Shopping For Cigars In Havana: 2025 Update
Havana is much more than the city where most fine Cuban cigars are rolled. It’s filled with exceptional cigar shops, and historically this has been among the best places in the world to buy and enjoy a Cuban cigar. The week of the Habanos Festival, when thousands of cigar lovers from around the world arrive in town, is typically the busiest week the shops in this city will have all year.
I visited 11 cigar stores in Havana the last week of February and found a mix of good news and bad. First, the good news: while prices have gone up on most cigars, the increases are generally modest, with certain exceptions. Some of the most expensive cigars here sell for exactly the same as they did in 2024.
Now, the bad news. Supplies on this visit were quite low, lower than I have ever seen in Cuba, and I have been coming here for Cigar Aficionado since 1996. Every shop I visited had open spaces in the humidor and a lot of empty shelves. Some were better stocked than others, but all had some level of depletion, some of it quite severe.
“We don’t have many cigars at this moment,” said one retailer. “Please don’t take any photos of the humidor,” asked another, looking wistfully at a walk-in that had perhaps 25 boxes for sale. This scene was repeated over and over.
“It’s sad to see the shelves empty,” said Mario Bustamante, a visitor from Los Angeles who has traveled to Cuba so many times he says he’s lost count. He was here for the Festival, and was puffing on a house-rolled cigar at the Hotel Comodoro’s cigar store. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”
The most extreme example of an empty store was what I found at the Casa del Habano at the Hotel Nacional. Normally a busy shop, it had a shockingly empty walk-in humidor: five of the seven full-sized shelves were entirely bare. Not a single one was full. I shot video so you could see—take a look.
In addition to the near-empty walk-in humidor, the counter outside was completely devoid of cigars. Normally, that space would be filled with cigars in smaller packaging—three-packs, five-packs and tins—but there was nothing available. Speaking to a person working there, this wasn’t a recent problem, nor did it have anything to do with this especially busy week. Cigars had been in short supply for quite some time.
The Nacional wasn’t the only store I saw with sparse supply. Quinta Avenida, a Casa del Habano I always visit when in Cuba, has an extraordinary walk-in humidor, but it was more than three-quarters empty. There were a few dozen boxes of Trinidads there, as well as a solitary box of Cohiba Siglo I and some small Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyos, but little else. A shipment of cigars sat in the back, waiting to be entered into the computer before going on the shelves, so more cigars would eventually make it out there, but not enough to fill that unique humidor that snakes around the outer wall of the shop.
In recent years, the cigar store that always seemed to have something good and plentiful supply is the Casa del Habano at the Habana Libre. (Terrible hotel in which to stay, great hotel in which to shop.) The store is big, and when you walk in the cabinets to your right often have intriguing open boxes where you can buy single cigars. I usually find something here I won’t see anywhere else, and this year it was an open box of Ramon Allones Gigantes ($36). Sadly, this was the only double corona I saw for sale, anywhere. They also had a box of Partagás Legados, the only Edición Limitada released by Cuba in 2020. A single was $54.55.
The walk-in humidor, which is typically jammed with great smokes, was partially empty, with fewer cigars there than I had ever seen. Check out this video to see how it looked. (And I called the Partagás Línea Maestra Montecristo by mistake, and said Montecristo again when I was referring to Romeo y Julieta Línea de Oro—I must have needed another espresso or two that morning.)
The cigar store at the Comodoro Hotel had very few cigars, although that didn’t seem to dampen the high spirits of the friendly staff, who greet everyone who enters with a warm smile. They have reappropriated cabinets that once held cigars, putting in bottles of rum and decorative items to fill space that was once taken up by boxes of Montecristos, Cohibas and Romeos.
Leo, a visitor from Los Angeles, was puffing away at the Comodoro’s cigar shop. He has been to Cuba roughly 30 times over the past eight years, and lamented the change in supplies. “The first time I came here was in 2017, and you walked into the cigar stores and the cabinets were full,” he said. “Things have changed.” He was smoking a house-made cigar—the Comodoro, like just about every cigar shop here in Cuba, sells house-made smokes, rolled by a person on premises. They’re selling more of these nowadays.
You never know when a shipment may come in, changing the disposition of a shop. The Casa del Habano at the Melía Habana hotel, another Cigar Aficionado favorite, was almost completely devoid of cigars when I popped in upon my arrival in Cuba, on Sunday, February 23. In past years, the store had good stocks in its walk-in humidor, as well as cigars in the display cabinets that line the store and can be seen from the outside. The walk-in humidor was closed, and the display cabinets were largely empty. However, later in the week, cigars came in and were put on the shelves. Still, even this shipment left the store significantly depleted compared to other years.
The busiest cigar store in Cuba, the Partagás Casa del Habano, had fairly good supplies, although not nearly as abundant as in previous years. Many of the choices were higher-end smokes, and I caught the shop on a rare, quiet moment.
The Casa del Habano at the Hotel Palco is a modest cigar store, but it’s one that you should visit, especially during the Festival. The Palco is attached to the convention center, where many Habanos Festival seminars are held, and it seems to get stocked up well for the week. The supply when I visited early in the morning on Wednesday, February 26 was good, better than most stores, but still not as robust as in previous years.
Club Habana’s Casa del Habano also had decent stocks, though nothing like what it had in the past. The Cohiba selection was (relatively) strong here, meaning I saw a few boxes of Cohiba Robustos ($75 per cigar) and Siglo VI. They also had boxes of Montecristo Edmundo Reservas ($3,860 a box, or $193 per cigar). These are among the most expensive cigars you can find in Cuba. Even more expensive is the Cohiba Siglo de Oro Year of the Rabbit, which goes for $4,500 for a box of 18, or $250 per cigar.
There was a gentleman at the counter making an enormous purchase—he had bricks of cash on the counter, easily tens of thousands of dollars. This is a sight that’s increasingly common not only here in Cuba, but all around the world where Cuban cigars are sold.
The Going Price For Cigars
If the last time you shopped for cigars in Cuba was prior to the pandemic, your next visit will come with a heaping amount of sticker shock. Gone are the days when most Cuban cigars cost $10 or less in this market. These days you’re just as likely to find $50-and-up cigars in a humidor as you are $20 cigars. If you look carefully, and don’t mind something small, you can still find a bargain, like an H. Upmann Half Corona ($6) or a Hoyo de Monterrey le Hoyo du Deputé ($7.92). But today, you need more than a Hamilton to buy a Montecristo No. 4, a small Cuban smoke that always seemed to embody value. No more. The petit corona now sells for $11, up 3.8 percent over 2024 levels and more than double what it was back in 2020, when it sold for only $5.55.
Most of the familiar Cuban robustos (except Cohibas) now sell in the neighborhood of $20, including Bolivar Royal Coronas ($20, up 22.3 percent over 2024), H. Upmann Epicure No. 2s ($19, up 7.9 percent) and Ramon Allones Specially Selected ($17, up 4.6 percent). All of these were particularly hard to find. The Cohiba Robusto is now $75, up 2.9 percent, but it’s ridiculously rare, and found in very few shops. Montecristo No. 2s, which are almost as hard to find, sell for $23 now, up 7 percent over 2024. In 2020, that iconic cigar could be had for less than $10.
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | |
| Bolivar Royal Corona | $16.35 | $20.00 | 22.3% |
| Cohiba Lancero | $88.83 | $93.00 | 5.3% |
| Cohiba Robusto | $72.90 | $75.00 | 2.9% |
| Cohiba Siglo I | $30.60 | $31.00 | 1.3% |
| Cohiba Siglo de Oro Year of the Rabbit | $250.00 | $250.00 | 0.0% |
| H. Upmann Half Corona | $5.65 | $6.00 | 6.2% |
| H. Upmann No. 2 | $18.25 | $19.00 | 4.1% |
| Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 | $17.60 | $19.00 | 7.9% |
| Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo du Depute | $7.50 | $7.92 | 5.6% |
| Montecristo Línea 1935 Leyenda | $70.25 | $72.00 | 2.5% |
| Montecristo No. 2 | $21.50 | $23.00 | 7.0% |
| Montecristo No. 4 | $10.60 | $11.00 | 3.8% |
| Partagás Línea Maestra Maestro | N/A | $63.00 | N/A |
| Partagas Serie D No. 4 | $17.60 | $19.00 | 8.0% |
| Ramon Allones Specially Selected | $16.25 | $17.00 | 4.6% |
| Romeo y Julieta Línea de Oro Nobles | $54.90 | $57.00 | 3.8% |
| Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill | $17.60 | $19.00 | 8.0% |
| Trinidad Reyes | $30.60 | $30.60 | 0.0% |
| Trinidad Vigía | $51.30 | $51.30 | 0.0% |
Source: Cigar Aficionado
An Abundance Of Pricey Smokes
Trinidads are easy to get in Cuba right now, with the notable exception of the Fundadores, the long, slender size that was the brand’s very first commercial vitola. Just about every store I saw had plenty of Trinidad Reyes ($30.60 apiece), Medio Lunas ($41), Coloniales ($44), Esmeraldas ($67) and Vigías ($51.30 each). The abundance of Trinidads is likely tied to price. While prices on this brand are the same as they were in 2024, no other cigar brand underwent as severe a price increase as Trinidad over the past few years. A Trinidad Reyes sold for $4.60 in 2020, a Vigía $8.30. Prices have gone up more than 500 percent across the line in five years.
Just about every shop I visited also had plenty of Cohiba Siglo Is (recent Cigar Aficionado rating, 93 points). These are pricey petit coronas, $775 for a box of 25, or $31 apiece, up 1.3 percent from 2024. There were also plenty of Cohiba Coronas Especiales ($1,391 a box, $55.64 per cigar, up 3 percent from last year).
Another cigar in strong supply is the upscale Romeo y Julieta Línea de Oro line, which sells for $57 to $63 per cigar. I saw most sizes in most shops, but very few “regular” Cuban Romeos. Compare the price: a Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill sells for $19 per cigar. The Línea de Oro line is triple that. Still, while Línea de Oro prices are unchanged from 2024, the Romeo Short Churchill is 8 percent more this year, as it sold for $17.60 in 2024.
I also saw fair supplies of the Partagás line, the Línea Maestra, which is $57 to $69 per cigar. Compare that to a Partagás Serie D No. 4 ($19, up 8 percent over 2024) or a Serie E No. 2 ($23, up 3.1 percent over 2024 pricing). Still, it was far easier to find sizes of Línea Maestra than D4s or E2s.
(An aside on pricing—any visitor to Cuba who is walking around the city with a cigar is likely to be approached by someone offering cigars for sale at prices much lower than what you will find in a shop. Resist the temptation to buy. You’re likely to get something of dubious quality, so that perceived bargain is really just not worth it. Stick to the proper shops.)
Cigars You Won’t See In Cuba
We haven’t seen a box of Cohiba Behikes on a shelf in Cuba since 2016. Many other Cohibas are essentially impossible finds, among them Esplendidos, Pirámides Extras, Siglo sizes III, IV and V. We saw the occasional Cohiba Robusto or Siglo VI, and Lanceros made a rare appearance, typically only as a single.
There are no large cigars: no Hoyo Doubles, no Partagás Lusitanias, and only the odd Romeo Churchill and perhaps a Ramon Allones Gigante. Petit coronas, once abundant, seem gone (forget Partagás Shorts or Bolivar Petit Coronas). Trinidad Fundadores were nowhere to be found, and just about every Bolivar has become a rarity, although we found a few Belicoso Finos.
Cohiba Maduro 5s, once abundant here, were nowhere to be found—I think I saw one for sale in all the shops.
The Final Stop
It’s very hard for me to walk by a cigar shop anywhere in the world and not go in. I seldom buy at airport cigar shops (some are wonderful, but most are soulless), but I had to check out the selection at the shop inside Cuba’s José Martí Airport, Terminal 3. It’s located right after you clear the security line, which typically is a slow one.
The cigar shop had fairly good stocks, at least when compared to the rest of Havana: a few Montecristos, some Hoyos (including boxes of Epicure No. 2s), some Quai d’Orsays. It even had many boxes of a small favorite that excites me but perhaps no one else, the Rafael Gonzalez Perlas, and several boxes of something that made my eyes pop—Bolivar Belicoso Finos in cabinets of 25. I love BBFs, and I adore them in cabs. You can hear my enthusiasm in this video.
That final cigar shop reinforced the fact that if you’re shopping for cigars in Havana, it pays to hit many stores—even ones in places you normally wouldn’t visit.
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