Quai d’Orsay Especial d’Orsay Goes on Sale in Andorra

[JohnS]

Well, it's been awhile since this cigar was introduced at last year's Habanos Festival! Now it's finally coming to market!

 

Quai d’Orsay Especial d’Orsay Goes on Sale in Andorra

December 26, 2025 - Brooks Whittington

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the Quai d’Orsay brand, and now the cigar created to celebrate the occasion is on store shelves in Andorra.

The Quai d’Orsay Especial d’Orsay is a 6-inch (153mm) x 53 toro vitola that is called sobresalientes within the Cuban vitola naming system. This is the same vitola as the Romeo y Julieta Capuletos, a 2016 Edición Limitada, and the Por Larrañaga Sobresalientes, a 2014 Edición Regional release.

When the cigars were announced last year, Habanos S.A., the Cuban cigar giant, said it would be offered in both standard 20-count boxes and five-count gift boxes. On Dec. 15, the five-count boxes went on sale in Andorra, priced at €275 ($323.72). Maori Tabacs S.A., the distributor in Andorra, says the 20-count boxes are not yet available.

Habanos S.A. said that the cigar will be sold worldwide, but “produced in limited quantities,” although the company has not specified what this will entail in practice.

While most of the Cuban brands have roots on the island of Cuba, the Quai d’Orsay brand was actually launched in France, after Valéry Giscard d’Estaing—then the minister of finance and economic affairs for France—asked the general manager of SEITA, the French tobacco monopoly, to create a cigar that French diplomats could use as gifts. SEITA reached out to Cubatabaco, and officials between the two countries’ tobacco companies began working on a deal that led to the creation of Quai d’Orsay, which is named after the neighborhood in Paris, on the Seine River, where SEITA’s offices were located. For decades, Quai d’Orsay was only sold by SEITA.

In 1999, SEITA was merged with Tabacalera; a year later, Altadis, the new joint venture, purchased a 50 percent share in Habanos S.A.

Today, the brand is offered globally, though France remains the most popular market for Quai d’Orsay.

Source: https://halfwheel.com/quai-dorsay-especial-dorsay-goes-on-sale-in-andorra/459375/

[WestCoastSmokin]

$64.74 cents each is insane! Gladly will pass that up. If it adds up right, with out any extra add-ons. It’ll be around $1294.88 for a 20 count box. Sorry but for QdO, no. 

[VasileDulap]

11 hours ago, WestCoastSmokin said:

$64.74 cents each is insane! Gladly will pass that up. If it adds up right, with out any extra add-ons. It’ll be around $1294.88 for a 20 count box. Sorry but for QdO, no. 

Don’t forget Andorra has the lowest prices in Europe so I’m expecting 100$ per stick in other countries.

[Li Bai]

10 hours ago, VasileDulap said:

Don’t forget Andorra has the lowest prices in Europe so I’m expecting 100$ per stick in other countries. 

Sounds about right, plus some places there won't sell them to you unless you purchase one of their high-end shelf sitters.

[VasileDulap]

8 hours ago, Li Bai said:

Sounds about right, plus some places there won't sell them to you unless you purchase one of their high-end shelf sitters.

These might become the shelf sitters! 😁

[westg]

Beating size cigar!

[ltte]

Quote: "led to the creation of Quai d’Orsay, which is named after the neighborhood in Paris, on the Seine River, where SEITA’s offices were located"

I'm sure that Quai d'Orsay is named meaning France's Ministry for Foreign Affairs not location of SEITA offices.

Ltte

[Li Bai]

5 hours ago, ltte said:

Quote: "led to the creation of Quai d’Orsay, which is named after the neighborhood in Paris, on the Seine River, where SEITA’s offices were located"

I'm sure that Quai d'Orsay is named meaning France's Ministry for Foreign Affairs not location of SEITA offices.

Ltte

Well, actually there's only one man that could clear this up, maybe, Gilbert Belaubre. The Ministry and SEITA's offices were both on the Quai d'Orsay so I'm not even 100% sure Mr Belaubre could tell...

https://www.houseofgrauer.com/fr/blog/2022/01/quai-dorsay

[Allroz]

I like the five pack, don't care for the price though!

[Fugu]

2 hours ago, Li Bai said:

Well, actually there's only one man that could clear this up, maybe, Gilbert Belaubre. The Ministry and SEITA's offices were both on the Quai d'Orsay so I'm not even 100% sure Mr Belaubre could tell...

https://www.houseofgrauer.com/fr/blog/2022/01/quai-dorsay

The take of Bathie (giving account of / quoting Belaubre):

 

[Li Bai]

2 hours ago, Fugu said:

The take of Bathie

How I'd love to know what he knows about the current state of the Coprova...

I know they don't get to choose HSA's policy but rarely has a company disrespected as much its own customers as it has for the last couple of years. All the more considering the French market had been one of the most profitable for Cuba for decades 🥲

[Fugu]

Yeah, so true!

… And sorry for the redundant posting, @Li Bai! I didn’t check your link beforehand. Grauer seems to be citing from the same book.

[Fugu]

Actually, not so sure about its later regular pricing. This is a rerelease of the festival gift box. Special packaging, first to be out in the wild...HSA recently tends to draw some extra profit from these offerings. The past has shown that those units tend to be (considerably) dearer than in the following standard packaging (check out e.g. Party Maestra 3-pack, Espy GR 2-pack etc.). Also, from the general pricing scheme, Quai d’Orsay, as a former local brand, is and has always been positioned on the lower end of the scale. Below Partagás or Ramón Allones or Hoyo de Monterrey for instance, comparable to Diplomáticos. Although they might want to change that in the future, I still think expecting a regular pricing of similar to the No. 52 or slightly above (ok, this one’s got a foot band 😂) wouldn’t be too far off the mark.

Edit: I missed that this will be a luxury boîte nature packaging in the 20-count, too (HW stating standard, CCW luxury box). So, will certainly be higher priced than the standard line in its sbn packaging. But still, judging by past releases of such kind, likely to still be considerably lower than in the 5-count.

[gormag38]

On 12/27/2025 at 7:50 PM, WestCoastSmokin said:

It’ll be around $1294.88 for a 20 count box. Sorry but for QdO, no.

More like a QdNO 😁

But in all seriousness, I love the marca and I love the fact that they've historically been affordable. I know that's not the reality on the ground anymore, but 300 bones for a fiver of QDO is just silly, in my opinion. 

[Ford2112]

Are they going to make a 51 gauge cigar just to flesh out the options? 🙄

[KCCubano]

7 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

Are they going to make a 51 gauge cigar just to flesh out the options? 🙄

Its going to be the EL for 2028 but won't be released until 2031!