Saint Luis Rey

About

Saint Luis Rey Cigars Over the years a handful of Cuban cigars have been created solely for the enjoyment of one particular nation of smokers – Saint Luis Rey cigars are a perfect example. Just as Quai d’Orsay cigars were originally only available to buy in France, Saint Luis Rey is a brand originally conceived for the United Kingdom market, by a pair of shrewd businessmen from London, before eventually being released to the world at large. Designed for exclusivity, these sticks have always been produced in limited numbers, and today only one regular production smoke is offered. Despite this relative obscurity, Saint Luis Rey is a marca which is considered one of the finest available by the most knowledgeable of Habanos fans. Records show the registration of a company named Zamora y Guerra in 1940 as the beginning of the Saint Luis Rey story. An agreement was signed between Cubatabaco and N.R. Silverstone Limited, a London-based cigar importers, for the brand to be exclusively distributed by them and limited only to the UK market. This agreement withstood even the Cuban Revolution before eventually, in 1993, it was decided that the firm’s monopoly on the brand would be halted and their presence made worldwide. Up until this adjustment, Saint Luis Rey were the only brand not brought to the UK by Hunters & Frankau (the sole UK importer for all other Cuban brands); after 1993 H&F held responsibility for all UK Cuban cigar sales and Saint Luis Rey began their journey into other markets. Pacific Cigar Company were the first to bring the brand to their region, importing the cigars to Hong Kong from 1994, before all other regions followed suit. At its peak, Saint Luis Rey production saw more than 10 different vitolas leave the factory – the same Briones Montoto factory where Rafael González and Romeo y Julieta cigars are made – before gradually reducing to just the one we have today. Many factors are said to have contributed to the scaling back of the brand, not le