La Gloria Cubana

Habanos says it was founded in 1885, a joya poco conocida of its portfolio, with more than a hundred years of history. According to Wikipedia, the Sociedad Cabañas y Castro created it; José F. Rocha bought it in 1905 and made it on Miguel Street in Havana; a British retailer speaks instead of José Rocha and Rafael García. Habanos writes that the brand stands out for an elegant presentation, especially in the Médaille d'Or series. Wikipedia lists four Médaille d'Or, from the No. 1 (7 1/4 inches on cepo 36) to the No. 4 (6 inches on cepo 32), plus the Taíno (7 inches on cepo 47).

The Médaille d'Or No. 4 is a Palmita of 6 inches on cepo 32 (152 mm); the Dalia is the No. 2, 6 3/4 inches on cepo 43 (171 mm), which Wikipedia calls particularly sought after. Habanos gives a medium strength and cigars entirely hand-rolled with long filler, with filler and binder from the Vuelta Abajo zone; a British retailer writes that their taste is often judged salty, especially after ageing.

According to Wikipedia, after Rocha's death in 1954 the Cifuentes family acquired the brand; after the Revolution production was interrupted for several years, then resumed around 1965 in the Partagás factory. A non-Cuban brand of the same name exists: Wikipedia says it is made in the Dominican Republic by El Credito for General Cigar, and the trade press (2001) relates that the Perez-Carrillo family was rolling in Miami in 1976 under this little-known name, before selling in 1999 to Swedish Match. The atlas treats here only Habanos' Cuban brand.

Wikipedia says it is produced in small quantities and appreciated by connoisseurs; it also lists regional editions, among them Deliciosos for Cuba (2009), and an Inmensos reserved for the Casas del Habano (2010).

Where is it rolled? In Cuba the question has a two-storey answer. Since 2002 each Habanos brand has had a mother factory, responsible for leaf selection and blend, and its cigars may be rolled in any of the island's few dozen factories under the mother's supervision; Habanos does not publish that map, the trade press reconstructs it. Habanos names no factory. A trade-press report (2011) places La Gloria Cubana at the Partagás factory, also called Francisco Pérez Germán, Calle Industria 520, in Centro Habana; another (2016) writes that the new Partagás factory, at the corner of Calle San Carlos, rolls it too, and that the old one no longer does. In October 2026, habanos.com lists it among the thirteen other brands of a portfolio of twenty-seven, outside the six global ones, the five value brands and the three volume brands; the trade press classed it in 2019 in the category of the others, out of twenty-one portfolio brands. The official page says it was founded in 1885, little known and loyally followed, all long filler, and singles out the presentation of the Medaille d'Or series. According to the trade press (2011, 2016), the Partagás factory also rolls Bolívar, Ramón Allones and Quai d'Orsay.

Range Depth

• Medaille d'Or No.4

  Wrapper Habano Colorado Claro · Strength Medium

  Palmita: 6 inches on cepo 32 (152 mm), according to Wikipedia. Medium strength for the brand, handmade long filler, filler and binder from Vuelta Abajo, according to habanos.com.

  Dalias

• Medaille d'Or No.2

  Strength Medium

  Dalia: 6 3/4 inches on cepo 43 (171 mm), according to Wikipedia, which calls it particularly sought after. Medium strength for the brand, handmade long filler.

🥃 Pairings

• Unpeated Highland whisky

  Spirits

  Suggestion: a mellow malt goes with a medium strength.

• Roasted oolong

  Tea

  Suggestion: a light, roasted tea for a cigar of medium strength.

👤 Associated figures

• Ernesto Perez-Carrillo

  His father relaunched the El Credito house in Miami around 1968; it rolled under the name La Gloria Cubana in 1976; he ran it after 1980 and sold it in 1999 to Swedish Match (trade-press report, 2001). This non-Cuban brand is distinct from the Habanos one.

✨ Notable limited editions

• La Gloria Cubana Marshall (Édition régionale Adriatique, 2008)
• La Gloria Cubana Glorioso (Édition régionale Royaume-Uni, 2008)
• La Gloria Cubana Deliciosos (Édition régionale Cuba, 2009)
• La Gloria Cubana Triunfos (Édition régionale Suisse, 2010)
• La Gloria Cubana Belux No. 1 (Édition régionale Belgique-Luxembourg, 2011)
• La Gloria Cubana Inmensos (exclusivité Casas del Habano, 2010)