Cuban Bolivar New Gold Medal Makes Its Way To Market
La Casa del Habano shops around the world are starting to receive the Bolivar New Gold Medal, a Casa exclusive that comes enrobed in golden foil. The fancy-looking cigar got its premiere party during the Habanos Festival earlier this year and is now trickling into global markets.
The Bolivar New Gold Medal measures 6 1/2 inches long by 48 ring gauge, a shape known as Partagas 15 in Cuban cigar factories. (The “new” in the name is to highlight its difference from the cigar simply known as Bolivar Gold Medal, which was the same length but thinner, only 42 ring, before it was discontinued in 2011.) Each cigar is wrapped in a regal sheet of golden foil paper embossed with the repeating Bolivar logo. While Cuban cigar markets like the U.K. and Canada still await shipments, other countries have them for sale.
Germany’s Casa del Habano shops received the cigars today, and they retail for 270 euros a box (nearly $300), or 27 euros per cigar (about $30).
The tiny nation of Andorra has the cigars for 25 euros each (about $27.60) or 250 euros per box (about $276). Compare that to Hong Kong, one of the world’s most expensive countries to buy Cuban cigars, where the same cigar will set you back HK$638, or about $81.80 each.
If you find yourself in Chile, the Bolivar is already on shelves. The Casa del Habano in Santiago charges 39,000 Chilean pesos per cigar, which amounts to about $46.60. Further north in Mexico, the New Gold Medal goes for 850 Mexican pesos, or nearly $51 per cigar.
Planning on flying to Lebanon? The duty-free Casa in Beirut’s international airport currently sells the Bolivars for $265 per box, although the price is set to go up in the beginning of August to $300, putting the cigars at $30 apiece.
Next week on August 8, Switzerland’s Casa del Habano shops will have the cigars for 290 Swiss francs per box (about $334.27), or 29 Swiss francs per cigar, equaling about $33.43. That same week, Portugal will be selling them for 25 euros each (about $27.60) or 250 euros per box (about $276).
La Casa del Habano franchise shops are partially owned by the Cuban government and specialize in Cuban cigars. According to Habanos S.A., there are 157 Casa locations globally.
For a rating of the Bolivar New Gold Medal, see a future issue of Cigar Insider.
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