El Septimo Geneva SA, a cigar company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, has released a new cigar line designed specifically for women. The brand is called the Alexandra Collection, which consists of two cigars, the Coco and the Marilyn, blended with different strength levels in mind. The Coco is billed as a mild cigar; the Marilyn, medium to full. Both cigars launched this month.
Though it’s not the first cigar designed for women, El Septimo says that it backs its latest creation with data. According to the Younan Company, which owns El Septimo Geneva, the Alexandra Collection was blended based on the survey results of female cigar smokers.
“The Coco and Marilyn blends were created after comprehensively monitoring the sensory responses of hundreds of women when tasting various cigar samples, ranging on factors from strength, smoothness, aroma, flavor and combustion,” Zaya Younan, chief executive officer of the Younan Company told Cigar Aficionado. “Women were asked to rate the magnitude of each sample in regards to these factors, and ultimately scale which samples provided the most pleasant experiences.”
According to the company, both cigars consist of only Costa Rican tobacco—unusual for the premium cigar industry.
“The wrapper, binder and filler are entirely from Costa Rica,” Younan says. “All grown and hand rolled in Costa Rica. The tobacco plants are naturally grown at 9,500-feet in an abundant, lush, mountainous valley.”
The cigars don’t come cheap—Coco is priced at $25 per cigar; Marilyn at $30. The Coco measures 5 5/16 inches by 52 ring gauge. The Marilyn is slightly shorter, but thicker, at 5 1/8 by 58. Younan says the cigars are made at the El Septimo Cigar Factory in Costa Rica.
El Septimo was founded in 2005 and was acquired by the Younan Company in early 2019. The Younan Company is a global private equity firm with a portfolio of luxury products and properties that includes hotels, resorts and vineyards. El Septimo is one of the company’s more recent acquisitions.
