Habanos news from the festival. The Habanos Festival has started, and that means a tsunami on new items, news, rumors and more. Last week we published a list of cigars to expect, and now some pictures found their way to our inbox.

Revenue

For the last five years, the Habanos revenue has been growing year by year. The number of cigars produced remained declined by a few million since 2014, yet each year the revenue grew. Since 2016, each new year was a new record when it came to the numbers, Yet for 2019, the revenue was 6 million dollars lower than last year’s $537 million records breaking revenue. According to Habanos, that has everything to do with exchange rates.

The production of cigars remains steady. Just shy of 100 million premium handmade cigars are exported annually. The production number has been hovering between 90 million and 100 million for the last decade. About half of that production is exported to Europe. The Americas, Africa & Middle East, and Asia Pacific share the rest of the production almost equally.

Montecristo Herederos

2020 is the year that both Montecristo and the La Casa del Habano reach a milestone. The Montecristo brand celebrates its 85th birthday. The La Casa del Habano franchise is exactly 30 years old. To celebrate both occasions, Habanos is releasing an LCDH Exclusive Montecristo, the Montecristo Herederos.

The cigars have the secondary LCDH ring and will be sold in humidors. The humidors are filled with 20 of the new Montecristo Herederos. The cigars measure 6⅜x47. Pricing of the humidors and when they are available at the La Casa del Habano shops is unclear at the moment of publication.

Romeo y Julieta Linea Oro

Another brand celebrating a birthday is Romeo y Julieta. Founded in 1875, so 2020 means 145 years of the renowned brand. And it looks like Habanos is really moving the brand forward. Switzerland saw the release of the Romeo y Julieta Club King Retro. Late last year, the Romeo y Julieta Grand Churchill Humidor was released. 450 Elie Bleu humidors containing 100 7½x56 Romeo y Julieta GGrandChurchills for a price of €50.000 or more depending on the country of purchase. Then there was the Romeo y Julieta 8 Maravillas for the Chinese Zodiac Calendar release.

And now, at the Habanos Festival, a completely new line emerged. The Romeo y Julieta Linea Oro. And at Oro is Spanish for gold, the packaging is the classic Romeo y Julieta Red with golden details. There will be three vitolas on the market, the Dianas, Hidalgos, and Nobles. The Dianas measure 5 7/10×52. The Hidalgos is smaller but thicker with a length of almost 5 inches and a ring of 57. The Nobles measures 5 3/10×56.

Edicion Limitada

Unlike the last 15 years, 2020 will not see the release of three Edicion Limitada cigars. There will be just one. And that is the Partagas Legado. A 6 ⅛ x48 cigar made with tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region. Vuelta Abajo is located in the Pinar del Rio province of Cuba, which is known for the best Cuban tobacco. The cigars come in boxes of 25 with tobacco that has been aged two years before rolling. In the current years, the limited editions reached the shops at the end of the years or even in the new year. So be patient if you want to smoke the Partagas Legado.

Reserva Cosecha 2016

As usual, Habanos is releasing a Reserva or Grand Reserva. For 2020, it will be a Reserva from the 2016 crop. And the chosen brand is Bolivar. The Reserva or Grand Reserva is always a vitola that is available as a regular production as well but then in a limited edition with older tobacco and upgraded packaging. This year is no different. The vitola chosen is the popular Bolivar Belicosos Finos, a 5½x52 Figurado. The cigars will come in black lacquered boxes of 20 pieces. It’s the first time that Bolivar has been selected for a Reserva edition

Year of the Ox

Davidoff started a new trend when they released limited edition cigars based on the Chinese Zodiac Calendar. And the Spanish Habanos distributor followed suit with two regular production releases with additional rings and new packaging. Those were a success, so for the 2020 Year of the Rat, Habanos decided to board that train. They released the Romeo y Julieta 8 Maravillas. 2021 will be the Year of the Ox. Habanos announced that they will release a cigar celebrating the Year of the Ox as well.

For the Year of the Ox, Habanos created the Hoyo de Monterrey Primaveras. Those are a 6½x48 cigar. Limited to 8888 boxes of 18 cigars, as 8 is a lucky number in the Chinese culture. And to further enhance the Chinese connection, the colors red and gold are used on the secondary ring and packaging.