La Flor de Juan López
The history of a brand born in the heart of Havana.
While the Juan López brand is relatively unknown compared to other Habanos brands, it was considered as one of the top ranking Habanos during two decades. Circa the early 1870’s a Spanish businessman named Juan López Díaz, established a factory in Havana. After six years of hard work acquiring knowledge in the tobacco field, Juan López Díaz registered in 1876 the brand: La Flor de Juan López.
No official sources allow us to be 100% certain of the origin of the painting that represents the Juan López brand. It seems that is has been inspired by works of Federico Mialhe, a French landscape painter that travelled to Cuba and designed three sets of lithographs from 1838 to 1854.
Year 1900 was an important year in the of Juan López history, due to the death of his creator. In 1918, the heirs of Juan López Díaz, decided to sell the company to an independent tobacco firm named “Cosme Del Peso y Cía“. At this time the Juan López catalogue offered height different vitolas, the Juan López Petit Coronas, Coronas, Panetelas Superba, Patricias, Epicures, Panetelas de Luxe, Titanias and Très Petit Coronas.
Few year later due to the Cuban revolution, the Cuban government nationalized the Cuban cigar industry and seized the factory where Juan López cigars were manufactured. Nevertheless, the production of Juan López cigars were still running and with such great success - such as it was at this time known as one the top selling brands that even exceeded popular brands like Quintero and José L. Piedra.
Post revolution the Juan López cigars were still produced in the same factory in Havana. For quite unknown reasons the brand started to drop in popularity in the late 1970, as a result, half of the standard production was discontinued. Letting the Petit Coronas, Coronas, Panetelas Superba and Patricias the four models still being produced and discounted between 2002 and 2017.
Subsequently, circa 1990, Juan López introduced two new cigars to its regular catalogue, still produced to this day: The Juan López Selección No. 1 and Selección No. 2. The latter contributed to the popularity of Coronas Gordas and Robustos among aficionados.
Today, the Juan López brand represents a small share of Cuban cigar exports, making it one of the smallest in its category. Although it is not as famous as the so-called "Global Brands" such as Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta or Partagás, the quality of these cigars, rolled "Totalmente a Mano con Tripa Larga", is simply incredible. The use of tobacco leaves from the Vuelta Abajo region offers a particularly balanced tasting experience. The brand's characteristic fresh, woody, medium to strong taste will appeal to most palates.
Despite a relatively small regular catalogue, the Juan López brand is frequently selected for regional editions. Indeed, to date, there are no less than 18 such editions with the arrival, in 2018, of the Punto 55 in Edición Regional Francia.
Switzerland, for its part, has already welcomed two Juan López in Edición Regional Suiza. The first one, released in 2008, the Juan López Maximos, a Hermosos No.2 (48 x 157 mm) and the second, the Juan López Eminentes, a Sublimes (54 x 164 mm) released in 2016. The latter was an opportunity to produce a humidor, exclusively for Switzerland, of only 100 individually numbered pieces. Made by José Ernesto Aguilera in Havana, each humidor houses 50 units of these "Sublimes" cigars.
Finally, the Juan López brand has joined the relatively closed circle of Habanos brands producing cigars exclusively for La Casa del Habano. In 2020, Juan López introduced the Selección Especial, a Fortunas measuring 52 x 170 mm. This vitola has already been produced by the brand in 2009 for the release of the Selección Suprema in Edición Regional Reino Unido.
To learn more about Juan López cigars and the history of the brand, we would be delighted to welcome you to our walk-in humidor, where you will find all the special productions of the brand along with the cigars from the brand’s regular catalogue.
(Pieces from our private collection)
For more information, contact us on +41 22 552 2799