Trinidad

A cigar brand closely linked to Cohiba, which has emerged from the shadows almost 30 years after its creation.

The Trinidad cigar brand is named after the eponymous Cuban city, a municipality in the province of Sancti Spíritus. Founded in the 18th century by the Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, the city is now renowned for its historic center with its colonial architecture and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.

It was created under the impulse of "El Líder máximo", after the Cuban Revolution, three years after Cohiba, in 1969. The two brands are closely linked by their common history. Indeed, both, before being officially marketed, in 1982 for Cohiba and 1998 for Trinidad, were only intended as diplomatic gifts for foreign dignitaries visiting Cuba on official business.

Prior to their commercial launch, both brands offered a single vitola, differentiated only by the number of years of fermentation of the leaves used to make them, 3 for Cohiba and 2 for Trinidad. This was no doubt done in order to be able to rank the two brands.

Called Lanceros for Cohiba and not having a commercial name for Trinidad at the time, it is the emblematic Laguito No.1 vitola, named after the eponymous factory, which also housed the production of both brands, but we will come back to that later. While the Lanceros is still in Cohiba's catalogue, the Laguito No.1 from Trinidad was discontinued in 1997 and replaced by the Laguito Especial. The Laguito Especial also has a "perilla" (pigtail) and is the same length, 192 mm, but with a slightly higher cepo, up to 40, compared to 38 for its "factory cousin", the Laguito No.1.

The Trinidad Fundadores was then born! It remained the only cigar of the brand for 5 years before the arrival of a new vitola in 2003. Even today, the Laguito Especial remains an exclusive vitola of the brand and is still used as diplomatic gifts.

The Languito No.1 Trinidad, nicknamed "diplomatic gifts" have never been offered for sale. Only a few rare foreign dignitaries have had the chance to taste them.

Cohiba Lanceros and Trinidad "diplomatic gifts", both could, if not immediately enjoyed, be offered in what is known as a "Bohio", of which you can see an original copy of the time in the photo. This humidor, produced in the 1960s, represents a typical Cuban farm worker's house. Resulting from Cuban craftsmanship, it remains one of the most important humidors in Cuban cigar history. Its generous dimensions allowed it to store up to 250 cigars.

For many years, Trinidad made its cigars in the famous Cohiba factory, "El Laguito". El Laguito is arguably the most beautiful cigar factory in Havana and perhaps in the world. At the end of 2004, the demand for Trinidad exceeded the production capacity of the factory. As a result, the production of all the brand's vitolas was moved to Pinar del Rio, in the Vuelta Abajo, the region where all the leaves that make up Trinidad cigars come from.

As mentioned, it was not until 2003 that new cigars appeared: the Reyes (40 x 110 mm), the Coloniales (44 x 132 mm) and the Robusto Extra (50 x 155 mm), which was subsequently discontinued in 2012 before returning this year in an exclusive limited edition for Duty Free and Travel Retail stores.

The global launch was made official at a Cigar Diner hosted by Hunters & Frankau, the exclusive distributor of Cuban cigars in the UK, held on 10 November 2003 at the London Hilton on Park Lane, as evidenced by the original menu given to each guest. During this dinner, a unique Trinidad ashtray was hand signed by the four personalities of the evening: Sr. Fernando Lopez (former director of the H. Upmann factory and general manager of the Cuban tobacco industry), Sr. Raúl Valladres (master blender of Trinidad), H.E. Sr. José Fernandez de Cossio (Cuban Ambassador) and Mr. David Lewis (shareholder of Hunters & Frankau).

2009 will be marked by the arrival of the now highly coveted Robustos T (50 x 124 mm). A highly coveted product because it had a very short production before being discontinued in 2012.

At the XXI Habanos Festival in 2019, the Trinidad cigar brand was honoured as part of its 50th anniversary. This was an opportunity for Habanos to present three new regular production vitolas: the Esmeralda (54 x 145 mm), the Media Luna (50 x 115 mm) and the Topes (56 x 125 mm), as well as the Trinidad Casilda (53 x 185 mm), the second volume of the Colección Habanos dedicated to the brand, after the Torre Iznaga (52 x 170 mm) from 2006.

Although the brand is one of the youngest of Habanos S.A., Trinidad enjoys great popularity among initiated aficionados and already offers a great range of highly sought-after collector's items. Among them are the Trinidad 40 and 50 Aniversario Humidor and the Farm House Humidor, which we present to you today.

Since its creation, Trinidad has been a mysterious brand, available in very limited quantities. Trinidad is characterised by its exclusivity and has become a brand of choice for those who want to stand out from the crowd.

To learn more about Trinidad cigars and the history of the brand, we would be delighted to welcome you to our walk-in humidor, where you will find exclusive pieces from the history of the brand, special productions, but also cigars from regular production.

(Pieces from our private collection)

For more information, contact us on +41 22 552 2799