Trinidad Travel Humidor Available Around the World, Sold in Regular Retail Markets – Cigar Aficionado
When Habanos S.A. exhibited at the Virtual Travel Retail Expo in October, the star attraction was a travel humidor wrapped in a brown suede-like skin and filled with 14 Trinidad Robusto Extras. The release was meant for duty-free channels and airport shops, and the cigars inside appealed to aficionados who knew that the 6 1/8 inch by 50 ring gauge Robusto Extras inside had been discontinued in 2012, and now brought back for this limited release. But the pandemic has caused some changes in this release, and the humidors are appearing around the world in regular retail shops as well as the duty-free and airport shops that this release was intended for. As with all Cuban cigars, prices vary from region to region around the world.
In Switzerland, the Trinidad Travel humidor went on sale today at La Casa del Habano retail shops where it has a suggested price of 700 Swiss Francs (or about $787). Next week, starting on February 18, the Trinidads will be available throughout Switzerland’s Habanos specialist shops.
Compare that to Hong Kong, where the humidor has a suggested retail price of HK$9506 (about $1,226). Cigars in Hong Kong are distributed by Pacific Cigar Co. Ltd., a company whose large territory covers most of Southeast Asia including New Zealand and Australia. The Trinidads are sold in normal domestic retail shops across the region.
As large as Pacific Cigar Co.’s distribution is, Phoenicia Trading A.A. has an even broader sphere, bringing Cuban cigars to more than 40 countries, including Lebanon, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and nations in the Middle East. Phoenicia has just received the Trinidads and tells Cigar Aficionado that the humidor will retail for $620 at Beirut Duty Free shops. It will also be sold in domestic markets.
France, however, is limiting sale of these cigars to duty-free outlets at the moment, though its regional distributor Coprova says that a widespread retail release across the country could be possible in the future. The official suggested retail price is 700 euros or about $850.
It is unclear whether or not these Trinidads are going to Germany. One of the country’s tobacco laws prohibits the sale of tobacco with any other product, and that includes humidors.
The U.K. still awaits its shipment of the Trinidad travel humidors, so no price has been set, but it is assured to be on the more expensive side of the global spectrum, as the U.K. has some of the highest retail prices for cigars in the world. Mexico’s prices for Cuban cigars also tend to run high. The Trinidads have landed there, where each humidor retails for 20,000 pesos, or around $1,000.
To ensure that these Trinidad Robusto Extras are not confused with older, regular-production cigars, each wears a footband.