Hey, it's Norm.

Yesterday almost went sideways on me.

The sun was out, the weather was perfect, and Dallas had already claimed his spot on the porch.

I had a Fierro Tego Metropolitan 30 Years cigar going, and I have to say, I was really enjoying this one.

But I almost didn't get to…

Don’t worry, I'll explain down below.

Enjoy this week's newsletter.

Back in the late ’90s, my brother Steve and I were in Taiwan meeting manufacturers.

Most treated us incredibly well.

Except one.

He was rude, barely looked at us, and we had no idea why. Eventually, we walked out.

Later, our translator called the hotel and explained everything.

There was a rumor going around Taichung that an American named Steve had ripped off another manufacturer.

My brother’s name was Steve.

That was enough.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, everything changed. By the next day, we had signed a contract that lasted for years, and Mr. Cow became one of our largest and most loyal vendors.

We celebrated at a five-star hotel, and somehow the night ended with us piggybacking through the hallways.

I had the owner on my back. Steve had the general manager.

I still think I won.

It’s funny how quickly a name or label can shape an opinion before you know what’s behind it.

Cigars are no different.

Take away the band, the price and the reputation, and sometimes the cigar you knew nothing about ends up being the one that surprises you.

— Norm

I’m usually not a huge Connecticut fan.

A lot of them are just a little too mild for my taste, so when I picked up the Schöelen Originell, I wasn’t expecting it to become one of my favorites.

I was wrong.

Schöelen is an interesting boutique brand to begin with. Founder Samuel Schöelen took inspiration from years of traveling through Europe and built the brand around a mix of European influence, Cuban-style inspiration and cigars handcrafted in Nicaragua.

The Originell is their Connecticut offering, but it didn’t smoke like the Connecticuts I normally think of.

There was enough pepper, sweetness and complexity to keep changing as I smoked it. Chocolate, raisin, caramel and cream showed up along the way, and it never became boring.

The blend uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, Habano binder, and Nicaraguan fillers from Jalapa and Condega. It comes in a Cuban-style 5 3/4 x 53 vitola and falls in the mild-to-medium range.

I rated it a 95.

For a guy who normally doesn’t reach for Connecticut cigars very often, that probably tells you everything you need to know.

Read my full review: Schöelen Originell Review

I’ve been seeing more people in cigar groups rehydrate old two-way packs.

I get it. A pack goes hard, somebody adds water, and it feels soft again. Seems like a way to save a few bucks.

Boveda is the name most cigar smokers know, but there are other two-way packs out there. They’re useful because they add or absorb moisture as needed.

But I spoke with Boveda directly about rehydrating their packs, and they told me not to do it.

A rehydrated pack may no longer hold its stated humidity. There’s also a risk of big RH swings or a leak if crystallized salt damages the membrane.

Soft again doesn’t mean it’s working properly.

Give those packs a fair start, too. Season a new wooden humidor with 84% packs for 14 days before adding cigars.

If your tupperdor has a substantial new Spanish cedar tray or lining, condition that wood first. Plain plastic doesn’t need seasoning. The 84% packs come out before the cigars go in.

A small hard spot doesn’t mean a pack is done. Even new packs can have crystals.

But when a used pack gets hard throughout, replace it.

Don’t try to bring it back with water.

You might save a few bucks on the pack, but if the humidity starts swinging, the pack leaks, or things get wet enough for mold to become a problem, you could be risking an entire box of cigars.

That’s a pretty expensive gamble just to save a humidity pack.

A few interesting new cigars came out of InterTabac this year. Here are five that caught my attention.

Aganorsa Leaf JFR Clara
JFR is going lighter with Clara, using an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over Nicaraguan tobacco. It’s intended to be the mildest cigar in the JFR portfolio.

Release: November 2026, for international markets only. It is not scheduled for the U.S.

Aganorsa Leaf

Chateau Diadem Alisio
Built as a lighter, more affordable addition to the Chateau Diadem lineup. It combines Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco with an Ecuador Corojo wrapper.

Release: Introduced at InterTabac in September 2026. A confirmed retail shipping date has not been announced yet.

Chateau Diadem

Chateau Diadem Midnight Wonder
This one took nearly three years to develop. The interesting twist is Connecticut Broadleaf inside the cigar, finished with an Ecuador Corojo wrapper for a fuller-bodied profile.

Release: Introduced at InterTabac in September 2026. A specific retail shipping date has not been announced yet.

Chateau Diadem

Meerapfel Project 18
A very limited annual concept where each blend is intended to be made once and never repeated. The first release uses a Cameroon wrapper, with only 180 chests of 99 cigars being produced.

Release: Q4 2026, with shipping expected between October and December.

Meerapfel

AJ Fernandez Year of the Goat
AJ Fernandez’s first Chinese zodiac release is an all-Nicaraguan 6 x 54 Toro. There’s also a personal connection: both AJ’s birth year and the factory’s founding year fall under the goat.

Release: Expected before the end of 2026. No exact release date has been announced yet.

AJ Fernandez Cigars

It wa s a beautiful, sunny day yesterday, and Dallas had already picked his spot on the porch.

The only spot with sun, of course.

I called him over to sit with me, but he wasn’t interested until he saw the cookie. Then he came right over.

I was smoking a Fierro Tego Metropolitan 30 Years cigar, and I got to say, I really enjoyied it.

I almost didn’t get the chance.

I’d gone downstairs to my humidor to pick one out. This is one of my favorites, and I had a break, so the timing felt right.

I brought it upstairs, set it on my laptop on the kitchen counter, and went to get a drink.

When I turned around, I saw it fall.

It seemed to happen in slow motion.

It hit the floor, the shoulder popped, and part of the wrapper started to unravel.

I just stood there looking at it.

I’d been looking forward to that cigar.

Then I remembered a little bottle of cigar repair liquid I bought last year. At the time, I wasn’t sure I’d ever use it.

I put a little under the loose wrapper and around the shoulder, pressed it down, and let it sit for a minute or two.

It wasn’t perfect.

But it held, and the cigar was absolutely smokable.

So now I’m back on the porch, Dallas is beside me, and I’m enjoying the cigar I thought I’d lost on the kitchen floor.

That repair bottle finally earned its spot in the drawer.

Dallas got his cookie. I got my cigar.

See you on the porch.

What is it about cigar culture that makes complete strangers start talking like they already know each other?

In this episode of the first ever Blind Label Cigar Podcast, I sit down with my good friend Kevin King to talk about the part of cigars that has very little to do with the cigar itself: the people you meet while smoking one.

Kevin tells the story of his first real cigar experience in Cuba and how he went from an occasional smoker to somebody with a cigar collection that makes me shake my head every time I see it.

And the answer to this week’s triva is… a lector.

A reader hired by cigar workers to read aloud while they rolled cigars.

That’s it for this week.

As always, trust your palate. The band can wait.

See you next week…

— Norm AKA The Cigar Fossil

P.S. If you missed it last week, I officially launched Blind Label Cigar website and podcast.

It would mean a lot if you took a minute to take a look at the new site.

Reply back to this newsletter with your feedback! I’d love to hear.

P.P.S. Join the WhatsApp group to we continue the cigar talk with a great group of people.