Cigar Investing

A hand-rolled Havana, whether set alight or set aside, can play many roles. Winston Churchill once had to stub out a cigar to rush to an emergency meeting during World War II. The half-finished piece was sold at an auction in 2010 for £4,500. Often associated with celebrations and prestige, cigars can also be highly sought after as investment pieces, with the rare types attracting significant prices. According to stats provided by U.K.-based Paul Fraser Collectibles, boxes of mid-1980s Davidoff Dom Perignon cigars, originally bought for less than £300, are now fetching around £6,000.

The experts agree that, today, some of the best cigars to invest in are Cuban limited-edition releases. These are cigars made specifically for geographic regions or individual nations. In 2018, at the Cigar Aficionado Big Smoke in Las Vegas, Rob Fox, of James J. Fox Tobacconists, the oldest cigar shop in London, explained.

“Spain has its own cigars. Britain has its own cigars,” Fox said. “These are cigars in traditional brands but the size is unusual. I’ve been buying a lot over the last two years. We’re lucky because [U.K. distributor] Hunters & Frankau has put a lot of care and attention into their regionals. Spain as well.”

The value of these regional edition cigars at auction is not only that the quantity is limited, but to get them, you have to travel to the country for which they’re made. That’s the only place they’re sold. These cigars tend to become more valuable over time. This increases the investment potential. Fox cited the example of the Punch Diademas, a 2009 limited release. A box of 10 retailed for about $221. Nine years later, that same box sells for about $885.

Limited Editions Cuban Cigars

It may seem obvious, but in almost every case limited edition Cuban cigars have increased in value over a period of time. The reason for this is generally because the demand remains whereas the supply doesn’t. As the name would suggest, these cigars are in limited supply and once production stops, no new batches are produceds.

This isn’t always the case because cigars such as the Cohiba Talisman were initially produced in 2017, and then due to the incredible demand, more were released in 2019. However, in most cases limited edition cigars are produced with a set number boxes.

Due to this lack of supply, they can be a great opportunity for those that aren’t tempted to smoke them. For instance, the Cohiba 1966 LE 2011 cigars were released almost a decade ago. Since its initial price point of around $890.00 (£650.00) based on todays value. The cigars are now retailing for almost $5,000, that’s more than five times it’s initial price point.

Another example is the Cohiba LE 2004 Sublimes. The retail price of these cigars are now an $13,120 (£9,600) and this is signifciantly higher than the initial price for these cigars. Ultimately, limited edition cigars from Habanos are almost always a good investment if you manage to keep them in great condition for a long enough period of time.

World’s Most Expensive Cigars:

600-year-old Mayan cigars: Worth an estimated $200,000
Corojo #5 El Gigante: $200,000
The Black Dragon (by Gurkha): $115,000 a box, or $1,150 each
Her Majesty’s Reserve (by Gurkha): $15,000 a box, or $750 each
Cohiba Behike: $450 each


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