El Septimo CEO ZAYA YOUNAN SECURES TWO U.S. PATENTS FOR BREAKTHROUGH CIGAR-COOLING TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED TO TRANSFORM THE CIGAR INDUSTRY

Younan calls temperature-control breakthrough potentially the most important innovation in the history of the cigar industry, targeting extreme heat to reduce high-temperature chemical reactions while preserving natural nicotine, flavor and aroma

Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Entrepreneur, inventor and El Septimo CEO Zaya S. Younan has secured two United States patents for an innovative cigar-cooling system designed to address one of the most fundamental and historically uncontrolled variables in cigar smoking: extreme temperature. Younan believes the technology has the potential to fundamentally change the landscape of the cigar industry by introducing active temperature management into a smoking process that has remained largely unchanged for centuries.

The breakthrough is protected by U.S. Design Patent No. D1,064,394, “Cigar Ashtray Assembly,” granted February 25, 2025, and U.S. Utility Patent No. 12,564,216, “Cigar Ashtray System with Cooling,” granted March 3, 2026. Both patents identify Zaya S. Younan as inventor and LGMYC Corporation as assignee. Together, the patents provide complementary intellectual-property protection covering important design and functional aspects of Younan's cigar-cooling technology.

"This is not simply another cigar accessory," Younan said. "I believe this has the potential to be the most important innovation in the history of the cigar industry because it addresses something the industry has largely left uncontrolled for centuries: extreme temperature. We have spent generations perfecting tobacco. Now we are applying science and engineering to what happens to that tobacco after the cigar is lit."

Younan's patented technology is designed to actively remove accumulated heat from a lit cigar between puffs, reducing the amount of time the tobacco remains exposed to extreme temperatures. The fundamental objective is to reduce extreme thermal exposure and the high-temperature chemical reactions associated with pyrolysis and combustion, while preserving as much as possible of the tobacco's natural nicotine, taste, aroma and flavor.

ADDRESSING WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A CIGAR IS LIT

For centuries, premium cigar makers have concentrated on virtually every aspect of tobacco before consumption, including genetics, soil, climate, cultivation, curing, fermentation, aging, blending and construction. Younan's innovation focuses on a fundamentally different question: What happens to that carefully prepared tobacco after the cigar is lit?

An unlit cigar and the smoke generated after ignition represent very different chemical environments. When tobacco is exposed to extreme temperatures, heat drives physical and chemical processes including evaporation, thermal decomposition, pyrolysis, oxidation and combustion. These processes can generate or increase a range of compounds, including carbon monoxide, carbonyl compounds, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and particulate matter. These substances are chemically distinct from natural nicotine.

"If extreme heat is driving unwanted chemistry, then the logical question is why we continue allowing that heat to remain uncontrolled," Younan said. "My answer was simple: control the temperature. Don't change the tobacco. Don't chemically change natural nicotine. Control the extreme temperature surrounding it."

NATURAL NICOTINE AND C₁₀H₁₄N₂

Nicotine occurs naturally in tobacco and has the molecular formula C₁₀H₁₄N₂. An important scientific distinction exists between the nicotine molecule itself and the much larger mixture of chemicals associated with tobacco smoke.

Nicotine has pharmacological and reinforcing properties, and scientific research indicates that the reinforcing effects experienced with tobacco products are influenced by multiple factors, including delivery speed, concentration, product design, sensory cues, learned behavior and other tobacco constituents. Those effects should be distinguished from the separate question of what produces the major toxic and carcinogenic burden associated with combustible tobacco.

Nicotine itself is not carbon monoxide, benzo[a]pyrene, an aldehyde or combustion-generated particulate matter. The major health hazards associated with smoking involve exposure to a complex mixture of chemicals, including substances already present in tobacco and additional compounds created or increased through heating, pyrolysis and combustion. This distinction is central to the scientific thinking behind Younan's patented technology.

WHY 247°C AND 250°C MATTER

Nicotine's reported normal boiling point is approximately 247°C. This is scientifically important because vaporization and chemical decomposition are fundamentally different processes. When nicotine undergoes a physical transition from liquid to vapor without chemically reacting, its molecular identity remains C₁₀H₁₄N₂.

Younan's temperature-management approach targets a thermal environment of approximately 250°C, close to nicotine's volatilization range, rather than allowing tobacco to remain unnecessarily exposed to the dramatically higher temperatures encountered during conventional cigar combustion. The objective is to favor volatilization while reducing prolonged exposure to extreme thermal conditions that promote extensive pyrolysis and combustion chemistry.

"Natural nicotine already exists as C₁₀H₁₄N₂," Younan said. "My objective was never to chemically change nicotine. My objective was to control excessive temperature so that we can preserve the natural tobacco and nicotine as much as possible while reducing the unwanted chemistry created by extreme heat."

REDUCING EXTREME TEMPERATURE TO ADDRESS COMBUSTION CHEMISTRY

The distinction between natural nicotine and combustion-related toxicants is fundamental to the technology. Carbon monoxide is not nicotine. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are not nicotine. Aldehydes are not nicotine. Particulate combustion products are not nicotine. They are separate substances that can be present in or generated from the much more complicated chemical environment created when tobacco is heated and burned.

Rather than adding chemicals to tobacco or attempting to reformulate nicotine, Younan's patented system is designed to change the thermal environment itself. By rapidly removing accumulated heat from a cigar between puffs, the technology is intended to reduce the duration and intensity of extreme thermal exposure and therefore reduce the conditions that promote extensive high-temperature chemical reactions.

The magnitude of any reduction in individual toxicants must ultimately be established through independent laboratory testing. The patented technology provides the engineering platform through which the hypothesis can be scientifically measured and validated.

LOWER TEMPERATURE MAY ALSO PRESERVE TASTE, FLAVOR AND AROMA

The potential importance of temperature extends beyond smoke chemistry. Temperature can also have a major effect on the taste, aroma, complexity and smoothness of premium tobacco.

Premium cigar tobacco contains a complex mixture of volatile and semi-volatile compounds that contribute to its distinctive sensory characteristics. Years can be devoted to growing, fermenting and aging tobacco specifically to develop these aromas and flavors. Excessive heat can alter or degrade delicate compounds and accelerate chemical reactions that can overwhelm subtle characteristics with hotter or harsher sensory qualities.

By rapidly removing accumulated heat between puffs, Younan's patented system is intended to prevent unnecessary overheating of the tobacco and allow subsequent puffs to begin from a cooler thermal condition. The objective is greater preservation of the cigar's natural aroma, flavor definition, complexity and taste.

"Heat is one of the great enemies of flavor," Younan said. "We spend years fermenting and aging exceptional tobacco to develop extraordinary taste and aroma. It makes no sense to spend years creating those characteristics and then unnecessarily overwhelm them with extreme heat during smoking."

He added, Pure nicotine in unlit cigar is known to be not harmful and is not toxic. Nicotine (C₁₀H₁₄N₂) is a pharmacologically active molecule that has many health benefits. It binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that normally respond to acetylcholine. In controlled experiments, pure nicotine (C₁₀H₁₄N₂) has been studied for a wide range of possible beneficial effects, including improved attention deficit, alertness, concentration, reaction time, working memory and some forms of learning and memory; modulation of dopamine and other neurotransmitter systems; possible neuroprotective effects on brain cells; modulation of inflammation through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway; and potential effects relevant to cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and certain psychiatric or neurological conditions. The important scientific distinction is that the cognitive effects have some direct human experimental evidence, whereas many of the neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and disease-related benefits remain experimental at this point.  Younan added.

TWO UNITED STATES PATENTS PROTECT THE TECHNOLOGY

Younan's invention is protected through two separate United States patents covering complementary aspects of the technology. U.S. Design Patent No. D1,064,394, titled “Cigar Ashtray Assembly,” was granted February 25, 2025 and protects the ornamental design of the cigar ashtray assembly.

U.S. Utility Patent No. 12,564,216, titled “Cigar Ashtray System with Cooling,” was granted March 3, 2026 and covers claimed functional aspects of a cigar-cooling system designed to transfer heat away from a lit cigar while it rests between puffs. The utility patent specifically describes technology for cooling a lit cigar between puffs, establishing functional intellectual-property protection around Younan's thermal-management system.

Together, the patents establish intellectual-property protection for both important design and functional aspects of the innovation and provide the foundation for the further scientific development and testing of Younan's temperature-control concept.

A POTENTIAL TURNING POINT FOR THE CIGAR INDUSTRY

Younan believes temperature management introduces an entirely new dimension to premium cigar development. The cigar industry has historically concentrated on virtually everything that happens before ignition. His patented technology introduces engineering and active temperature management to what happens after ignition.

The underlying scientific concept is straightforward. Natural nicotine has the molecular formula C₁₀H₁₄N₂, and its reported normal boiling point is approximately 247°C. Younan's technology targets a thermal environment of approximately 250°C. By reducing unnecessary exposure to substantially higher temperatures, the objective is to reduce opportunities for extensive pyrolysis and combustion chemistry while creating conditions intended to better preserve tobacco's natural taste, aroma and flavor.

"I believe this technology will completely change the landscape of the cigar industry," Younan said. "For centuries we have improved the tobacco, but we have largely accepted extreme temperature as unavoidable. I don't accept that assumption. If temperature affects chemistry, taste and aroma, then temperature should be controlled."

Younan added, "I believe this is potentially the most important innovation in the entire history of the cigar industry. We are introducing an entirely new variable into the science of cigar smoking: active temperature management. We are not trying to change what nature created. We are controlling what extreme temperature does to it."

FROM PATENTED ENGINEERING TO INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION

The issuance of U.S. Design Patent No. D1,064,394 and U.S. Utility Patent No. 12,564,216 establishes the intellectual-property foundation of Younan's innovation. The next stage is comprehensive independent scientific analysis designed to quantify precisely how this different thermal environment affects cigar-smoke chemistry and the sensory characteristics of the cigar.

Testing can compare identical cigars smoked conventionally and with Younan's patented cooling technology, measuring temperature throughout the smoking cycle together with intact nicotine, carbon monoxide, total particulate matter, tobacco-specific nitrosamines including NNN and NNK, carbonyl compounds, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other smoke constituents. Separate sensory analysis can evaluate aroma, flavor definition, complexity, harshness, bitterness, temperature and overall smoking characteristics.

"We are not changing what nature created," Younan said. "We are controlling what extreme temperature does to it. Our objective is to preserve the tobacco, preserve its natural characteristics and nicotine as much as possible, preserve the extraordinary flavors and aromas developed through years of fermentation and aging, and reduce unnecessary high-temperature chemical reactions."

RETHINKING A CENTURIES-OLD PROCESS

The cigar industry has spent centuries improving tobacco before combustion. Younan's patented technology asks the industry to consider something fundamentally different: What if controlling the temperature of a cigar after ignition is just as important as controlling the tobacco before ignition?

"Growing extraordinary tobacco is science. Fermentation is science. Aging is science. Blending is science," Younan said. "Temperature is science too. If we can control temperature, we have the opportunity to rethink what happens to a premium cigar from the moment it is lit."

ABOUT THE PATENTS

U.S. Design Patent No. D1,064,394, Cigar Ashtray Assembly, identifies Zaya S. Younan as inventor and El Septimo as assignee and was granted February 25, 2025. U.S. Utility Patent No. 12,564,216, Cigar Ashtray System with Cooling, identifies Zaya S. Younan as inventor and El Septimo as assignee and was granted March 3, 2026.

About El Septimo Geneva

El Septimo Geneva is one of the world’s fastest-growing cigar brands, with a presence in more than 50 countries and 2,200 cities in just a few years. The brand is renowned for its premium, aged cigar blends, offering more than 65 innovative blends and sizes while continuously creating new expressions through craftsmanship and innovation. Expanding beyond cigars, El Septimo Geneva has grown into a luxury lifestyle brand spanning fine wines and spirits, premium accessories, lifestyle products, and more—all united by a commitment to luxury, innovation, and exceptional quality.

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• El Septimo CEO ZAYA YOUNAN SECURES TWO U.S. PATENTS FOR BREAKTHROUGH CIGAR-COOLING TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED TO TRANSFORM THE CIGAR INDUSTRY

Alexandra Younan
El Septimo Geneva
AYounan@younancompany.com