Brand guide
La Gloria Cubana cigars
La Gloria Cubana is a cigar brand born in Havana in 1885 that now has two makers: Habanos S.A. in Cuba and the El Credito factory, owned by General Cigar, in the Dominican Republic.
The Cuban La Gloria Cubana went quiet after 1960
The Sociedad Cabañas y Castro created La Gloria Cubana in Havana in 1885.
José F. Rocha bought it in 1905 and rolled it at his factory on Miguel Street. After Rocha died, the Cifuentes family bought La Gloria Cubana and Bolívar from his old company in 1954 and moved production into the Partagás factory.
The revolution stopped it cold. The government seized brand and factory, and production halted for several years. Wikipedia says the brand was apparently revived around 1965 at the old Partagás factory. It is produced today for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state tobacco company.
La Gloria Cubana's second life at El Credito
The non-Cuban La Gloria Cubana grew out of El Credito, the Perez-Carrillo family's cigar company.
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. learned the trade at his father's El Credito. In 1999 the family sold. The two Wikipedia accounts word it differently. The La Gloria Cubana entry says Perez-Carrillo sold the brand to General Cigar Company, with a citation-needed tag. His own entry says Swedish Match, then General Cigar's parent, bought El Credito. Both put the brand under General Cigar.
Perez-Carrillo stayed on with Swedish Match and General Cigar until March 2009, then left to start the company now known as E.P. Carrillo. The La Gloria Cubana entry still calls General Cigar a Swedish Match subsidiary. Wikipedia's Partagás entry, written later, places General Cigar under Scandinavian Tobacco Group.
Where La Gloria Cubana is rolled
Wikipedia says the Dominican La Gloria Cubana is made by the El Credito Cigar Company for General Cigar.
The brand calls El Credito its home factory and the Serie R one of its "crowned jewels." The Cuban version comes from Habanos production in Havana. Its Médaille d'Or line holds the slim sizes the Cuban brand is known for, including a 6 7/8 x 28 Panetela Larga.
La Gloria Cubana leaf, line by line
The brand states an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler for both the Classic and Serie R.
Serie R Maduro switches to a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. Spanish Press goes another way: a Nicaraguan Jalapa wrapper over a Mexican San Andrés binder, with Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Olor, Nicaraguan Jalapa and Dominican Piloto Cubano in the filler.
| Line | Maker | Wrapper (as stated) | Stated body | Notable sizes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | El Credito | Ecuadorian Sumatra | Medium | Wavell 5 x 50, Charlemagne 7 1/4 x 54, Soberano 8 x 52, El Perrito 5 1/2 x 38 |
| Serie R | El Credito | Ecuadorian Sumatra; maduro in Connecticut Broadleaf | Medium to full | No. 4 4 7/8 x 52, No. 6 5 7/8 x 60, No. 8 7 x 70 |
| Spanish Press | El Credito | Nicaraguan Jalapa | Medium | Robusto 5 1/2 x 50, Toro 6 1/2 x 52, Gigante 6 x 60 |
| Médaille d'Or | Habanos | Not published | Not published | No. 2 6 3/4 x 43, No. 1 7 1/4 x 36, No. 4 6 x 32 |
The Serie R No. 8 is 70 ring, well over an inch across. Put it next to a 50 ring in the cigar size chart to see the jump.
La Gloria Cubana by year
La Gloria Cubana's dated record starts with an 1885 Havana partnership and reaches General Cigar in 1999.
- 1885: Sociedad Cabañas y Castro founds the brand in Havana.
- 1905: José F. Rocha buys it.
- 1954: Cifuentes family buys it; production moves to the Partagás factory.
- About 1965: Cuban production apparently revived.
- 1999: El Credito and the brand pass from the Perez-Carrillo family to the Swedish Match and General Cigar group.
- 2009: Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. leaves General Cigar in March.
What a La Gloria Cubana shopper should check
The Classic line alone has 13 sizes, from the 4 5/16 x 32 Glorias Petit to the 8 x 52 Soberano.
Same name, different cigars. Médaille d'Or is a Cuban line, and Classic, Serie R and Spanish Press are General Cigar lines, so the box tells you which country made it. Spanish Press is box-pressed by design; read what box-pressing does if the squared shape is new. The brand lists maduro versions of Serie R in five of its seven sizes. This guide reports ownership only and gives no view on import rules for Cuban cigars.
La Gloria Cubana questions
Who makes La Gloria Cubana cigars?
The non-Cuban La Gloria Cubana is made by the El Credito Cigar Company for General Cigar, and the Cuban one is produced for Habanos S.A.
Who sold La Gloria Cubana to General Cigar?
The Perez-Carrillo family, in 1999. Accounts differ on the buyer's name: one Wikipedia entry names General Cigar, another names Swedish Match, which owned General Cigar then.
Is La Gloria Cubana Spanish Press box-pressed?
Yes. The brand says each Spanish Press cigar is pressed in wooden boxes, after an old pre-embargo Cuban method.
What is a La Gloria Cubana Wavell?
It is a 5 x 50 robusto in the La Gloria Cubana Classic line, which the brand calls the first La Gloria Cubana cigar it made.
Where the La Gloria Cubana facts come from
- La Gloria Cubana, Wikipedia
- Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Wikipedia
- La Gloria Cubana Classic, La Gloria Cubana
- Serie R by La Gloria Cubana, La Gloria Cubana
- La Gloria Cubana Spanish Press, La Gloria Cubana