Cuba’s San Cristobal 20 Aniversario Starting to Appear – Cigar Aficionado
While it was expected to debut in 2019, and the year 2020 is nearly complete, the San Cristobal de la Habana 20 Aniversario is just starting to reach retailers worldwide. The Cuban cigar was first announced at the 2019 Habanos Festival as a commemorative smoke marking two decades of the relatively young San Cristobal brand, which debuted in 1999.
The 20 Aniversario measures 6 3/8 inches by 52 ring gauge and comes in 20-count boxes made to look like small treasure chests. Its secondary band denotes the cigar’s status as a smoke made exclusively for La Casa del Habano shops, the official international retail chain of Cuban monopoly Habanos S.A.
Having just arrived in Germany, the 20 Aniversario has a suggested retail price of 35 euros (about $41.65) each. In the U.K., the 20 Aniversarios will be reaching retailers this week at £48.70 (about $64.75). Mexico has also received its allotment, where the cigar costs 800 pesos (about $40).
Lebanon’s Beirut duty free channels will sell the San Cristobal for $32.50, as the local distributor has received the cigar, but has not sent it out to retail yet, though it’s expected to reach stores soon. Across the globe in the Asia Pacific region—a large territory that includes Hong Kong, Australia and most of Southeast Asia—the exclusive smoke retails for HK$495 (about $64).
This wouldn’t be the first time that Habanos has released San Cristobals made especially for La Casa del Habano stores. In 2006, a trio of shop-exclusive San Cristobals hit the market—the Mercaderes, the corona-sized Oficios and the Murallas, a giant torpedo.
Those three sizes have since been discontinued, but San Cristobal has received some attention in the last two years. Habanos has put out the San Cristobal Prado (a belicoso for Habanos specialists) the La Cabaña (a Regional Edition for Cuba) and announced a 100-count humidor of a special-edition size called the 1519, made to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana.
For a rating of the San Cristobal de la Habana 20 Aniversario, see an upcoming issue of Cigar Insider.