Whatever happened to La Vigia?

[Black Plague]

Anyone else remember this brand? They released a few in Canada in preparation for getting the copyright to the name, but they never released anymore. Saka reviewed the only size ever made, the Corona, on Cigar Nexus.

Anyone know why this line got the axe? I thought maybe Rob with his industry connections might be able to answer this.

[El Presidente]

» Anyone else remember this brand? They released a few in Canada in

» preparation for getting the copyright to the name, but they never released

» anymore. Saka reviewed the only size ever made, the Corona, on Cigar

» Nexus.

»

» Anyone know why this line got the axe? I thought maybe Rob with his

» industry connections might be able to answer this.

From memory the axe fell as one of the first decisions of the Altadis buy in (into Habanos s.a).

I will shoot an email away Monday and get the full details.

[Black Plague]

» » Anyone else remember this brand? They released a few in Canada in

» » preparation for getting the copyright to the name, but they never

» released

» » anymore. Saka reviewed the only size ever made, the Corona, on Cigar

» » Nexus.

» »

» » Anyone know why this line got the axe? I thought maybe Rob with his

» » industry connections might be able to answer this.

»

» From memory the axe fell as one of the first decisions of the Altadis buy

» in (into Habanos s.a).

»

» I will shoot an email away Monday and get the full details.

Awesome, Rob. Thanks a lot!

[Black Plague]

» » Anyone else remember this brand? They released a few in Canada in

» » preparation for getting the copyright to the name, but they never

» released

» » anymore. Saka reviewed the only size ever made, the Corona, on Cigar

» » Nexus.

» »

» » Anyone know why this line got the axe? I thought maybe Rob with his

» » industry connections might be able to answer this.

»

» From memory the axe fell as one of the first decisions of the Altadis buy

» in (into Habanos s.a).

»

» I will shoot an email away Monday and get the full details.

Did you ever hear back from them, Rob?

[shrink]

Whatever happened to La Viagra?

I believe that they were originally marevas, but when aged evolved into double coronas...

[Black Plague]

» Whatever happened to La Viagra?

»

» I believe that they were originally marevas, but when aged evolved into

» double coronas...

I've been thinking about this and here's some interesting thoughts about La Vigia, the time it was supposed to be released, etc.

Think about the mid to late 1990's. We saw a veritable slew of new brands and cigars from Habanos. We saw the introduction of five new brands to the market: Cuaba, San Cristobal, Vegas Robaina, Trinidad, Jose L. Piedra (actually a relaunch, since it had existed after the Revolution but been discountinued, then resurrect in '96), and the ill-fated La Vigia. And to the existing brands, new special releases like the Edicion Limitada and Millenium Jars. Why? Many think that it was because Cuba was anticipating Clinton would end the embargo and was getting ready with new brands to release in the US because they stood to lose the rights to the names of the pre-Revolution brands.

Then with the turn of the century, Altadis buys a controlling share and institutes a number of reforms. La Vigia, which saw limited introduction to Canada in order to secure the trademark there, was never seen again. Kind of makes me wonder why they deep-sixed it, yet chose to release the dog rocket Guantanamera brand a few years later!

Of course, with partial-owner Altadis owning the rights to 7 of the pre-Revolution brands, Habanos wouldn't take such a hit when the lawsuits come flying in after the embargo drops (though competitor General Cigar and Villazon do own the right to 10 others). Maybe Altadis and Habanos wasn't so concerned about starting new brands anymore because of their new partnership or maybe they just realized the embargo isn't ending anytime soon so they were in no rush. Still, it makes me curious what this brand might've been like. With it's name, possibly an Ernest Hemingway theme?

[El Presidente]

I received a reply from Havana yesterday saying that there is no record f the brand I provided them with some more information so we will see. Record keeping and Cuba are not synonomous unless it is individuals personal details.

I will have some more information next week.

I do like your theory. You also need to look at that late 90's period of time. Habanos s.a was a mess. They had every distributor in the world screaming at them for the disastrous state of cigar quality. Decision making was scattergun, no one was taking responsibility, they had no money for anything and on top of it all the largest cigar company in the world was courting you.

La Vigia from it's name to it's packaging looks like a poor imitation of Vegueros....which is a marketing failure.

Altadis with $500,000,000 stake wanted no more failures.

[genevapics]

So of the three players, General Cigar, Villazon and Habanos/Altadis, who owns the rights to which Marcas for the US market?

[chef2275]

I think that i heard(could be a rumor or possibly more) but it is the guy that owns a certain cigar store(warehouse)in North Carolina and don't know if rob will let me post the name of the shop. I can't think of his name right now, i will look it up. But i think that he is part of altaidis.

[skindiver]

» I think that i heard(could be a rumor or possibly more) but it is the guy

» that owns a certain cigar store(warehouse)in North Carolina and don't know

» if rob will let me post the name of the shop. I can't think of his name

» right now, i will look it up. But i think that he is part of altaidis.

That's really funny! Actually Altadis has purchased JR Cigars(previously owned by Lew Rothman,not exactly a North Carolina native,LOL)

That would allow a distribution network for cigars post-embargo, but due to political cicumstances beyond our control,the principals,nor you or I,may see the end.

[chef2275]

But it does create an avenue for them. Just think about it, Altadis saying to government, "if you want to double your money, hey here you go, we have a distribution center set up already. And in a way based on what raul said yesterday, how can you not guess or dream that this may happen in the future. Just a wish upon a star.lol

chef

[Black Plague]

» So of the three players, General Cigar, Villazon and Habanos/Altadis, who

» owns the rights to which Marcas for the US market?

Villazon owns the rights to Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, Belinda, and El Rey del Mundo and are under General Cigar's umbrella (but I'm not sure if General Cigar owns the names for Belinda and ErdM, because they aren't listed on their website). Besides that, GC also owns the US rights to Partagas, Bolivar, Ramon Allones (those three made by the Cifuentes family for GC, same family that made those three back in Cuba) Rafael Gonzalez, and Sancho Panza (don't know who makes these two), and La Gloria Cubana (made by the Carillo family, who basically stole the name themselves, as their claims to have the right to the name are pretty flimsy).

Altadis owns Gispert, H. Upmann, Montecristo, Por Larranaga, Quintero, Romeo y Julieta, and Saint Luis Rey for the US market.

Of the remaning Cuban pre-Revolution brands, MATASA owns Fonseca, someone makes a non-Cuban Cabanas, and I don't know if anyone makes a non-Cuban Jose L. Piedra, Flor de Cano, Troya, or Los Statos.

[genevapics]

Thanks Black Plague.

[tandblov]

Don;t forget the current lawsuit (or at least was a year ago) between the cuban government or it representetives, and the "Trinidad" family.

Yes there is a trinidad family, and they claim that cuba stole the brand from them.

Despite the fact that trinidad was only released in the laste '90's and is named after the city of trinidad and not the familial name.

Ill do more research and post it later....It's been a while since I read about it.

[El Presidente]

Altadis and Swedish Match (General Cigar) detest each other. I could not envision any situation in which they would work together.

Essentially, General Cigar will hold out for equal Cuban Cigar Distribution within the USA. That is a tall order. Their brand holdings in the USA form a block to Altadis domination. Either Altadis buy out their brands (why would GC sell?) or Altadis only distributes the brands they own.

There is passionate hate between the two groups. Swedish Match has slowly lost it's global involvement id Cuban cigar distribution. Their US position is their ace in the hole. They can and will be a huge pain in the arse.

[Black Plague]

» I received a reply from Havana yesterday saying that there is no record f

» the brand

Did your reply come from an aged British man who told you, with a wave of his hand, "These aren't the droids you're looking for," Rob? :-P

[El Presidente]

» » I received a reply from Havana yesterday saying that there is no record

» f

» » the brand

»

» Did your reply come from an aged British man who told you, with a wave of

» his hand, "These aren't the droids you're looking for," Rob? :-P

Have a little news.

The brand was registered in 1997. One vitola was made for one market. No cigars have been produced since.

If you register a brand name/trademark ...you have to use it. You do not have to use it continually to protect it (I am unsure of the Canadian rules but here it is 10 years from memory).

[Black Plague]

» Have a little news.

»

» The brand was registered in 1997. One vitola was made for one market. No

» cigars have been produced since.

»

» If you register a brand name/trademark ...you have to use it. You do not

» have to use it continually to protect it (I am unsure of the Canadian

» rules but here it is 10 years from memory).

That's consistent with what I'd read about it. I think the Canadian rule is just one year, hence the one-time production of the La Vigia Corona...then POOF!

Also, for anyone interested, cigarnexus.com actually reviewed the La Vigia Corona back when it first came out and gives what little background on it there is to give...[link]http://cigarnexus.com/mott/0699.html#Cigar4[/link]