There's nothing worse than when a particular cigar you enjoy runs out and becomes impossible to find. There are many reasons this may happen, be it pricing, distribution, production being limited in the first place, or the demand is so high that they're gone as soon as they arrive.
It is worth, therefore, keeping abreast of cigars where production is in demand, and frequent enough to be readily available wherever in the world you may be. One of the reasons I've grown to love the Epicure No. 2, for example, is that it's pretty much on every cigar menu, and available in shops. It means I enjoy a lovely smoke, and a consistent one at that.
Each Habanos SA brand is assigned one of four marketing tiers by the company—Global, Value, Volume or Other—and the number of regular production cigars within their selection varies immensely. Some have only a handful, while the six Global brands, namely Cohiba, Montecristo, Hoyo de Monterrey, H. Upmann, Romeo y Julieta and Partagas will always be available in any premises which has Cuban cigars for sale.
While these top brands may have huge selections some of the smaller marcas choose to focus on only a few, ensuring their quality is not compromised by spreading themselves too thin. Diplomaticos now has only 1 cigar in constant supply—the Diplomaticos No. 2—but is a favourite of distributors choosing their yearly Regional Editions. Vegueros make only four vitolas, as do Por Larrañaga and Quai d’Orsay—three excellent examples of smaller brands building their reputations by doing just a few cigars extremely well. Below, we share some of our favourite regular production Cuban cigars stocked in our shop...
One of the finest Robusto cigars to come out of Cuba, this cigar is part of Cohiba's Linea Clasica flagship range, and was first released in 1989. Handmade by talented craftspeople in the famous El Laguito factory, it measures 124mm by a 50 ring gauge, perfect for those of you who enjoy a medium- to full-bodied cigar. Sticking true to Cohiba's DNA, expect woody and spicy notes.
Romeo y Julieta Linea de Oro Dianas
One of three cigars added to Romeo y Julieta's regular production portfolio, the Diana makes up one third of the Linea de Oro—the Golden Line—created to celebrate the brand's 145th anniversary, alongside the Nobles and Hidalgos.
In an all-new Damas vitola, the cigar measures 5 ¾ inches by 52 ring gauge, and unlike the rest of the collection, it will offer a medium- to full-strength smoke. The Linea de Oro was announced to the world at the XXII Festival del Habano in 2020 and immediately became sought-after by aficionados around the world. Each cigar is dressed with a special band bearing the name of the vitola and a second gold band to protect the foot.
One from the Cohiba range that sometimes tends to go under the radar but is nevertheless a force to be reckoned with. The Maduro Secretos is the smallest cigar in the Cohiba Maduro 5 linea, which Habanos SA launched at the 2007 Festival del Habano.
The cigar's tobacco wrapper leaves are aged for a minimum of five years before being skilfully rolled into one of these works of art. This particular one measures 110mm with a 40-ring gauge. Its medium to full flavour profile provides a sweet yet intense aroma, making it a great match with a quality cup of coffee.
The Partagas Serie E No. 2 Cigar was released in 2011 by Habanos S.A. Its thicker ring gauge makes it highly distinguishable from other Cuban cigars, and a firm favourite of cigar aficionados the world over.
Sporting a Duke vitola, this smoke measures a whopping 140mm by a 54 ring gauge—not for the faint of heart, basically. They’re one of the largest in the industry, in fact. It’s full of long filler tobacco leaves, carefully selected from the Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba. As you'd expect, it is a full-bodied smoke, delivering rich and aromatic flavours.
Considered the quintessential Montecristo, and undoubtedly one of the finest Cuban cigars in general. It's a people pleaser to say the least. Sporting a Piramides vitola, the cigar measures at a mighty 156mm by a 52 ring gauge with a medium- to full-body. The cigar—a favourite of Mike Hughes—is bursting with rich and bold flavours—it’s significantly spicy, with strong notes of cinnamon and is balanced by its deep and smooth woody tones.
The Connossiuer A was officially released in 2013 and featured a new gold and red band which makes it very distinguishable, still to this day. For it, H. Upmann crafted a Genios vitola using the finest tobacco leaves harvested from the Vuelta Abajo region in Havana. It measures 140mm by a 52 ring gauge, which notably, is the first Cuban cigar of this format that's been created outside the Cohiba Cigars range. It provides a light to medium strength with floral, earthy notes and underlying sweetness throughout. Beautiful.