El Rico Habano New Look

Joined Dec 2004
1K Posts | 0+
Chicago
The following press release was issued by general cigar today.

Mods: This is a public press release intended for reprint and distribution.






For Immediate Release
August 3, 2005


Early El Rico Habano Label Discovered in Miami
Relic Spurs Redesign of Box and Band

New York, NY—Anyone who’s ever lived or worked in the same place for many years knows that once you start looking around, you won’t believe what you’ll find hidden in nooks and crannies. Thirty-seven years after his father set up shop at the El Credito Cigar Factory in Miami’s Little Havana district, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr., never dreamed he’d find a vintage El Rico Habano® band. That is, until it was right there in front of him.

Earlier this year, while looking through dust-covered boxes, Ernesto happened upon the relic, an El Rico Habano band that he thinks could have been from the late 1960s. Although it is unclear if the early incarnation of El Rico band was ever actually used, the sheer sense of surprise in finding it got Ernesto thinking. One thing led to another, and a new band design and box were born.

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr., explains, “When I found the band, I took a lot of time to really study it. And the more I looked at it, the more I saw it as a better visual reflection of El Rico, the first brand my father began making when he established the Factory in Miami. The revised band and box is as much a tribute to the Cuban heritage I share with my father, as it is to him for making the brand in the first place.”

El Rico’s new look, which can be seen at retail starting in late October, is decidedly more authentic in the Cuban sense, yet still maintains the integrity of the brand’s current appearance. The new band shape is less rounded and more angular, and while the gold coins and pin stripe treatments remain, they have been revised to mimic the vintage band. The El Rico Habano brand name itself has increased significantly in size, while the crest has been given a regal update, with the crown and robes being depicted in greater detail.

After the band was redesigned, the packaging was tweaked as well. The El Rico Habano slide-top box, which once sported a straight-from-the-factory-floor look achieved through unfinished wood, has gotten more upscale, due to a high gloss varnish and a two-tone black logo, with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr.’s name emblazoned on the side in red.

El Rico Habano cigars are handcrafted in the Dominican Republic under the careful supervision of Cigar Master Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr. Nicknamed “The Rich One” after its full-bodied flavor, El Rico Habano cigars are available in seven sizes, in natural and Maduro varieties.

The maker of such cigars as El Rico Habano, La Gloria Cubana® and La Gloria Cubana Serie R®, El Credito Cigars is a unit of General Cigar Co., Inc. which manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar produces Macanudo®, Partagas®, Cohiba®, Punch®, Excalibur®, Hoyo de Monterrey® and several other leading premium brands. In addition, the company grows long filler tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper tobacco in the Dominican Republic. Headquartered in New York City, General Cigar operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar, and sells through tobacconists nationwide. For more information about General Cigar, please visit http://www.cigarworld.com.

® El Rico Habano, La Gloria Cubana, La Gloria Cubana Serie R, Macanudo, Partagas, Cohiba, Punch, Excalibur, Hoyo de Monterrey and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co., Inc.
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