La Gloria Cubana Podium Arrives in France as New Edición Regional

While the Olympics gets underway in Paris this week, the La Gloria Cubana Podium, a new Edición Regional cigar from Habanos S.A., has arrived in French cigar shops.

The cigar is a robusto extra that measures 6 1/10 inches (155mm) long and has a 50 ring gauge, a size known as the Dobles. It is the same size as the Montecristo Double Edmundo and has been used for a number of Edición Regional releases over the past two decades.

It is priced at €40 ($43.46) per cigar and is offered in 10-count boxes. A total of 4,000 individually numbered boxes were produced for the release, with the cigars going on sale on Tuesday, July 23.

Beyond the standard red Edición Regional secondary band, the cigars also get a bit of added decorations. They have a foot band with the word Podium on them, while inside the box, the cigars come wrapped in a blue, white and red ribbon that evokes thoughts of the French flag.

In a press release, Coprova S.A.S.—which distributes Cuban cigars in France—said that it chose the vitola for its ability to develop all the typical flavors of the La Gloria Cubana brand.

The Edición Regional program is offered by Habanos S.A. to its various distributors around the world. Each year, distributors can select one cigar to be commissioned for their region, though there have been exceptions when some distributors have been able to select more than one. Those cigars must come from a brand that was not part of the company’s former “Global Brands,” meaning brands like Cohiba and Montecristo are excluded. Additionally, the cigars must be a size that is currently not offered in that specific brand.

Edición Regional cigars are signified by a secondary red and silver band that reads Edición Regional, followed typically by the name of the region represented by that specific distributor.  The cigars do not often arrive at stores during the year they are selected for, sometimes arriving multiple years later.

Images courtesy of Coprova S.A.S.