Time to stock up as news coming out of Havana is that the Quai D’Orsay Imperiales, a 7 inch by 47 ring gauge Churchill-sized cigar, has been officially discontinued, leaving only the Corona Claro still in production.
According to Cigar Aficionado, production of the Imperiales came to a halt in the second half of 2014, so boxes of Imperiales with dates as late as May 2014 stamped on the bottom currently exist within the market.
“Because of the Habanos rationalization program, this vitola has been delisted from the catalog,” said Antoine Bathie of SEITA, the French arm of Imperial Tobacco and importer of Quai d’Orsay cigars. “It was delisted in the second half of last year, and the Corona Claro is the only remaining size.”
However the good news is that the regional edition cigars will still be produced in limited quantities which is great news.
We picked up a few regionals when we were in France a few months back and love them so will be sure to stock up next time we cross the channel.
Quai D’Orsay is well known as one of the smaller Cuban cigar brands, established in the 1970s it remains more of a local brand for France, but can be found across the globe. For how much longer we don’t know but it’s worth grabbing them when you can. (Or just plan lots of trips to France)