Thicker Bolívar New Gold Medal Announced as LCDH Exclusive

The Bolívar Gold Medal will be returning to La Casa del Habano (LCDH) stores around the world, but it won’t be the same Bolívar Gold Medal as before.

Habanos S.A. has announced that the Bolívar New Gold Medal will be available exclusively to LCDH stores. It’s a size known as the Partagás 15, 6 1/2 (165mm) x 48. That’s the same length as the original Gold Medal, but the ring gauge has increased from 42 ring gauge.

Like the previous Gold Medal, the cigar is covered in golden foil that begins at the top of the cigar and the Bolívar band is placed over the foil at the bottom of the foil. A red LCDH band is placed below that. It will be offered in 10-count boxes.

The Cuban cigar conglomerate did not give a release date or any indication of pricing.

This will be the first time a Gold Medal has been officially made since the cigars were formally discontinued in 2011. At one point, this was a regular release before being phased out in the early 1990s. Habanos S.A. brought it back in the mid-200s for various releases, most notably as an exclusive cigar for LCDH stores.

As of this month, there are 157 La Casa del Habano franchises around the world. The stores are independently-owned but licensed franchises from Habanos S.A. In order to gain an LCDH license, stores must meet certain qualifications including requirements for the type of humidor and lounge features a store has. LCDHs have access to specific LCDH-exclusive products like this and oftentimes get priority for the first shipments of new cigars.

Brooks Whittington contributed to this story.

This story is part of halfwheel’s coverage of the Festival del Habano XXIII, the 2023 edition of Cuba’s annual cigar festival. For more coverage of the festival, click here.

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 handle the editing of our written content, the majority of the technical aspects of the site and work with the rest of our staff on content management, business development and more. I’ve lived in most corners of the country and now entering my second stint in Dallas, Texas. I enjoy boxing, headphones, the Le Mans 24-hour, wearing sweatshirts year-round and gyros. echte liebe.