Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust has informed its retailers that it will be implementing a price increase as of March 1.

“Every damn thing is costing more and it sucks,” said Steve Saka in a letter to retailers. While he did not go into specifics, he did say that his need to implement an increase was the same as many other manufacturers, which have attributed to it to a combination of rising costs of raw materials, labor, shipping and other areas of the cigar making process.

He said that the increase works out to a 5.3 percent increase on the wholesale cost of cigars across the portfolio. In discussing the increase at this week’s Total Product Expo (TPE), Saka noted that it pushed the MSRP of his Muestra de Saka line over the $20 mark, as six of the cigars now have an MSRP of $20.75, including the recently announced Krakatoa that is scheduled to be released in September. The one exception to that price is the Unicorn Diademas Deluxe, which keeps its MSRP at $100.

The following chart looks at what companies have announced price increases or no price increases for 2023.

CompanyPrice Increase?
AJ FernandezNo
Alec BradleyYes
All Saints CigarsYes
BattlegroundNo
Bellatto Premium CigarsYes
Bocock BrothersYes
CaldwellYes
CLEYes
Crowned HeadsYes
CruxYes
D'CrossierNo
DavidoffYes
Drew EstateYes
Dunbarton Tobacco & TrustYes
E.P. CarrilloYes
EpicNo
Espinosa Premium CigarsYes
Esteban CarrerasNo
FableNo
FavilliNo
Ferio TegoNo
Forged Cigar Co.Yes
Foundation Cigar Co.No
Fuerte y LibreYes
GaroNo
General Cigar Co.Yes
Gran HabanoNo
Habanos S.A.Yes
Howard G Cigars No
Iconic LeafYes
IllusioneNo
J.C. NewmanYes
Karen BergerNo
La Flor DominicanaNo
La PalinaYes
La SirenaNo
Lost&FoundYes
Lotus/VertigoNo
Luciano CigarsNo
Maya Selva CigarsYes
Miami Cigar & Co.No
My Father CigarsNo
Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co.Yes
Oveja Negra BrandsNo
Paul GarmirianYes
PDR CigarsNo
PerdomoYes
Platinum NovaNo
Plasencia CigarsYes
PowstanieYes
Quality Importers Trading Co.No
Rocky PatelYes
Rojas CigarsYes
Sinistro CigarsYes
Southern DrawNo
Vintage Rock-A-FellerNo
Overall Score

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.