Belux regional edition now available in The Netherlands

Belux regional edition is now available in The Netherlands. Last year Cubacigar Benelux released a regional edition for Belgium and Luxemburg, the El Rey del Mundo Choix du Roi. This is a cigar with a length of a little more than 5 inches and a 55 ring. A size with the factory name Montesco. Now the cigars are available on the Dutch market.

A box of 10 of these regional edition cigars will set you back €175. They are only available till the stock is gone, as it’s a limited edition like any other edicion regional by Habanos.

Regional Edition Program

In 2005, Habanos S.A. introduced the Regional Edition (Edición Regional) program. This series gives the distributors an annual opportunity to commission special exclusive cigars for their region.

In the initial program, the cigars could not be commissioned from the ten worldwide premium Global and Niche brands. Since the 2019 re-organization of the brands, the niche brand category has been no longer. Cuaba and San Cristóbal de La Habana have become eligible for Regional Editions (the status of Trinidad is still unclear). 

In some cases, discontinued brands have also had regional releases. In one instance an entirely new brand was created. The cigars must be a standard current production factory size that is not already available in that brand. Since 2016, regions cannot have a cigar from the same brand two years in a row. Up until 2012, distributors were able to commission multiple cigars per year. This is subsequently limited to one cigar per region. Although large distributors are still able to commission multiple cigars by specifying different regions within their territory.

Distributor initiative

Each release is initiated by the distributors. They approach Habanos with an idea for a release that Habanos will either accept or reject. The distributor specifies how many cigars they would like (minimum order of 25,000), and pays for the cost of the production upfront. If they would like specialty packaging, then they are responsible for sourcing this. 

Habanos will produce three prototype blend options, and the distributor will pick the one that goes into final production. In some cases, a second batch of the cigars may be produced in the year after the initial release.

Double bands

Regional Edition cigars normally have two bands: the standard production band for their brand, and a special red and silver band with the word “Exclusivo” and the name of the region in Spanish. In some cases, a special band is an option in place of the standard one. Early releases used a generic band that did not state the region name. Prior to 2005, a number of distributors were able to commission exclusive cigars with no special bands or markings.

Source on the regional edition program text: Cubancigarwebsite