Description
Quai d’Orsay – No. 54
🌍 Origin & French-Cuban Heritage
- Brand: Quai d’Orsay — one of the most distinctive marques in the Cuban Habanos portfolio, combining traditional Cuban craftsmanship with an unmistakable French identity.
- Origin: Cuba 🇨🇺, handcrafted entirely with premium Cuban tobacco.
- Brand Established: 1973, when Cubatabaco created Quai d’Orsay specifically for the French market at the request of the former French tobacco company Seita.
- Name Inspiration: The marque takes its name from the famous Quai d’Orsay avenue in Paris, situated along the Seine and historically associated with French elegance and refinement.
- International Expansion: For decades Quai d’Orsay was largely a French-market treasure before Habanos relaunched the marque for worldwide distribution.
- No. 54 Introduced: The No. 54 became part of the redesigned international portfolio in 2017, bringing a modern, larger-ring format to this historically elegant Cuban brand.
- Wrapper: Cuban
- Binder: Cuban
- Filler: Cuban long-filler tobacco
- Tobacco Region: Crafted with selected leaves from Vuelta Abajo in Pinar del Río, Cuba’s most celebrated premium tobacco-growing region.
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Construction: Totalmente a Mano con Tripa Larga — completely handmade using traditional Cuban long-filler construction.
👅 Taste & Flavor Profile
- Opening: Begins gracefully with floral aromas and elegant Cuban tobacco, immediately establishing the cigar’s refined personality.
- Developing Flavors: The profile gradually becomes richer, revealing notes of coffee, earth and seasoned wood.
- Natural Sweetness: One of the No. 54’s most attractive characteristics is a recurring caramel-like sweetness that beautifully balances the cigar’s savory tobacco.
- Chocolate Character: Highly rated examples have displayed attractive impressions of chocolate, adding richness without making the cigar excessively heavy.
- Leather: Subtle leather notes provide additional depth and classic Cuban character.
- Woody Complexity: Rich impressions of oak and seasoned woods provide structure through the middle and final portions of the cigar.
- Fruit Nuance: Cigar Aficionado has also noted a pleasant fruity element toward the finish.
- Sweet & Savory Balance: Its award-winning profile has been compared to the contrast of a salted caramel praline — combining savory Cuban tobacco with refined sweetness.
- Finish: Long and elegant, with lingering impressions of oak, fruit, caramel, coffee and refined Cuban tobacco.
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Overall Flavor Experience: A beautifully nuanced balance of floral notes, coffee, earth, wood, chocolate, caramel and fruit — sophisticated rather than overpowering.
💨 Smoke Characteristics
- Official Brand Strength: Light, according to Habanos S.A.’s official classification of Quai d’Orsay.
- Experienced Strength: The No. 54 can feel closer to Medium to Medium-Full in richer examples, particularly according to several Cigar Aficionado tastings.
- Body: Generally Medium-bodied and elegant, emphasizing flavor, aroma and balance rather than aggressive strength.
- Flavor Intensity: More substantial than the historic Quai d’Orsay profile, with noticeably deeper coffee, earth and wood character.
- Smoke Texture: Smooth, aromatic and refined, carrying a pleasing combination of sweet and savory flavors.
- Draw: Highly rated Cigar Aficionado examples have featured an open, luxurious draw.
- Burn: Top-rated examples have demonstrated an even, controlled burn, allowing the cigar’s subtle transitions to develop naturally.
- Smoking Time: Approximately 55–75 minutes, depending on smoking pace and conditions.
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Ideal Occasion: Perfect for an afternoon or early evening smoke, particularly when you want premium Cuban complexity without overwhelming strength.
📏 Format & Dimensions
- Commercial Name: Quai d’Orsay No. 54
- Factory Vitola: Edmundo Grueso
- Length: 5 3/8 inches / 135 mm
- Ring Gauge: 54
- Diameter: Approximately 21.4 mm
- Country: Cuba
- Wrapper: Cuban
- Binder: Cuban
- Filler: Cuban
- Packaging: Price per Cigar
- 54-Ring Gauge Advantage: The generous ring gauge provides substantially more filler tobacco than the historic slender Quai d’Orsay formats, creating richer smoke and greater flavor depth.
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Edmundo Grueso Appeal: At 5 3/8 × 54, it combines the concentration of a Robusto-style cigar with enough length for meaningful flavor development.
🏆 Cigar Aficionado Ratings & Recognition
- Top Cigar Aficionado Rating: ⭐ 93 Points
- Top 25 Recognition: 🏅 Ranked No. 11 in Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of 2018.
- 2020 Rating: ⭐ 92 Points
- 2018 Review: ⭐ 92 Points
- Most Recent Published Review: ⭐ 89 Points – Cigar Insider, July 2025
- 93-Point Flavor Profile: Cigar Aficionado praised the No. 54 as a subtle and refined Cuban cigar with an attractive balance between sweet and savory flavors.
- 92-Point 2020 Profile: A highly rated example opened with floral notes before developing stronger flavors of coffee, earth and caramel.
- 92-Point Construction: Another review praised its rich wood, leather and chocolate character together with excellent draw and combustion.
- Historic Achievement: The No. 54’s Top 25 recognition came shortly after its international launch, demonstrating how quickly this modern Cuban vitola established itself among serious cigar enthusiasts.
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Proven Pedigree: Multiple 92- and 93-point performances demonstrate the considerable quality potential of properly produced and aged examples.
✨ Why the Quai d’Orsay No. 54 Stands Out
- French Elegance Meets Cuban Craftsmanship: Few cigars have a story quite like Quai d’Orsay — created for France, handmade in Cuba and now enjoyed worldwide.
- 93-Point Cigar Aficionado Pedigree: An outstanding 93-point score confirms that the No. 54 offers serious quality beneath its refined personality.
- Top 25 Cigar of the Year: Ranked No. 11 in Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of 2018, an impressive achievement shortly after its global introduction.
- Sweet & Savory Complexity: Expect an elegant marriage of caramel sweetness, coffee, earth, leather, chocolate, wood and floral notes.
- Refined Rather Than Overpowering: Quai d’Orsay emphasizes aroma, sophistication and balance, making it an excellent alternative to heavier Cuban cigars.
- Generous 54-Ring Gauge: The modern 5 3/8 × 54 dimensions provide substantially more smoke and depth than the slender cigars historically associated with the brand.
- Authentic Vuelta Abajo Tobacco: Handmade using long-filler tobacco selected from Cuba’s legendary Vuelta Abajo region.
- Caramel & Coffee Appeal: Its combination of coffee richness and caramel-like sweetness makes the No. 54 particularly attractive to smokers who enjoy nuanced, dessert-like undertones.
- Highly Rated Construction: Top examples have been praised for excellent draw and even combustion, adding to the cigar’s polished character.
- A Modern Cuban Classic: Although Quai d’Orsay itself dates to the 1970s, the No. 54 represents the marque’s successful transformation into a modern international luxury Habano.
- Prestigious Humidor Addition: Its distinctive gold-accented presentation, unusual French-Cuban history and Top 25 pedigree make it a cigar that stands apart visually and historically.
- Excellent Aging Potential: Its combination of Cuban long-filler tobacco and substantial 54-ring format makes properly stored cigars particularly interesting for enthusiasts who enjoy observing how Cuban tobacco develops over time.
- For the Smoker Who Values Finesse: The No. 54 is especially compelling for customers seeking a premium Cuban cigar with sweetness, complexity and refinement rather than sheer strength.
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