Oliveros Gran Retorno Returning This Month

Aging Room’s Oliveros brand will get a new release with an old name and older cigars.

The cigar is called the Oliveros Gran Retorno, an old brand that some catalog retailers still carry today. But the one that will ship to cigar stores later this month is decidedly different.

For starters, it’s a different cigar. The old blend was made by El Galan, the new ones are being made at Plasencia. But the larger difference is that these cigars have been aged for quite a while. First the tobacco was aged for two years, then cigars aged in Plasencia’s aging room for six months, they were then packaged and sent to Tampa, where they have been aging in their boxes for 33 months. The lattermost aging process—after the cigars are packaged—is quite unique.

There are three blends, all of which use a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers from Plasencia. The Habano and Maduro are Nicaraguan puros, while the Connecticut uses a wrapper grown in Honduras by Plasencia. Each line has three sizes, priced the same. Like many Aging Room cigars, the names are musical themed.

• Oliveros Gran Retorno Banjo (4 1/2 x 52) — $7.92 (Box of 20, $158.40)
• Oliveros Gran Retorno Swing (6 x 50) — $7.70 (Box of 20, $154)
• Oliveros Gran Retorno Fiddle (6 x 54) — $8.13 (Box of 20, $162.60)

There are 400,000 cigars split between the different blends and sizes. The release will be staggered with the Connecticut shipping in late August, the Habano in October and the Maduro in December.

For many years, Oliveros was the star of the Aging Room/Boutique Blends portfolio. But in recent years, the company’s Aging Room lines gained popularity and had a much more modern look than the Oliveros brand. In 2017, Rafael Nodal, the company’s founder, agreed to become the head of product capability at Tabacalera USA. At that point, the company said it decided to focus on Aging Room.

As part of that agreement, Nodal works for Tabacalera USA and Altadis U.S.A., a subsidiary, distributes his cigars. Of note, the company does not currently distribute any other Oliveros brands.