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| COHIBA IS NOW NO. 1 |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Our Register & Win winner of the week!Los Angeles, February 27 – If you ask someone on the street if they can name a cigar brand, chances are good that they’ll say Montecristo. There’s a good reason why. Montecristo has been an enormous success ever since it was introduced in Havana in 1935 and has – for decades – been the biggest earner among all Havana brands, certainly since the late 1960s. But it isn’t anymore. Habanos, S.A. vice president Manual Garcia told attendees during Monday’s opening session of the 10th Festival del Habano in Havana that Cohiba passed Montecristo in 2007 as the largest-selling brand. The official press announcement cited the addition of the Cohiba Maduro 5 line last year as the catalyst for the change at the top of the sales table. [Update: Garcia clarified Wednesday that Cohiba was the most profitable brand for Habanos in 2007, but Montecristo continued to have the greatest sales volume among Habanos brand in 2007.] What’s most amazing about the ascension of Cohiba is that with so many Cuban brands that have deep roots as far back as 1834, the top spots are relative newcomers introduced to the international markets in 1935 (Montecristo) and 1982 (Cohiba). As expected, Habanos also formally announced on Monday that two cigars that starred as Edicion Limitadas would join the regular lines of their brands: The Limitadas line for 2008 will include a normal class of three cigars: And there will be a raft of Edicion Regionales, a new book-style Coleccion Habanos and some other collector’s items to be offered only at the Casa del Habano. Note that the sizes of these newly-announced cigars are fully modern, i.e., 50 ring gauge or more. Although 50-plus ring gauge cigars were a rarity from Havana in the 20th Century, they’re very much a part of the new-products line in the 21st Century. When will the Cubans introduce their first 60-ring cigar? London police begin investigation into cigar case theft? Oh, those wild Brits. This is almost too unbelievable to be true, but truth is always stranger than fiction. |
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Did you know?
“"Clear Havanas" refers to cigars made in the U.S. but with tobacco imported from Cuba.
