History of Belinda cigars?

[El Presidente]

 

I came across these two pre revolution boxes of Belinda cigars yesterday.  I know the cookie cutter background (started 1882, lapsed 60's, reintroduced to make shitty cigars in 1989, deleted 2005), but I (and I am sure others) would love to flesh out more of this brand. 

Who was behind it?, how broad was the portfolio?, where was the factory/finca?

Post up whatever information you can find! 

 

 

 

[Lone Ranger]

Hi, I am trying to find out the approximate production time of mine Belinda tubes. Care for a look? Thank you.

[Havanaaddict]

I found this:

 In 1930, the firm of Fernández, Palicio y Cía bought up the brand, where it became one of the company's headlining cigar marques, along with Belinda, La Escepción, and Hoyo de Monterrey, and maintained its popularity with British cigar smokers.

A Collector's Chronology

To aid in the identification of these distinct historical periods, one can look for specific markers that define each era of production. The following breakdown highlights the essential characteristics to look for:

• c. 1900s – c. 1920s: Look for the name López y Cía prominently displayed. These bands are defined by their early embossing techniques.
• Early 1920s – c. 1930s: This short-lived design is identified by the address M. Gonzalez 10 and is distinctive for its use of blue highlights.
• c. 1930s – mid 1960s: A long-running classic featuring the M. Gomez 51 address, maintaining the traditional embossed style.
• 1989 – c. 2005: Known as Standard Band A, this period is characterized by a reduction in embossing and a cleaner aesthetic.
• c. 2005 – Present: Standard Band B introduced ICT standards while simultaneously returning to the embossed textures of the past.

Belinda was relaunched in 1989 with eleven low-cost machine-made vitolas for Eastern Bloc countries. Uniquely among machine-made cigars, this incarnation of Belinda reportedly used ‘long strand’ short filler, which is to say that the shredded tobacco that makes up the body of the cigar was in larger pieces than typical machine-mades.

International availability of Belinda expanded somewhat over the 1990s and into the 2000s, however, the number of vitolas gradually decreased to just a single cigar after 2005. The brand had virtually no international distribution after 2014 and was rare even in Cuba.

One last hurrah, however, came for Belinda in 2022. At this time cigar production in Cuba was greatly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and retailers all over the world were scrabbling for stock, which was answered by the appearance of a large volume of Belinda in many places around the world. One can only surmise that Cuba was exporting whatever cigars they had available, and warehoused stocks of Belinda that would otherwise have gone to domestic stores were shipped overseas.