La Gloria Cubana cigars

The La Gloria Cubana name predates the Cuban Revolution — the brand traces its origins to 1885 in Cuba — but the version most American smokers know has a distinctly different story. Following the revolution, the Cifuentes family sold the US rights to Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Sr., who produced it in small batches at his El Credito factory in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. His son, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr., took over in 1980 and began rebuilding the brand's blend, introducing Nicaraguan tobacco to make the cigars stronger and more complex. The result developed a devoted cult following through the late 1980s and into the cigar boom of the 1990s.

Demand eventually outgrew El Credito's capacity. Production shifted to the Dominican Republic, and in 1999 General Cigar acquired the brand. Perez-Carrillo stayed on with General for a decade before departing in 2009 to found his own company, EPC Cigar Co. General Cigar has maintained La Gloria Cubana as one of its core premium properties since.

The Serie R Legacy

In 1999, Perez-Carrillo introduced the Serie R — the first major premium brand to release a 60-ring-gauge cigar as a regular production vitola, a move that effectively normalized large-format cigars in the US market. The Serie R remains the brand's signature, built on Dominican and Nicaraguan long-filler, a Nicaraguan binder, and an Ecuadorian wrapper. The Wavell offers a shorter, brasher entry point with a similar full-bodied profile. Note: there is a separate, independently produced Cuban Bolívar — this page covers only the General Cigar New World line. The two share a name and historical lineage but no common production.