Hunters & Frankau—the U.K.’s distributor of Cuban cigars—showed off two new upcoming products at this past week’s Ignite 2022 trade show in the U.K.

The Ramón Allones Private Stock 230 Edición Regional Gran Bretaña is an upcoming Edición Regional release for the country. According to CubanCigarWebsite.com, it is a 6 7/10 (170mm) x 50 parejo, the same vitola Hunters & Frankau used for the Por Larrañaga Magnificos, a 2007 Edición Regional. CubanCigarWebsite.com also indicates there will be 3,600 boxes of 25 cigars produced and that it is formally part of the 2020 class of Edición Regional cigars.

Edición Regional cigars are offered by Habanos S.A., the Cuban cigar monopoly, to its individual distributors around the world. While the program has evolved since debuting in 2005, distributors are allowed to commission one exclusive cigar per year. There are a few rules, most notably that the brand chosen needs to not be classified as a top-tier “global” brand—which means brands like Cohiba and Romeo y Julieta are not eligible—and the cigars cannot be a current production offering with the brand, meaning a distributor could not commission a classic 4 7/8 x 50 robusto for the Ramón Allones brand as that cigar is sold within the regular production portfolio. These cigars typically come with a secondary red and silver band denoting the region and increasingly are arriving on shelves after the years for which they were commissioned, which explains why the Private Stock 230 is part of the 2020 class but not arriving until 2022.

The “230” in the name is a reference to Hunters & Frankau’s 230th anniversary, which took place in 2020.

Hunters & Frankau also showed off the House Reserve Series 1790 Collection No.2 humidor. As the name implies, this is the second humidor in the series—the first was released in 2019 and included 10 of every U.K. Edición Regional from 2005 to 2017. The humidors were made by DeART S.r.l., an Italian company that has produced a number of special Habanos humidors, and limited to just 30 pieces.

The House Reserve Series 1790 Collection No.2 will be a bit different as it includes seven Ramón Allones cigars—three Edición Limitada releases and four Edición Regional cigars:

Each humidor will contain 61 cigars, though it’s not confirmed how many of each will be included in the humidor, which is made by DeART S.r.l. A total of 50 numbered humidors will be released and the cigars inside will carry a special secondary foot band.

Perhaps most interesting is that Hunters & Frankau intends on releasing the humidor in the summer ahead of the widespread release of the Private Stock 230 which should arrive in early fall. Pricing and confirmed release dates for both releases have not been announced.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.