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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.
El Rey del Mundo Joins The Forged Cigar Company Portfolio
The El Rey del Mundo brand is being added to the portfolio of Forged Cigar Company, the recently launched independent national cigar distribution network that handles a portion of General Cigar Co.’s portfolio.
The brand had previously been available exclusively through JR Cigar and Santa Clara Wholesale, but will now be available to all retailers.
El Rey del Mundo will be offered in six vitolas, with the Café au Lait using an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, while the other five sizes use a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper. All of the cigars use a Honduran binder and filler.
Other Brands Notes that this only includes the U.S. distribution rights for these brands, which are separate from the Cuban versions of these cigars.
In addition, the company said that the Forged Cigar Co. could also serve as a distributor for other, third-party brands that are not owned by General Cigar Co.
STG says that it has made a multi-million dollar investment in launching the Forged Cigar Co., notably a commitment to 12 sales reps. The list of sales reps includes a variety of industry veterans: Jared Biocca, Cameron Calhoun, John Gallogly, Nate McIntyre, Dave Mealy and Jim Murray.
It will be led by Sean Hardiman, who has worked for General for the last decade and is now the national sales manager for Forged. In addition, STG says that the Forged Cigar Co. will receive “independent marketing and customized programming” initiatives.