General Cigar Co. Trims La Gloria Cubana Offerings

Earlier today, multiple retailers received notice that General Cigar Co. has discontinued the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami, La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros and La Gloria Cubana Retro Especiale lines.

A letter from Gene Richter, the company’s vp of sales, said that no open orders would be filled and the items were discontinued effective immediately.

The Artesanos de Miami was actually blended by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. when he was still at General Cigar Co., following General/Swedish Match’s purchase of his El Credito Cigar Co. and the La Gloria Cubana brand in 1999. The El Credito Factory was shut down in 2010.

The Artesanos de Tabaqueros was introduced in 2010, it featured two wrappers in unique shapes and boxes. Finally, General introduced the Retro Especiale in 2011.

“We have discontinued many products in the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Series in order to allow greater focus on the core brands in the El Credito portfolio,” said Alan Willner, vice-president of marketing for General Cigar Co., in a statement provided to halfwheel.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.