Montecristo & Punch Selected for 2025 Edición Limitadas

[JohnS]

Montecristo & Punch Selected for 2025 Edición Limitadas

February 24, 2025 - Charlie Minato

Nearly each and every year, Habanos S.A. announces three cigars as Edición Limitada releases. This year, there will only be two.

For 2025, those cigars are:

• Montecristo Elba Edición Limitada 2025 —  5 3/4 inches (146mm) x 54
• Punch Princesas Edición Limitada 2025 — 5 3/10 inches (135mm) x 52

Edición Limitada cigars are each a new size for a particular brand, not necessarily a new Cuban cigar size, but one that hasn’t been sold as part of that particular brand before. As the name would imply, the cigars are offered in limited quantities, though rarely ever disclosed production numbers.

In addition to being a unique size, Edición Limitada cigars use tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region of Pinar del Rió, which is then aged for a minimum of two years. They carry a secondary band that reads “Edición Limitada” and then the year they were announced.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of Montecristo and it appears that the Elba will serve as the cigar honoring that milestone. The name refers to the Italian island of Elba, part of The Count of Montecristo. This vitola, named Encantos, is new for the Cuban cigar naming system and has not been used for any other modern Cuban cigar. In what’s a relative rarity for the Edición Limitada series, it will be offered in two different packaging formats: five-count cases will be used for the launch, while the standard packaging option is limited to 10,000 numbered boxes of 20.

Punch is celebrating its 185th anniversary with the Princesas. It uses the popular Edmundo vitola, best known as the size for the Montecristo Edmundo. While around 10 different brands have had a cigar released in this vitola, this will be the first time it’s used for a Punch. Habanos S.A. said that the Princesas name was once used for Punch, though presumably in a different size. Like most Edición Limitada cigars, no production numbers have been given, the Princesas will come in boxes of 20.

Habanos S.A. announced the cigars at the start of the Festival del Habano XXV, the annual Cuban cigar festival. Typically, these release announcements come with no information about when they will be released or how much they will cost.

While there are almost always three Edición Limitada cigars per year, there have been exceptions. A notable example of only having two was in 2015 when Habanos S.A. announced the H. Upmann Magnum 56 and Ramón Allones Club Allones. Seemingly, the decision to release two Edición Limitada cigars was because there was also the Montecristo 80 Aniversario, which, for all intents and purposes, was an Edición Limitada release without the branding. That seems like what’s happening in 2025. Habanos S.A. has also announced the Romeo y Julieta Amantes, a cigar created for the 150th anniversary of Romeo y Julieta. It seems likely that this will serve the role as the defacto third Edición Limitada cigar for 2025.

Source: https://halfwheel.com/montecristo-punch-selected-for-2025-edicion-limitadas/447645/

[Chef]

I’m fairly interested in how the Punch will smoke, especially with how well regular production Punch have been smoking the last few years. I’ve never smoked an Edicion Limitada, so I can’t contribute my own assessment of whether there’s ever a correlation there.

Thoughts on that?

[DeeBeezy]

New world cigars are now making limitadas?? Amazing!

[JohnS]

  On 2/26/2025 at 12:21 PM, Chef said:

I’m fairly interested in how the Punch will smoke, especially with how well regular production Punch have been smoking the last few years. I’ve never smoked an Edicion Limitada, so I can’t contribute my own assessment of whether there’s ever a correlation there.

Thoughts on that?

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Excepting the Cohiba 55 Aniversario and the Trinidad Cabildos, the Limited Edition program took a break during the Covid-19 pandemic and hasn't reached the same level of adulation or popularity that it enjoyed before 2020. Prior to this, some releases were brilliant (for example the entire 2019 editions; the Montecristo Supremos, the Quai d'Orsay Senadores and the Ramon Allones No.2) whereas others have been forgotten (Punch Regios de Punch, H. Upmann Propios or Romeo y Julieta Tacos anyone?)

We just have to have to wait until they are released and then see how they trend.

[pohlmad]

  On 2/26/2025 at 8:37 PM, JohnS said:

Prior to this, some releases were brilliant (for example the entire 2019 editions; the Montecristo Supremos, the Quai d'Orsay Senadores and the Ramon Allones No.2)

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Could not agree more!  Supremes and Senadores are definitely awesome!  

[Trigga]

  On 2/26/2025 at 3:23 PM, DeeBeezy said:

New world cigars are now making limitadas?? Amazing!

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New world cigars try to copy everything in the CC world. There's no comparison.

[Lucas Buck]

The Punch EL is intriguing!

[DeeBeezy]

  On 3/1/2025 at 7:13 PM, Trigga said:

New world cigars try to copy everything in the CC world. There's no comparison.

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It was sarcastic- each year the Cubans are getting closer to new world packaging, more bands on the cigar, more flash presentation. Look at the box of Punch above. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have bet my house it was the new world version of Punch.