongside your other favorite stogies and becomes a part of your daily rotation.
His new cigar isn’t meant to be a belligerent tailpipe with a full-body, nor an ultra-light bodied smoke that hardly registers on your tastebuds. Instead, he created a unique blend with sophistication and nuance that’s meant to be observed with each puff so you can pick out the myriad of flavors he and Manual Inoa ensured would stimulate you but not lay you out.
In spirit, ‘The Arrival’ is a cigar you can enjoy when you have arrived at that inflection point in your life where all your hard work finally starts to pay off.
For Ken, he’s arrived himself as a new brand in an industry he himself is new to. But he’s confident that his cigar will speak for itself and his new journey begins with sharing his cigar with one city and one cigar enthusiast at a time.
Follow ‘The Arrival’ on Instagram @thearrivalcigars