Forged Cigar Co. To Distribute El Rey del Mundo – Cigar Aficionado
In an effort to bring the non-Cuban El Rey del Mundo catalog brand into the brick-and-mortar segment, Scandinavian Tobacco Group will begin selling its El Rey del Mundo cigars directly to retailers via its newly formed distributor, The Forged Cigar Company.
Previously available exclusively through JR Cigars (and its wholesale subsidiary Santa Clara), El Rey del Mundo will channel through Forged starting next month.
Forged is offering a truncated lineup of the cigars to retailers—six sizes, five of which are maduros. Robusto OSC measures 5 inches by 54 ring gauge and has a suggested retail price of $5.40; Robusto Larga OSC measures 6 by 54 and sells for $5.80, Robusto Supremo OSC measures 7 ¼ by 54 and costs $6.80 and Ronco OSC measures 6 by 60 is $7. Café Noir OSC measures 4 ½ by 35 and sells for $4.80. The Café au Lait, which is the same size and price as Café Noir, is made with a natural wrapper.
All of the cigars, save the smallest, come in boxes of 20. The Café au Lait and Café Noir are packed 24 to the box.
El Rey del Mundo cigars are produced in Honduras at STG’s HATSA cigar factory, and are made entirely from Honduran tobacco, except for the wrappers. Most of the line is wrapped with Connecticut broadleaf, while the Café au Lait has an Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper.
Forged will distribute El Rey del Mundo only to brick-and-mortar accounts. Online and catalog retailers will still order the brand directly through Santa Clara.