Espinosa Premium Cigars Increasing Prices in February

Espinosa Premium Cigars says that it will increase prices for “the majority of its portfolio by 5 percent” effective Feb. 1, 2023.

“Regrettably, since the pandemic, the cost of making cigars, its ancillary processes, and conducting business in Nicaragua has risen drastically,” said the company in a press release attributed to Hector J. Alfonso, director of factory operations. “This minimal price increase was the only way to allay rising operating expenses, tobacco, and a precipitous increase of tariffs, fees, and taxes within Nicaragua.”

Notably, Espinosa says this is the first time that it has increased prices in more than three years.

It is widely expected that most cigar companies will be increasing prices in or around early 2023, most of which are likely to be announced in the first quarter of the year as that is when most companies traditionally make these announcements. Reasons for these increases include increased costs for tobacco and packaging, increased competition for labor, general inflation, and mirroring competitors’ price adjustments.

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

Company	Price Increase?
AJ Fernandez	No
Alec Bradley	Yes
All Saints Cigars	Yes
Battleground	No
Bellatto Premium Cigars	Yes
Bocock Brothers	Yes
Caldwell	Yes
CLE	Yes
Crowned Heads	Yes
Crux	Yes
D'Crossier	No
Davidoff	Yes
Drew Estate	Yes
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust	Yes
E.P. Carrillo	Yes
Epic	No
Espinosa Premium Cigars	Yes
Esteban Carreras	No
Fable	No
Favilli	No
Ferio Tego	No
Forged Cigar Co.	Yes
Foundation Cigar Co.	No
Fuerte y Libre	Yes
Garo	No
General Cigar Co.	Yes
Gran Habano	No
Habanos S.A.	Yes
Howard G Cigars	No
Iconic Leaf	Yes
Illusione	No
J.C. Newman	Yes
Karen Berger	No
La Flor Dominicana	No
La Palina	Yes
La Sirena	No
Lost&Found	Yes
Lotus/Vertigo	No
Luciano Cigars	No
Maya Selva Cigars	Yes
Miami Cigar & Co.	No
My Father Cigars	No
Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co.	Yes
Oveja Negra Brands	No
Paul Garmirian	Yes
PDR Cigars	No
Perdomo	Yes
Platinum Nova	No
Plasencia Cigars	Yes
Powstanie	Yes
Quality Importers Trading Co.	No
Rocky Patel	Yes
Rojas Cigars	Yes
Sinistro Cigars	Yes
Southern Draw	No
Vintage Rock-A-Feller	No