The next Gran Reserva will be from Hoyo de Monterrey.
Habanos S.A. has announced its plans for next week’s Festival del Habano XXI and confirmed that Wednesday night’s party will be the debut of the Hoyo de Monterrey Gran Reserva Double Coronas Cosecha 2013.
The Gran Reserva and Reserva Series are Habanos S.A.’s flagship releases. Each year, the company selects a singular vitola from one of Habanos S.A.’s global brands, i.e. the most popular labels, including Cohiba, H. Upmann, Hoyo de Monterrey, Montecristo, Partagás, Romeo y Julieta and technically, José L. Piedra. Even years are a Reserva, odd years are a Gran Reserva.
While the cigars are the same size as the regular production variants—in this case, a 7 5/8 (194mm) x 49 double—the tobacco inside is quite different than the regular cigar. All the tobacco used for the release is from the Vuelta Abajo region of Pínar del Río and the tobacco is all aged for at least five years; the Cosecha 2013 part of the name translates into harvest 2013.
In addition to the aged tobacco, the Gran Reservas also get special packaging in the form of a gold-on-black secondary band and high-gloss black lacquer boxes, which historically have been 15-count. All of that adds up to a price that is usually multiples over the regular production version.
This is the first Gran Reserva for Hoyo de Monterrey. The brand’s Epicure No.2 was selected as the Reserva release for 2016, though it wasn’t released until 2018.
Recent history makes it unclear when Habanos S.A. will ship the Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas Gran Reserva to retailers, those attending a party in Havana next Wednesday will have the opportunity to smoke the cigar.