Cigar News: Boutique Blends Brings Back Oliveros Gran Retorno

Boutique Blends Cigars has announced it is bringing back the Oliveros Gran Retorno, a line the company first introduced back in 2016. The line returns and will feature a unique aging process that the cigars have undergone. Like all of the lines under Boutique Blends, they will be distributed and sold under the Altadis USA umbrella.

Before there was Boutique Blends, there was Oliveros. And it was Oliveros that launched the successful Aging Room and Swag brands. While Oliveros never completely disappeared, the brand name did subside to the background. In 2016, Boutique Blends released the “Gran Retorno” (grand return), a line that was meant to mark the return of the Oliveros brand.

In May, 2017, Altadis USA and Boutique Blends entered into its strategic alliance. At the time the decision was made to concentrate on the Aging Room brand, and production of other lines such as Oliveros were put on hold. Fast-forward to 2020, and the Gran Retorno is making another grand return.

Production-wise, Oliveros Gran Retorno moves to the Plasencia factory, a factory both Boutique Blends and Altadis USA have worked with in the past. Previously Gran Retorno had been produced at Felix Mesa’s El Galan factory. For the relaunched Gran Retorno, Rafael Nodal, Head of Product Capability for Tabacalera USA, teamed up with Nestor Plasencia Sr. to select the right tobaccos and then begin the aging process.

The aging of the Oliveros Gran Retorno involved a unique three-stage aging process that first involved aging the tobaccos in traditional bales for 24 months. The cigars then remained “reposado” in the factory Cedar Room for six months before being packed and aged for more than 33 months in their individual cedar boxes in the company’s humidor in Tampa, Fla. This three-stage process involved over 5 years of aging.

“I love to create new flavors and new experiences,” Nodal explained in a press release. “This unique three-stage aging process revealed different characteristics at every step of the way. I loved observing how the tobaccos were becoming a beautiful marriage of flavors as they continued to mature.”

As previously, Oliveros Gran Retorno will feature three different wrapper options: Connecticut, Habano, and Maduro. Each blend will feature all-Nicaraguan tobaccos for the binder and filler. Each of the three blends will be available in three sizes – each named reflecting homage for Nodal’s passion for music: Swing (50 x 6), Banjo (52 x 4 1/2), and Fiddle (54 x 6). These names had been used on the previous release of Gran Retorno.

The tobaccos come from the Plasencia family. All are Nicaraguan grown except for the Connecticut Shade which is grown in Honduras by Plasencia.

The Oliveros Gran Retorno Connecticut will be released in late August, followed by the Habano in October, and finishing off the line will be the Maduro in December.

At a glance, here is a look at the Oliveros Gran Retorno: