Cuba’s Small Rafael Gonzalez Brand Gets New Size
Rafael Gonzalez, a very small and rather innocuous Cuban cigar brand, has been expanded with the release of the new Rafael González Coronas de Lonsdales. The cigars first appeared in Portugal at a launch event via distributor EMPOR Importação e Exportação S.A. and are expected to go on sale at some point in the near future, but no date has been set. It’s the fourth size in the brand.
Despite the name, the new smoke is neither a corona nor a lonsdale. It measures 5 inches long by 48 ring gauge, which is classified as a robusto in Cigar Aficionado taste tests, and goes by the name Hermosos No. 4 in Cuban cigar factories. (It’s the same size as an El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme.) The cigars come 10 to the box.
Technically known as Flor de Rafael Gonzalez, the brand is far from new. It was created in the 1930s, but is overlooked by many cigar smokers, overshadowed by just about every other Cuban cigar brand. The suggested retail price for the Coronas de Lonsdales has been set in Portugal at 105 euros per box ($112.20) or 10.50 euros per cigar, which works out to around $11.20—considerably less expensive than typical handmade Cuban smokes. (The new cigars are totally handmade with long-filler tobacco.)
Rafael Gonzalez boxes always stood out in humidors for their unusual look, heavy on words, rather than graphics. The brand long came with an understated white box whose lid was covered in script, with an interesting note telling the reader that cigars should either be smoked within a month, or allowed to age for a year. The new size has a newer look. Instead of a dress box, the box is natural wood, the logo burned into the cedar. It remains understated, but has a look more like other traditional cigar boxes.
The bands on the line got a makeover last year.
Rafael Gonzalez pops up as the occasional Regional Edition cigar. The last time we rated a standard size was the relatively new size for the line, introduced 10 years ago. The other two standard sizes in the brand are the Panetelas Extra (5 by 37) and the Petit Corona (5 1/8 by 44).
For a rating on the new Rafael Gonzalez, see a future issue of Cigar Insider.
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