New Cuban Trinidads Hit Global Market
Two new Trinidad cigars from Cuban monopoly Habanos S.A. have arrived in cigar shops all over the world. First announced earlier this year at the Habanos Festival, the Trinidad Topes and Trinidad Media Luna are now on sale.
The Topes, which measures 4 7/8 inches long by 56 ring gauge, might look familiar, as the size first appeared as a 2016 Edición Limitada. Now it’s part of the regular-production lineup of Trinidad. The Media Luna is a smaller smoke, which measures 4 1/2 by 50. Both cigars have the pigtail cap—a hallmark of the Trinidad brand—and each cigar comes in boxes of 12.
With tobacco and importation taxes varying throughout the globe, the prices of these new smokes will differ from country to country. In the U.K., for example, the Topes has a suggested retail price of £30.70 (about $40), the Media Luna, £22.70 (about $29).
Across the English Channel in France, the cigars are a much better bargain. There, the Topes will cost you only 18.10 euros (about $20) while the Media Luna goes for 13.30 euros (about $14.50). Travel one country over to Germany, and they’re slightly less with the Topes at 17.50 euros ($19) and the Media Luna at 12.90 ($14).
You’ll part with even more cash in Hong Kong, where you can expect to pay HK$468 (about $58.50) for the Topes and HK$348 (about $43.50) for the Media Luna.
A third new size, the Esmerelda (5 3/4 by 53) has yet to appear in stores. There’s no word from Habanos as to when it’s scheduled to ship, but retailers don’t expect to see it before the new year.
For ratings on the new Trinidad Topes and Media Luna, see the December 3, 2019 Cigar Insider.
