R.E. on old punch bands. What does it mean?

[Bijan]

Smoking a punch royal selection no. 12 and curious.

Anyone know what the RE stands for?

[gojira]

There was a discussion about this on a FB group. Will try to find the answer but I recently left about 25 cigar groups and just stayed in the most interesting ones.

 

Here you go (borrowed from Habanos knowledge):

 

Answer:
After advising with the panel, we have concluded that there could be two versions of the meaning of RE on the top of the box of the Punch:

1. The first one is that on “habilitaciones” of Punch which is a design that bears the crown of the Kingdom of Spain and the inscription R.E., which stands for Reino de España (Kingdom of Spain). In addition, on the logo it is written: Real Fabrica de Tabacos Punch.
2. The other version is that that RE stands for Regalia Especial.

The word Regalia (Privilege) was used by Ramon Allones as well to add prestige to his cigars. After this many factories used it for some vitolas.

On the new ring of Punch, the RE has been removed and where the name Manuel Lopez was on the ring now states CUBA.