PCA 2025: Global Premium Cigars (1502)

There were quite a few changes at the Global Premium Cigars booth at the 2025 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show. For starters, CEO Enrique Sanchez was joined by his new Chief Growth Officer, Jaime Florez-Estrada, a veteran of the cigar industry. On the cigar front, the 1502 brand is going through a substantial repackaging. Finally, there was a new blend – a Connecticut Shade offering under the Cachitos brand.

Cachitos

Cachitos is introducing a second blend. Launched in 2018 by Global Premium Cigars as a value-priced brand aimed at satisfying smokers, Cachitos is now adding a Connecticut Shade blend alongside its existing Nicaraguan-wrapped option. Notably, this marks Sanchez’s first release featuring a Connecticut Shade. The cigar sells for an SRP of $5.50 each.

Additionally, the packaging for the original Cachitos has been updated from its original design. Both are now offered in five-count boxes.

1502 Repackaging

A couple of years ago, Global Premium Cigars introduced individual cardboard boxes for select lines. CEO Enrique Sanchez said of the change that he was seeing a lot of his product in Europe in trays due to limited humidor space. Sanchez thought something was lost when his products were not in the box, specifically the branding on the box. Therefore, he devised a solution of putting individual cigars into a cardboard case. A unique feature is that when the boxes are placed next to each other, it allows the 1502 logo and branding to be displayed on the trays. This year, the cardboard boxes are being expanded in the portfolio to include the individual boxes inside the full box. The full boxes have been redesigned to accommodate this.

Global Premium Cigars will begin the transition with select vitolas before converting the remainder of its portfolio to this model. This includes:

1502 Blended Selection (Emerald, Ruby, Black Gold): Robusto and Toro
1502 Nicaraguan Selection (Nicaragua, Blue Sapphire): Robusto, Toro, and Churchill
Aniversario 10 (Toro)

The 1502 XO will not transition to this model, according to 1502. In addition, separate 20-count “magazines” will also be produced and made available for the individual cigars inside the branded cardboard boxes, which will serve as a less-expensive refill option for the 1502 cabinet boxes, permitting additional retailer margin and also helping reduce industry cigar box waste.