Quai D’Orsay is down to just one vitola as Habanos S.A. recently ceased production on the Imperiales vitola, leaving a corona as the brand’s sole regular production size.

Production on the 7 x 47 Churchill vitola ceased in the second half of 2014, with news of the official delisting coming recently from Antoine Bathie of SEITA, the distributor of the line in France, along with the Jose L. Piedra marca. Bathie said that the corona continues to be part of the permanent portfolio.

He also confirmed that there will be a new Quai D’Orsay Edición Regional released at the end of 2015; the Quai D’Orsay Robusto Diplomatico is a Hermosa No.4 vitola measuring 5 x 48 and will be limited to 8,000 boxes of ten cigars.

It will be the second regional edition in less than two years for the Quai D’Orsay line, joining 2013’s regional edition, the Quai D’Orsay Belicoso Royal, which was created in celebration of the brand’s 40th anniversary but didn’t debut until January 2014.

The brand also had a pair of regional releases in 2011, the Superiores for the Asia Pacific region and the Robusto Embajador for France.

Quai D’Orsay was established in 1973 after Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, France’s secretary of treasury at the time, directed SEITA to develop a Cuban cigar just for the country. It remains a local brand primarily available in France, but can also be found in select other countries.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.