- Quai d'Orsay (cigar brand)
Quai d'Orsay is the name of a premium
cigar brand, produced on the island ofCuba forHabanos SA .History
The Quai d'Orsay brand was created by
Cubatabaco in 1973 for the French statetobacco monopoly ,SEITA , and was blended with French tastes in mind, being a milder brand. There are a few competing stories as to what the marque's name refers to: one is that it is referring simply to the famousParis avenue , another is that it refers to theFrench Foreign Ministry that is located on it, and another is that it is referring to the headquarters of SEITA which is also on the same avenue.Quai d'Orsay was apparently outside of the umbrella of Habanos SA for a number of years and was managed directly by Cubatabaco and SEITA, but judging by packaging, Habanos SA documents, and SEITA's merger with
Tabacalera into the multi-national tobacco company ofAltadis , it appears Quai d'Orsay is a part of Habanos SA like all other Cuban-made brands of cigars.Another oddity of the Quai d'Orsay line are its Corona cigars. Up until the late 1980s, Quai d'Orsay still manufactured its Coronas in two different wrapper shades: Claro and Claro Claro. As the fashion for lighter wrappers diminished (and supposedly as consumers noticed they were paying more for essentially the same cigar with the wrapper making a very minor difference) production eventually ceased of the Coronas Claro Claro. Though the box still says "Coronas" on it, the official production name is still "Coronas Claro".
"Vitolas" in the Quai d'Orsay Line
The following list of "vitolas" (sizes) within the Quai d'Orsay line lists their measurements in English and metric, their "vitolas de galera" (factory name), and their conventional name in American cigar slang.
"Hand-Made Vitolas"
* Imperial - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill
* Gran Corona - 6 1/8" x 42 (155 x 16.67 mm) Corona Grande, a long corona
* Corona Claro - 5 5/8" x 42 (142 x 16.67 mm) Corona, a corona
* Panetela - 7" x 33 (178 x 13.10 mm) Ninfa, a slim panetelaReferences
* Nee, Min Ron - "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" (2003, Reprinted: 2005), ISBN 3-9809308-2-3
See also
*
Cigar brands External links
* [http://www.habanos.com Official website of Habanos S.A.]
* [http://www.cigars-review.org/cigars/Quai-d-Orsay.htm Reviews of Quai d'Orsay Cigars]
* [http://www.cubancigars.net.au Quai d'Orsay reviews and cigars]
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