Cuba's most famous cigar brand has given one of its rarest smokes a permanent home. Cohiba Talismán, first shown in London in 2017 as an Edición Limitada and briefly revived in 2019 with tobacco from the same harvest, is now a regular fixture of Cohiba's Línea Clásica. The timing matters: the brand is heading into its 60th anniversary year, and Habanos development vice-president José María López Inchaurbe describes the launch as a link between the company's heritage, recent history and future.
This is no pocket-sized smoke. At 54 x 154mm, the Talismán is built for a long sit — expect 60 to 90 minutes, according to the brand. The early draw produces dense grey smoke with straightforward woody flavours, then shifts as herbal notes creep in and the strength climbs towards medium-full. Like all premium Habanos, it's rolled entirely by hand from tobacco grown in Cuba's Vuelta Abajo region, the small western valley long considered the island's finest leaf-growing ground.
Pricing is firmly in collectors' territory. A three-cigar box runs £600 (about $791), while a box of ten will set you back £1,450 (roughly $1,913). Habanos stresses the manual craft behind each cigar — the selection, the preparation, the torcedores — as something no industrial process can copy.
The Talismán lands amid a busy run for Cohiba. October 2024 brought the Vistosos, a 53 x 145mm cigar unveiled at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes and sold in a 10-count travel humidor. April 2025 saw the Cohiba Ámbar join the regular line in Canada at 53 x 132mm. And per López Inchaurbe, there's more in the pipeline — "much more still to come" ahead of the anniversary celebrations.
For travellers, this is the kind of launch that shapes a Havana trip. Cigar tourists who time a visit well can often buy new releases at Casa del Habano stores in Cuba before (or cheaper than) they hit European boutiques, and the Talismán's permanent status means it won't vanish like the limited editions did. Pair a tasting with a visit to a Vuelta Abajo finca in Pinar del Río province, or smoke one at one of Havana's classic hotel lounges. Budget accordingly: at £200 a stick in a trio box, this is a special-occasion cigar, not a daily one. And remember the basics — only buy Habanos from licensed shops, as fakes are everywhere on the island.
