Trinidad (cigar brand)
Encyclopedia
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s, one made in Cuba for Habanos SA
Habanos SA
Habanos S.A. is the arm of the Cuban state tobacco company, Cubatabaco, that controls the promotion, distribution, and export of Cuban cigars and other tobacco products worldwide. The word habanos means literally from Havana, and is the word used in the Spanish-speaking world for Havana cigars...
and the other made in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
for Altadis
Altadis
Altadis is a multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. Altadis was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and SEITA, the former French tobacco monopoly...
. The cigar is named for the city of Trinidad, Cuba
Trinidad, Cuba
-External links:* , Online travel guide to Trinidad* , Selected photos of Trinidad* , Photos of Trinidad...
.
History
According to Adriano Martínez, a former executive of Habanos SA, in Min Ron Nee's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars, the Trinidad brand was first produced in 1969 at the El Laguito factory in HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
.
In the early 90's, the cigar received much attention in Cigar Aficionado
Cigar Aficionado
Cigar Aficionado is an American magazine that is dedicated to the world of cigars. Published since September 1992, the magazine is known for its articles about different brands of cigars worldwide, and for the celebrities that have appeared on its cover. It is also noted for its opposition to the...
after an interview with Avelino Lara (formerly the manager of El Laguito, and a producer of cigars for the Graycliff Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
until his death on October 27, 2009). In the 1992 interview, Lara claimed that Trinidad was an ultra-exclusive brand that only Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
was authorized to hand out as diplomatic gifts. Lara also claimed Trinidads were of a higher quality than the much-lauded Cohiba
Cohiba
Cohiba may refer to:*Cohiba *Cohiba...
s that had formerly been diplomatic exclusives before their mass-market release in 1982.
Two sources have contradicted Lara's claims: President Fidel Castro himself and the afore-mentioned Mr. Martínez. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado, when asked about Trinidads, Castro stated that he only gave Cohibas away as diplomatic gifts, and in his autobiography; my life, he claims to know very little of the Trinidad brand. In the Illustrated Encyclopedia, Martínez stated that Trinidads were actually a lower-level diplomatic gift than Cohiba cigars, made with a tobacco blend similar to that used in the Cohiba vitolas, but without the third barrel fermentation that Cohibas receive.
In 1995, Cigar Aficionado hosted the Dinner of the Century in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where, among other rarities, the guests became the first outside of diplomatic circles to taste Trinidad cigars.
In February 1998, the Trinidad brand was released for public consumption at an opening ceremony in the Habana Libre Hotel in Havana. The initial release was only in one size: the Fundador. Though Martínez and others maintain that the blend did not change in the transition from a diplomatic gift to a mass-marketed cigar, the size did. The diplomatic Trinidads only came in one size, that of a Laguito No. 1 (the same as the Cohiba Lancero). The Fundador instead comes in a new size with a factory name of Laguito Especial, the same length as a Laguito No. 1 but with a ring gauge of 40 instead of 38.
In November 2003 at a black tie dinner hosted by UK importer Hunters & Frankau at the Hilton Park Lane in London, England, three new sizes were debutted for the Trinidad line: the Coloniale, the Reyes, and the Robusto Extra.
Some have claimed the Trinidad brand was meant to appeal to American cigar smokers who obtained Cuban cigars from black market trade.
Vitolas in the Trinidad Line
The following list of vitolas de salida (commercial vitolas) within the Trinidad marque lists their size and ring gauge in Imperial (and Metric), their vitolas de galera (factory vitolas), and their common name in American cigar slang.Hand-Made Vitolas
- Coloniales - 5¼" × 44 (133 × 17.46 mm), Colonial, a corona
- Fundadors - 7½" × 40 (191 × 15.88 mm), Laguito Especial, a lonsdale
- Reyes - 4⅜" × 40 (111 × 15.88 mm), Reyes, a petit corona
- Robusto Extra - 6⅛" × 50 (156 × 19.84 mm), Doble, a robusto extra
- Robusto T - 4⅞" × 50 (124 × 19.84 mm), Del Valle, a robusto
Further reading
- Min Ron Nee, An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars. Hong Kong: Interpro Business Corp., 2003.