Cuban cigar price increases, again
That’s not a surprise to most of us. Apart from Covid-19 and the rising demand for cigars, Cuba is also facing trauma from several disasters. Two massive fires were reported in early 2022 in the Cuba tobacco warehouse. A total of 31.5 tons of tobacco leaves were lost during the accident. From this, we may foresee that the supply of Cuban cigars will also be under tight control in the coming years.
Then, in late September, Hurricane Ian severely hit the Cuban tobacco fields. The flooding brutally damaged Pinar del Rio, the rural tobacco province that held 65% of Cuban tobacco crops, leaving 3.2 million citizens affected and countless fields destroyed.
Not only facing the loss of existing stocks and the entire growing season, Cuba also had to devote extra energy and resources to rebuild the damage from the several accidents, which left the cigar industry falling further behind in the following years.
Cohiba price will increase by 50%
Allied Cigar Corp.(ACC), a Hong Kong-based investment group, investing in Habanos, decided to unite the price of the Cuban cigar over the globe with Hong Kong’s price. Hong Kong is not only the benchmark for luxury products but also one of the city with the highest tobacco tax (with about 63% of the retail price).
The most notable increase will be the Cohiba. There will be a 50% increment for the Behike line and about 15% for other products. Remember back in the good old days (just four years ago), the selling price of the Cohiba Media Siglo per stick was $33, and now it is $60 and above. So whoever got the stock of Cohiba, hold tight and wait for good fortune.
With New World following Cuban footsteps…
Since the Cuban price soared with limited supply these few years, cigar smokers have no choice but to extend their hands to New World cigars. As predicted in our past article, with the dramatically increased demand for New World cigars, several brands have also announced there will be a price increase.
Alec Bradley, Arturo Fuente, Drew Estate and E.P. Carillo have already announced the price adjustment percentage. One significate price increase would be Davidoff. With an average 7% price increase and a 20% increase in the Winston Churchill Late Hour series. The Late Hour series is well-known for its strong and robust flavour, a similar substitution for Cuban cigars. Even with such price increment, The Late Hour series is still very popular among aficionados.
Lastly, let’s have some good news!
On the bright side, Habanos S.A. is bringing back the Habanos Festival after two years of suspension! The Habanos Festival is held yearly but has been forced to stop due to the global pandemic. Nevertheless, the festival is the biggest moment to open up the normally closed Cuban cigar factories and tobacco farms to tourists and foreigners.
As has been already announced the 23rd Habano Festival will take place from February 26th to March 3rd, 2023. If you haven’t planned your holiday, now is the time to explore the country of the finest cigars, with a total price of US$3,250 to access all activities, including field trips, dinners and auctions. We can expect nothing but numerous exciting events and releases to surprise us!
