H. Upmann Regalias etc.

[Van55]

Reglias are listed on the Habanos s.a. website in the Petite Corona vitola along with Romeo y Julieta Romeo #2, Romeo y Julieta Mille Fleurs, Partagas Mille Fleurs, Punch Coronations and Hoyo Coronations.

These are all identical in size to the Marevas vitola.

I had thought that the only distinction between Petite Coronas and Marevas was that the former were machine made and the latter were totalamente a mano.

Has the Petite Corona vitola been discontinued? If not, are these now totally hand-made, long filler cigars?

[Trevor2118]

» Has the Petite Corona vitola been discontinued? If not, are these now totally hand-made, long filler cigars?

In the last official publication from Habanos, they still use both vitolas. Both are totally hand-made, long filler cigars.

[Claudius]

» In the last official publication from Habanos, they still use both

» vitolas. Both are totally hand-made, long filler cigars.

Arent marevas TAM and Petit Coronas machine-bunched and hand-wrapped? (Talking vitolas de galera)

[Trevor2118]

» » In the last official publication from Habanos, they still use both

» » vitolas. Both are totally hand-made, long filler cigars.

»

» Arent marevas TAM and Petit Coronas machine-bunched and hand-wrapped?

» (Talking vitolas de galera)

Used to be, but no longer. All 27 brands are FULLY HAND MADE.

See the following info.

Current Status of Production Cigars

The following summaries my investigations into the current (2006/7) status of Habanos Cuban Cigars.

It has been thoroughly checked out and has been confirmed by both Simon Chase of Hunters & Frankau, UK, Rob Ayala of FOH, & (subsequently) Christoph of LCDH Germany.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Currently there are now 27 brands in the Habanos Range.

All these brands are fully handmade.

Three of these brands contain all Tripa Corta (short filler) vitolas, these being Jose L Piedra, La Flor de Cano, and Quintero.

In addition, three other brands contain a single Tripa Corta (short filler) vitola, these being Por Larranaga, Rafael Gonzalez, and Fonseca.

Habanos no longer makes machine-bunched hand finished cigars. Production was reduced in the 1990’s, and was no longer produced by 2001.

Short Filler cigars should have TC stamped on the box, but several boxes have recently been found unstamped. Dissecting the cigars proved that they were short filler.

There are no longer any machine made cigars in the Habanos range. The Guantanamera and the recent mini cigar releases (Mini, Club, & Puritos) were always made (and are now distributed) by the Internacional Cubana de Tabacos s.a. The other machine-made brands (Belinda, Cabanas, Gispert, Los Statos, & Troya) have been removed from the Habanos range and were either discontinued or transferred to a company based in Spain.

This should put an end to the various theories, but remember…….anything can happen in Cuba.

Cheers, Trevor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copy of Simon Chase’s info:

Trevor

Apologies for the delay in responding but I have been away.

If you go page 35 in the 'Cultivating' booklet you will find that there are three ways to make a Habano: Totalmente a mano - long filler, Totalmente a mano - short filler and Machine made. This was the case in 2001 when we produced the booklet and it remains the same today. Machine bunched, hand finished did exist, but it was discontinued sometime in the 1990s.

There was some confusion during the early 1990s about Totalmente a mano being applied to boxes of short filler cigars, but the system developed at that time was definitely totally by hand, so it was logical to state this on boxes of these cigars. Machine bunched cigars were never described as Totalmente a mano.

It has been agreed that boxes short filler, handmade cigars should be identified by the letters TC (Tripa Corta) but this is taking a long time to implement.

The major changes that have taken place since the 2001 booklet and size charts were produced are:

(i) that all the formerly machine made cigars in the major brands' portfolios have been converted to Totalmente a mano, long filler and

(ii) that the marketing of the exclusively machine made brands such as Los Statos, Troya, Cabanas, Gispert and Belinda has been transferred to another company based in Spain.

Consequently the Habanos SA range now consists of 27 brands as opposed to 33, all made Totalmente a mano either using long or short filler methods. This is what is reflected on the new size charts.

It's not simple, but I hope this helps.

Simon

[Claudius]

Hey, Trevor, most interesting, thank you!

[El Presidente]

Trevor is correct...as usual ;-)

[bikeguy1]

Thanks Trevor...very helpful..

[Van55]

Yes, thanks Trevor. I think I had read that same information on another board. ;-)

And now for the follow-up question....

Does anyone have any RyJ Mille Fleurs or H. Upmann Regalias available for sale with 2006 or 2007 box codes?

At the prices I have found these would be great, great bargains for totally hand made, long filler smokes!