Of all the countries and regions that have had Edición Regional cigars produced for them by Habanos S.A., few have been as intriguing to me as Italy, and it’s for one reason: shipping.

As you might be aware, Italy was one of the two original countries selected for the Edición Regional program in 2005, receiving the Punch Superfinos and Ramón Allones Selección Suprema, while Switzerland received the Punch Robusto and Ramón Allones Eminencia. Since that time, it has added two La Escepcíon releases and a gold foil-wrapped Punch Diademas Extra, all of which have gained a high level of desirability among cigar collectors.

Unfortunately, Italy has strict laws limiting the shipping of cigars out of the country, making its releases more challenging to obtain, local laws notwithstanding, of course.

For its most recent Edición Regional release, the Italian distributor, Diadema S.p.a., chose the La Flor de Cano marca, a brand that dates back to 1884 but which is classified as a local brand, meaning it has a very minor market share. There are only two regular production sizes in the line at the moment, the Petit Coronas, a cedar-wrapped 4 4/5 x 40 corona; and the Selectos, a long corona that measures 5 9/10 x 41, both of which are short-filler handmade cigars. The brand’s last long-filler cigar—the La Flor de Cano Coronas—was discontinued in 2002.