Trinidad

Habanos writes that the origins of Trinidad as a Habanos brand go back to 1969 and that, for many years, like Cohiba, it served only for state gifts to senior foreign dignitaries; the house's page does not name Fidel Castro. The trade press (2019) writes that the first Trinidad were rolled in 1969, according to the Habanos archives, that the cigar was not made to be sold but to be given by Fidel Castro, and that Trinidad and Cohiba served as state gifts to senior foreign dignitaries; it adds that the Trinidad family traces the brand back to a tobacco business of Diego Trinidad dated 1905. According to Wikipedia, Avelino Lara, who ran production at El Laguito, said in 1992 that only Fidel Castro was authorised to give it as a diplomatic gift; Castro said he had given only Cohiba and, in his autobiography, that he knew very little about Trinidad, and Adriano Martínez, a former Habanos executive, calls the Trinidad a gift of lower rank than the Cohiba.

Habanos writes that it was in 1998 that the brand was made available to smokers all over the world. The trade press writes in 2003 that the brand was launched commercially in early 1998 with the Fundadores, and that Trinidad had served as diplomatic gifts from Fidel Castro and other government dignitaries.

Habanos writes that at its start the brand had only one vitola, the Fundadores, ring gauge 40 and 192 mm long, in Vuelta Abajo leaves.

Sources diverge on the public unveiling: the trade press (2019) places in October 1994, in Paris, a dinner given by an American cigar magazine at which the Trinidad were the first cigars served outside diplomatic circles (Wikipedia says 1995); it dates the going on sale to February 1998, first in Cuba, then in Mexico and Canada, and Wikipedia mentions an opening ceremony at the Habana Libre hotel in Havana the same year.

Habanos describes a filler and a binder that are very fragrant and aromatic, of medium flavour, in Vuelta Abajo leaves, and classes the brand as medium in strength; according to Wikipedia, Adriano Martínez says the blend is close to that of the Cohiba vitolas, without the third fermentation in a barrel. In 2003 Habanos widened the range by three vitolas, presented in London on 10 November: Reyes (ring gauge 40 x 110 mm), Coloniales (ring gauge 44 x 132 mm) and Robustos Extra (ring gauge 50 x 155 mm); the Robustos T follow in 2009 and, in 2019, the Esmeralda (ring gauge 53 x 145 mm) and Media Luna (ring gauge 50 x 115 mm), the Topes (ring gauge 56 x 125 mm) then joining the regular range. The Vigía (vitola de galera Torres, ring gauge 54 x 110 mm), presented in April 2014, fills according to Habanos the gap left by two formats that disappeared from the brand; the Topes had first appeared as an Edición Limitada in 2016. In February 2024, for the brand's 55 years, the Robustos Extra, discontinued earlier according to the trade press, returned to regular production (6 1/8 inches x cepo 50, boxes of 12 and of 3, says the trade press on 26 February 2024); Prensa Latina writes on 27 February 2024 that they widen the standard portfolio.

In 2024 Habanos presented an Edición Limitada Trinidad Cabildos (vitola de galera Ilustres, ring gauge 46 x 162 mm, box of 12), launched at the Habanos World Days in London. On 19 September 2026, in Montreux, Habanos unveiled the Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022, which it presents as the first Reserva in the history of the brand: leaves from the 2022 harvest with at least three further years of ageing, 5,000 numbered boxes of 20 and 5,000 gift boxes of 3 (press release of 22 September 2026).

Where is it rolled? In Cuba the question has a two-storey answer. Since 2002 each Habanos brand has had a mother factory, responsible for leaf selection and blend, and its cigars may be rolled in any of the island's few dozen factories under the mother's supervision; Habanos does not publish that map, the trade press reconstructs it. Its brand page does not name the factory of Trinidad, but the Habanos press release of 14 November 2017 on the Trinidad La Trova writes that these cigars are now made at the Francisco Donatién factory in Pinar del Río, which the trade press (15 November 2017) also says is known as the Vegueros factory. The trade press writes in 2011 that, at the Francisco Donatién factory in Pinar del Río (58 rollers), 90% of the cigars are Trinidad, a brand moved from El Laguito, in Havana, and that the building is a former prison converted into a cigar factory in the 1960s. The dates of the building diverge: a travel guide says it was built as a prison in 1859 and the factory inaugurated in 1961; a British retailer writes that the prison was built in 1868 and converted into a factory in 1961. In October 2026 the page “The Habanos Brands Academia” on habanos.com places Trinidad among the five value brands of a portfolio of 27 brands, with Bolívar, Punch, Quai d'Orsay and Ramón Allones, after the six global brands. The trade press had announced the classification on 1 August 2019: 21 portfolio brands and a group of four high-value brands (Bolívar, Punch, Ramón Allones and Trinidad), Quai d'Orsay then being among the others. The official page says it: for several years Trinidad was made at El Laguito, Cohiba's factory; today it is made in Pinar del Río. The trade press wrote in October 2003 that all the Trinidad, new sizes included, would apparently be made at El Laguito, and in 2011 that the brand had been moved from El Laguito to Pinar del Río. A British retailer writes that in 2004, faced with growing demand, production was transferred to Pinar del Río; no other page read dates the transfer, which remains established only as later than October 2003 and earlier than 2011.

Range Depth

• Fundadores

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  The brand's only vitola at its start, says habanos.com, which gives it as ring gauge 40 and 192 mm long (press release of 7 October 2003); it then remains in the range, in varnished boxes of 12 and 24 and in packs of 5. The trade press notes it as 7 1/2 inches x 40 (2019). Habanos classes the brand as medium in strength.

  Fundadores

• Reyes

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  A vitola of ring gauge 40 x 110 mm, presented in London on 10 November 2003 with the Coloniales and the Robustos Extra, in boxes of 12 and 24 and in packs of 5, says habanos.com.

  Reyes

• Coloniales

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  A vitola of ring gauge 44 x 132 mm, presented in 2003 at the same time as the Reyes and the Robustos Extra, in boxes of 12 and 24 and in packs of 5, says habanos.com.

  Coloniales

• Robustos Extra

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  A vitola of ring gauge 50 x 155 mm, presented in 2003, in boxes of 12 and 24 and in packs of 3, says habanos.com, whose brand page also dates the Robustos T to 2009 (without giving their dimensions; Wikipedia lists them at 4 7/8 inches x 50). The Robustos Extra, discontinued earlier according to the trade press, returned to regular production in February 2024 for the brand's 55th anniversary (6 1/8 inches x cepo 50, boxes of 12 and of 3, new presentation). The current status of the Robustos T is not established by any page read.

  Robustos Extra · Robustos T

• Vigía, Topes, Esmeralda and Media Luna

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  Vigía: vitola de galera Torres, ring gauge 54 (21.43 mm) x 110 mm, presented in April 2014. Topes: ring gauge 56 (22.23 mm) x 125 mm, Edición Limitada 2016 then regular range in 2019. Esmeralda (ring gauge 53 x 145 mm) and Media Luna (ring gauge 50 x 115 mm): 2019. All according to habanos.com, which gives the brand as medium in strength.

🥃 Pairings

• Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru

  Wine

  Suggested pairing for a Fundadores (ring gauge 40 x 192 mm), a long vitola, with a brand that Habanos classes as medium in strength.

• Krug Grande Cuvée

  Champagne

  Suggested pairing for a Reyes (ring gauge 40 x 110 mm), a short vitola of the brand.

• Old Armagnac

  Spirits

  Suggested pairing for a Fundadores: a long cigar (192 mm) and a long-aged armagnac each demand time.

👤 Associated figures

• Fidel Castro

  The Habanos brand page does not name him: it only writes that Trinidad long served only for state gifts to senior foreign dignitaries. The trade press (2019) writes that the cigar was not made to be sold but to be given by Fidel Castro. According to Wikipedia, Avelino Lara, a former head of El Laguito, said in 1992 that only Castro was authorised to give it; Castro said he had given only Cohiba and, in his autobiography, that he knew Trinidad very little.

✨ Notable limited editions

• Trinidad Topes Edición Limitada 2016
• Trinidad Cabildos Edición Limitada 2024
• Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022 (présentée en septembre 2026)