La Casa del Habano is the official franchise network of Habanos S.A., the company that markets every Cuban cigar brand around the world. The concept was created by Cubatabaco, later Habanos S.A., with a simple aim: to present Habanos in an exclusive setting, kept and displayed in the best possible condition. The first La Casa del Habano opened in November 1990 in the hotel zone of Cancún, Mexico, founded by a group of Mexican businessmen with a passion for cigars. The idea spread through Mexico, then to Cuba and beyond, and the network now numbers more than 155 shops in over 60 countries.
The name is licensed, not simply adopted. A La Casa del Habano keeps a wide range of Habanos brands and sizes in walk-in humidors at the correct temperature and humidity, offers informed advice to newcomers and seasoned smokers alike, and can provide personal lockers where customers keep their cigars under careful control. Every cigar comes through the official Habanos supply chain.
Membership also brings cigars that cannot be bought anywhere else. Since 2004, and every year since 2006, Habanos S.A. has produced sizes made only for the network. They sit outside each brand's standard range, and each is dressed with a second band carrying the La Casa del Habano logo. Some are permanent additions; others are limited productions. Many revive shapes that had all but disappeared, such as the braided Partagás Culebras and the double-tapered Partagás Salomones. Others mark anniversaries: the Juan López Selección Especial was chosen to celebrate 150 years of the brand and 30 years of La Casa del Habano itself.
In the United Kingdom the network is small, which makes an official La Casa del Habano something of a destination. Tobacco UK, at 57 Market Place in Long Eaton, is one of them, and this collection brings together the exclusives currently in our humidor.