Quai d’Orsay Clemenceau Heading to France

There will once again be a Quai d’Orsay in the classic Churchill vitola.

The 2020 Edición Regional for France is the Quai d’Orsay Clemenceau, a 7 (178mm) x 47 Churchill. Coprova S.A.S., the distributor of Cuban cigars in France, confirmed to halfwheel that the cigar is planned, though has not confirmed a launch date.

In many different ways, the cigar pays tribute to past cigars. From Quai d’Orsay’s launch as a brand in 1974 until 2014 there was a Churchill vitola produced, the Quai d’Orsay Imperiales.

Furthermore, the name Clemenceau is a reference to the cigar we now know as the Romeo y Julieta Churchill. Its previous name was the Romeo y Julieta Clemenceau, named after the former French prime minister Georges Clemenceau, best known for leading France during the conclusion of World War I and his role in post-war matters like the Treaty of Versailles. The non-Cuban Romeo y Julieta brand sold by Altadis U.S.A. still sells a cigar named after him.

While Quai d’Orsay is a Cuban brand, it was launched as a French cigar. In 1973, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, minster of finances, asked SEITA—the French tobacco monopoly—why there was no French cigar. Cubatabaco, a predecessor Habanos S.A., agreed to the request for the new brand. It is named for the wharf along the Seine where the tobacco office was located.

Technically, the cigar is part of the 2020 Edición Regional program, though, like many Edicición Regional cigars, it will not launch in its designated year.

Update (May 21, 2021) — This story originally indicated that this cigar was confirmed to be released later this year, that is not the case.