U.K. Cuban Cigar Distributor Releases Boxes of Aged Stock
Hunters & Frankau, the regional distributor of Cuban cigars for the United Kingdom, has been sitting on reserves of aged stock for decades. Now, these vintage Havanas have been released in what Hunters refers to as its House Reserve Aged & Rare program.
In addition to cigars with 10 or even 20 years of age, the program also includes first releases of Cuban cigars, discontinued lines, Edición Limitadas, Regional Editions and Gran Reservas.
According to the company, every single cigar has been checked by “fully-trained technicians from Habanos S.A.” at the Hunters & Frankau warehouse in the U.K. before a box is released from the House Reserve Aged & Rare collection. A secondary band and box markings indicate the age of the cigar.
As would be expected, the aged cigars aren’t cheap. A box of 25 Cohiba Esplendidos from 2001, for example, retails for £3,299 (about $4,279). A five-pack of Cohiba Lanceros from the same year goes for £490 ($650) and a box of Cohiba Maduro 5 Mágicos from 2007—the year they first came out—will set you back £2,013 ($2,668).
If you’re nostalgic for the discontinued Ramon Allones 8-9-8 lonsdales, a box of 25 from 2001 can be had for £1,618 ($2,144). A full box of Punch Tres Petit Coronas rolled in 1998 has an £800 ($1,000) price tag while a box of 10 Juan Lopez Selección Supremas, Britain’s Regional Edition for 2009, is marked at £942 ($1,248).
Hunters & Frankau’s territories include all of the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Ireland. The company first released its House Reserve Aged & Rare cigars in 2019. This marks the second launch of its aged stock under this concept.
To see how well cigars can age, Cuban or otherwise, see the Connoisseur’s Corner, Cigar Aficionado’s tasting of vintage smokes.
