Montecristo Gran Reservas, extra-aged, ultra-expensive versions of Montecristo No. 2s, are heading to cigar shops. The cigars, which were presented to retailers and fans of Cuban cigars in grand fashion at the final dinner of the 2011 Habanos Festival in Cuba last February, are expected to reach many shelves before Christmas.



The same size as a regular Monte 2, 6 1/8 inches by 52 ring, the Gran Reservas are made with older tobaccos than those in a traditional Monte. Habanos says the tobacco to make the cigars was culled from the 2005 harvest and then aged for at least five years prior to rolling into cigars. The Montecristo Gran Reservas come with secondary bands in black and gold, with a scripted and intertwined GR. The boxes are slim and elegant, with a piano lacquer finish, gold stripe on the left hand side and gold type on the front. The boxes will be numbered, each containing 15 cigars. There will be 5,000 boxes released, for a total production run of 75,000 cigars.



While most retailers contacted said prices have not been set, Montecristo No. 2 Gran Reservas certainly won’t be cheap. In Germany, the price for a box has been set at 850 euros ($1,143) per box, or 57 euros ($77) per cigar. That’s more than twice the price of a Cohiba Behike BHK 52 (Cigar Aficionado’s reigning Cigar of the Year), which retails for 27 euros ($36) but cheaper than the Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva, which sold in Germany for 85 euros ($114) per cigar.



“Ours are coming in the next days,” said Christoph Wolters, proprietor of the Casa del Habano in Hamburg, Germany. When asked if people were asking for the cigars, Wolters said there has been “outstanding demand” for the smokes.



Marc Melanson, who runs the Casa del Habano in Montreal, agreed that aficionados were eager to get their hands on these new cigars. “The limited quantity we anticipate receiving has already been reserved or sold,” he said. He expected the cigars in two to three weeks, and said that Habanos had promised arrival of the cigars before the Christmas holiday.



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