La Galera Adds Four New Vitola via The Cubes Project

La Galera is releasing a quartet of new vitolas to its core lines this summer, and doing so by way of a limited edition project that the company is calling The Cubes.

The brand’s Connecticut, Habano, Maduro, and 1936 Box Pressed lines are each getting a new size, each of which is said to be among Jochy Blanco’s favorite vitolas, and which are part of the company’s efforts to bring new smokes to the hands of their consumers, giving them the opportunity to experience firsthand the versatility of Tabacalera Palma’s rollers.

The new size in the La Galera Connecticut line is a 4 x 46 perfecto called the Shorts, a vitola quite similar to the popular Hemingway size made by famous by Arturo Fuente Cigar Co. The line uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper over a Dominican corojo binder and a filler blend of Dominican piloto cubano, criollo ’98 and pelo de oro. All but the wrapper is grown by Jochy Blanco.

The La Galera Habano line is also getting a short cigar, though it’s thicker than its Connecticut counterpart. The La Galera Habano Supremo is a 4 x 56 petit figurado that wears the line’s signature gold ribbon footband. Like the Connecticut, it too uses a Dominican corojo binder and a filler blend of Dominican piloto cubano, criollo ’98 and pelo de oro, all grown by Blanco, though the wrapper is an Ecuadorian habano leaf.

Longer cigars are set for the La Galera Maduro and 1936 Box Pressed lines; the former is getting a 6 3/4 x 48 perfecto largo shape called the Gavillero. The blend uses a Mexican San Andrés maduro wrapper over a Dominican piloto cubano binder and fillers of Dominican piloto cubano and criollo 98. The binder and fillers come from Tabacalera Palma’s Jacagua and Guarabo farms in the Cibao Valley of the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, the 1936 Box Pressed line adds a 6 3/4 x 52 round pyramid that is called Rounds. Released in 2016 in celebration of the Tabacalera Palma’s 80th anniversary, Blanco uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Dominican criollo 98 binder, and a filler blend of piloto cubano and criollo 98, both from the Dominican Republic.

Each size comes in 50-count cube-shaped boxes that measure eight inches long on each side, with 333 cubes being produced in total: 84 Connecticut Cubes and 83 each of the Habano, Maduro and 1936 Box Pressed. That makes for a total of 4,200 Connecticut Shorts, and 4,150 of each of the other three cigars.

If you’re curious as to what the cigars will sell for, the company isn’t saying. Instead, they are giving retailers the opportunity to set their own pricing, though the company is expecting them to be priced in line with the regular production sizes, albeit with a slight premium given their limited nature. The four lines are also being limited exclusively to brick-and-mortar retailers, who will have the opportunity to purchase a cube based on the size of the order they place during the upcoming IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, which runs from July 13-17 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Elvis Batista, the national head of sales for La Galera and Indianhead Cigars, told halfwheel that The Cubes project is ready and should be arriving at the company’s Miami warehouse next week. Shipping to retailers will begin on July 18, immediately following the conclusion of the trade show.

La Galera cigars are made at Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic.

Images courtesy of La Galera/Indianhead Tobacco/Tabacalera Palma.

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, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, 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.