The U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission Visits J.C. Newman’s El Reloj Factory Today

The United States Semiquincentennial Commission is visiting J.C. Newman Cigar Co. today, Friday, Nov. 13, at the company’s El Reloj factory in Tampa. The official media advisory sets the window at 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The stop is to recognize J.C. Newman’s participation in America250 and the official commemorative cigars the company is rolling by hand at El Reloj this year.

This is a Commission visit, not a public ticketed cigar event. There is no listing for it on TheCigarEvents.com, and the advisory is written as a media opportunity, including photos of a custom America250 Airstream trailer and interviews available by request. The Newman family is separately inviting enthusiasts to mark the anniversary by visiting El Reloj as they already can — the museum, a guided tour, a hand-rolling lesson or a private event — and by lighting the America250 cigars.

“The Last Large Cigar Factory Still Rolling Cigars in the Country”

The cigars J.C. Newman hand-rolls at El Reloj carry the official America250 seal this year. Congress established the Semiquincentennial Commission in 2016 to plan the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding in 2026, and America250 is the bipartisan organization charged with leading that commemoration. The advisory notes that America250 also licenses its branding for made-in-America products, which is how the seal ended up on these Tampa-made cigars.

“J.C. Newman is proud to roll official cigars of the 250th Anniversary of the United States,” said fourth-generation cigar maker Drew Newman in the advisory. “Cigars have been an important part of our country since its founding. Therefore, it is only fitting that we celebrate America’s 250th birthday with cigars handmade in America.”

“When my great-grandfather founded our family business in 1895, there were 40,000 cigar factories in the United States,” Newman said. “Today, El Reloj is the last large cigar factory still rolling cigars in the country. It is our privilege to keep America’s historic cigar-making tradition alive by handcrafting exquisite cigars in America.”

That “last large factory” line is worth sitting with. Most premium cigars Americans smoke now are made in the Caribbean and Central America, and Ybor City is no longer the rolling capital it once was. El Reloj, built in 1910, is the exception that is still running. J.C. Newman’s page for The American also calls it the last operating factory in Tampa and the last traditional cigar factory in the United States. We are sticking to Newman’s “last large” wording from the advisory, because that is not automatically the same claim.

The Commission is bringing a custom America250 Airstream trailer to El Reloj for photos with the factory and the cigars. Official press images already show that trailer in front of the clock tower, under banners that read “America 250” and “J.C. Newman Cigar Co.”

The advisory also sketches a longer tobacco history: first planted in the Virginia Colony in 1612, grown in all 13 Colonies by the Revolution, with founders including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among the farmers, and Benjamin Franklin pledging 5 million pounds of tobacco to help secure France’s support. We are reporting those points as the company presented them.

The America250 Cigars Rolled at El Reloj

The Newman family is pointing smokers to four El Reloj cigars that carry the America250 seal: The American, Angel Cuesta, LeRoy Neiman and Tampa Smokers. The company has confirmed that all four are handmade at El Reloj. We have not been given new blend sheets for every line in this advisory, so we are not going to invent them.

The American has the fullest public spec sheet, because it is J.C. Newman’s all-American puro. It was the first cigar rolled in El Reloj when the factory opened in 1910, and Drew Newman reintroduced it in 2016 as a 100 percent American cigar. According to the company, every part of it is grown and sourced in the United States, “from the tobacco inside to the hinges on the box.”

The current American is a medium-bodied puro with a Florida Sun Grown wrapper, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a filler of Pennsylvania Mennonite and Connecticut Havana tobaccos, made at El Reloj. J.C. Newman lists six sizes: President and Churchill (both 7 x 47), Torpedo (6 1/4 x 52), Toro (6 x 54), Double Robusto (5 1/2 x 56) and Robusto (4 1/2 x 50).

The company’s American page credits Jeff Borysiewicz with reviving commercial tobacco growing in Florida on a Clermont farm, using Corojo 99 seed. We sat down with Borysiewicz for a 2024 interview about Black Angus, and J.C. Newman says his Florida Sun Grown leaf is the only wrapper of its kind on a production cigar.

LeRoy Neiman is the other name here that we have written about before. In 2023 we covered J.C. Newman’s tribute to the artist. That piece is about the brand’s tribute, not today’s visit, but it is the same Tampa-made line now wearing the America250 seal.

The news today is the official seal, the Commission’s stop at El Reloj, and the reminder that this kind of factory is now rare in the United States.

The advisory closes with a line from company founder Julius C. Newman’s 1958 autobiography, Smoke Dreams: “I could not help but realize more than ever what a great country this is. I am filled more than ever with deep pride to be an American.”

At a Glance

• What: Official America250 visit recognizing J.C. Newman’s commemorative cigars
• When: Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at El Reloj in Tampa’s Ybor City
• Who: United States Semiquincentennial Commission and J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
• Notable: Custom America250 Airstream trailer for photos with the factory and cigars
• Cigars wearing the official seal, all handmade at El Reloj: The American, Angel Cuesta, LeRoy Neiman and Tampa Smokers
• The American, per J.C. Newman: medium-bodied American puro; Florida Sun Grown wrapper; Connecticut Broadleaf binder; Pennsylvania Mennonite and Connecticut Havana filler
• Public access: A Commission recognition stop, not a ticketed public event. Visitors can still tour the museum and factory.

The Cigar Guys’ Take

A commission parking an Airstream in front of a 1910 cigar factory is a good photograph. The substance is better. J.C. Newman is still rolling cigars in Tampa, those cigars are wearing an official 250th-anniversary seal, and Drew Newman is not shy about calling El Reloj the last large factory of its kind in the country. That is an American cigar story that does not need a festival wristband.

If you are already planning to see El Reloj, look for the America250 cigars, starting with The American if you want the all-U.S. puro. If you are not in Tampa, those four lines are the ones to ask about at your shop. Today’s 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. window is an official visit, not a public party. The factory, and the cigars, will still be there when the trailer pulls away.

Keep it locked to The Cigar Guys Podcast for more cigar news every week.

Sources: J.C. Newman media advisory: America250 To Visit J.C. Newman Cigar Co. (Nov. 12, 2026) · J.C. Newman: The American