Oliva Changes Facundo to Gilberto, Releasing New Line

On Monday, for the first time since 2012—arguably 2008—Oliva will release an entirely new brand.

It’s called the Oliva Gilberto, named after the family’s patriarch, and if it looks a bit familiar, it’s because it is. The cigar was originally announced as the Facundo, Gilberto Oliva Sr.’s father and son of Melanio Oliva, who got his own cigar in 2012. However, due to a trademark conflict with rum maker Bacardi, the company changed the name.

The rest of the details remain the same.

There are two different lines, Gilberto Oliva Reserva which uses a Sumatra wrapper and Gilberto Oliva Reserva Blanc which uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut cover leaf. Both have an Ecuadorian binder and Nicaraguan fillers.

They are also both offered in five sizes.

• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Robusto (5 x 50) — $5.80 (Boxes of 20, $116)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Toro (6 x 50) — $6.10 (Boxes of 20, $122)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Torpedo (6 x 52) — $6.40 (Boxes of 20, $128)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Churchill (7 x 50) — $6.40 (Boxes of 20, $128)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Corona (5 3/4 x 43) — $5.25 (Boxes of 20, $105)

• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Blanc Robusto (5 x 50) — $6.30 (Boxes of 20, $126)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Blanc Toro (6 x 50) — $6.60 (Boxes of 20, $132)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Blanc Torpedo (6 x 52) — $6.90 (Boxes of 20, $138)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Blanc Churchill (7 x 50) — $6.90 (Boxes of 20, $138)
• Oliva Gilberto Reserva Blanc Corona (5 3/4 x 43) — $5.75 (Boxes of 20, $115)

All sizes are sold in boxes of 20, though the Corona is wrapped in cedar sleeves. The Reserva is shipping later in the summer.

This is actually not the first time there’s been a Gilberto Oliva cigar. The family released a cigar by that name in 1995 that was made by Plasencia. Its name was quickly shortened to Oliva, the start of the family’s entry into the world of manufacturing cigars.

Gilberto Sr. is best known for his work as a tobacco grower. He began growing in Nicaragua in 1969 and would go on to grow tobacco in Honduras, Mexico, Panama and the Philippines.

Last year, the Oliva family sold the cigar manufacturing and sales operations, but not the farms, to J. Cortès, this is the first new line since the company sold.