Saint Luis Rey Marquéz ER Cuba Debuts in Havana
The Saint Luis Rey Marquéz, a new Edición Regional for Cuba has begun appearing at stores on the island as of last week to coincide with the annual Partagás Festival that brings cigar lovers from around the globe to Havana for several days of celebration and camaraderie.
The cigar measures 5 9/10 inches (150 mm) in length with a 54 ring gauge, a robusto extra vitola known as the Geniales. It’s a size that is shared with the Montecristo Open Eagle and the Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de San Juan, as well as the San Cristóbal Torreon, a special jar release from 2012 that was created for Habanos Specialists. It has also been used for other Edición Regional releases, such as 2012’s El Rey del Mundo Aniversario for the Asia Pacific region, 2013’s Bolívar Presidente for Switzerland, 2015’s Ramón Allones Robusto XXL for the “Belux” region of Belgium and Luxembourg, and the Juan López Selección Superba, which was just released in Great Britain.
A total of 7,500 boxes of 10 cigars were produced, each priced at 117 CUC, or approximately US $117, though that does not include a roughly 13 percent fee to exchange currencies on the island, which would bring the actual cost to approximately $135.
This is the fourth Edición Regional produced for Cuba, joining the La Gloria Cubana Deliciosos from 2009, El Rey del Mundo Infantes from 2013 and the Diplomáticos Excelencia from 2015.
The Saint Luis Rey brand is one of the smallest in the Habanos S.A. portfolio despite having been established in approximately 1940. There are currently three regular production lines in the marca, Regios (5 x 48), Serie A (5 3/5 x 46) and Double Coronas (7 3/5 x 49). This is just the third Edición Regional release for the marca, joining 2009’s Pacificos (6 1/10 x 52), a pyramid released for the Asia Pacific region, and 2014’s Inca (4 x 50) released for Peru.
Photos courtesy of Frédéric Dechamps/La Casa del Habano Knokke
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 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.
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