Fuerte y Libre Increasing Prices on June 1

For the first time in its history, Fuerte y Libre will increase the prices of its cigars, effective June 1.

The company says that the changes amount to an increase of 8.1 percent on average. Fuerte y Libre says that since its first line debuted in May 2019, the company’s manufacturing costs have increased by more than 15 percent. It also highlighted unexpected costs related to trademarks as another reason for the increase.

“We will never sacrifice quality in order to shave costs and this increase is to ensure that quality is what we will always be known for,” said Greg Free, president of Fuerte y Libre.

In its announcement, Fuerte y Libre also teased a new “full strength blend” for Q3 2023 as well as an event exclusive lonsdale.

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