Habanos Festival 2020 Report:

In what is set to be a most auspicious year for the Cuban cigar industry there are also many incredible milestones being reached by several of the most iconic brands in the Habanos SA portfolio, with a wonderful array of new cigars being revealed and showcased at the Festival Del Habanos XXII, so let's take a look at what exciting offerings we have to look forward in 2020!

Montecristo

Celebrating their 85th birthday in style this year, much like their 80th birthday with the 80 Aniversario, Montecristo are pulling out all the stops with their Herederos vitola (translating as “Heirs” in English), a beautiful and sizeable parejo clocking in at 6 ⅜” x 47 ring gauge, presented in an immaculately varnished commemorative humidor containing 20 cigars, soon to become available exclusively via La Casa del Habano and Habanos Specialists retailers!

Romeo y Julieta

The focus of this year’s Habanos Festival was shining the spotlight on the truly iconic Romeo y Julieta, ushering in their 135th anniversary year with a brand new product line: Línea De Oro (The Gold Line), an exuberant trio of highly varied heavy ring gauge stogies sure to tantalise fans of the heftier side of cigars! The Línea De Oro offerings we’re waiting for with baited breath will include the Dianas, measuring in at 5 11/16” x 52 ring gauge; a beefy ol’ figurado in the form of the Nobles (5 5/16” x 56 ring gauge) and the particularly hefty Hidalgos (4 ⅞” x 57 ring gauge), all of the aforementioned beasts will be arriving in beautifully presented boxes of 20!

La Casa del Habano & Juan Lopez

A spectacular double-header now enters the fray, as the La Casa del Habano network celebrates its 30th birthday, which wonderfully coincides with the 150th anniversary of one of the unsung heroes of the Cuban cigar world, Juan Lopez!

This was of course the perfect chance to take the immense Juan Lopez blend and propel it to new heights with the Selección Especial, naturally a LCDH exclusive!

Soon to be distributed in one of the crispest and prettiest boxes (of 25) we’ve ever seen; the Selección Especial weighs in at a fairly meaty 6 11/16” x 52 ring gauge and we very much hope that it will draw a good deal of attention to this often criminally overlooked brand!

Partagas

It’s looking to be a most prosperous year for heavyweights, Partagas! Ringing in their 175th anniversary with much aplomb, not only will the Partagas Legado (6 ⅛” x 48 ring gauge) represent the ONLY Edición Limitada for 2020 (as opposed to the usual annual trio of Edición Limitada outings) but the year will also see the release of 450 numbered commemorative humidors, each containing 50 Partagas Tropicales, a thoroughly imposing new vitola (6 ⅘” x 54 ring gauge) very appropriately created for such a monumental milestone!

Bolivar

Whilst 2020 may only see the release of one Edición Limitada, that doesn’t mean we won’t be clasping our eyes on a few other special releases, enter: Bolivar’s Belicosos Finos Reserva Cosecha 2016!

Marking the first time that a “non-global” Habanos SA brand has been selected for a Reserva or Gran Reserva release since Habanos SA’s decision to restructure their brand structures last year, given that many insist that the regular Belicosos Finos is one of the all-time greatest cigars in production, this is an immense stogie to have selected for this honour!

As the name would suggest, the Belicosos Finos Reserva Cosecha 2016 utilises tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region’s 2016 harvest, will be presented with the black and silver Reserva secondary band and shall be packaged in stunning lacquered boxes of 20.

Hoyo De Monterrey

Last up, but certainly by no means least, we have the Hoyo De Monterrey Primaveras (6 7/12” x 48 ring gauge), created to honour the Chinese lunar year spring festival and the coming of the Year of the Ox!

Keeping with the tradition of celebrating the Chinese New Year, the boxes themselves will be adorned with red and gold, two highly venerated colours in Chinese culture, red symbolising good fortune and joy, while gold represents wealth.

Also in keeping with this tradition 8,888 boxes of 18 cigars will be produced, as 8 is also revered in Chinese culture as an especially lucky number

Many of these releases shan’t see the light of day until well into 2020, but given that we’re extremely excited about receiving them, you can be sure to see their arrivals heralded with much fanfare on our social media. Here’s to a great 2020 for the cigar world!

Images courtesy of Habanos.com and Cigar Aficionado