The Fundadores 55 signals a deliberate recalibration of luxury rather than a simple escalation of price.

[El Presidente]

......pass me the vomit bucket 

The World’s Most Luxurious Smoke

By

 Kevin Pilley

 -

01/29/2026

 

In the uppermost tier of cigar culture, time is the ultimate luxury. Scarcity follows closely behind. With the Trinidad Fundadores 55th Anniversary, both converge in dramatic fashion. Aged fully rolled for a decade and presented in a bespoke S.T. Dupont humidor, it stands as the most expensive new-release cigar ever offered.

Each cigar carries a price of approximately $1,150. A complete box of 55 commands costs $62,407. While rare cigars have crossed the four-figure mark at auction before, no modern release has entered the market at this level. Introduced by Habanos S.A., the custodian of Cuba’s most revered cigar houses, the Fundadores 55 signals a deliberate recalibration of luxury rather than a simple escalation of price.

 

FULL ARTICLE

[Chibearsv]

Once you recalibrate your luxury, you'll understand and pay up.  Otherwise, you'll just be a cretin, like me. 

[PartagasIV]

I do wonder sometimes how much of the moonshot(ting) in prices has to do with Chen Zhi & C-suite leadership, versus if that portion of HSA was still owned by a stodgy by comparison multinational tobacco co...this, versus a '98 cajon signed by Fidel? It's probably similar money, sadly.

[sactochris]

Hard to tell if this is satire.

[LizardGizmo]

I put the work in and can proudly say I'm fully calibrated. Rob, can you let us know when we can expect these boxes on 24:24?

[BigGuns]

G. T. F. O. 

Not sure where to start…I guess I’ll just send exuberant praise for their dedication to roll and stow these fine examples of supreme craftsmanship for 10 years. The planning. The foresight. The honesty. Kudos to the whole team

[rcarlson]

Straight off an episode of Impractical Jokers.  

[SirVantes]

Available: The truly unique Double Happiness Fundadores. 19 cigars presented in a varnished semi boite nature box with truly luxurious airflow capacity for 24 cigars. Marked AEM MAR 15, the cigars are aged 10 years fully rolled, fully boxed. They are then double-aged, double-boxed in a custom tupperdore polymerized hermetic cartouche. Double aging is the mark of truly great whisky and is now applied to cigars with AI technology. The serial number (1 of 1) is hand-applied by an artisan whose work has never before been commercially available. Bidding now open.

[gormag38]

12 hours ago, BigGuns said:

I guess I’ll just send exuberant praise for their dedication to roll and stow these fine examples of supreme craftsmanship for 10 years. The planning. The foresight. The honesty.

I mean it has to be a joke right?! No one in their right mind can actually believe that HSA had the foresight right?! To roll some fundies at El Laguito (which in of itself I've NEVER SEEN before), put them aside for 10 years for a new ultra limited vintage line, jack up Trini prices 300+% and then auction them off. We've never seen that sort of competency coming out of HSA. Anyone who bids on these should know they are getting duped in regards to the 'age statement'. 

[Çnote]

17 hours ago, SirVantes said:

polymerized hermetic cartouche

Golfclap.

[ATGroom]

10 hours ago, gormag38 said:

I mean it has to be a joke right?! No one in their right mind can actually believe that HSA had the foresight right?! To roll some fundies at El Laguito (which in of itself I've NEVER SEEN before), put them aside for 10 years for a new ultra limited vintage line, jack up Trini prices 300+% and then auction them off. We've never seen that sort of competency coming out of HSA. Anyone who bids on these should know they are getting duped in regards to the 'age statement'. 

The claim about these specific cigars being rolled at EL wasn't in any of the press material that Habanos put out. I'd say likely this article is just AI slop wanting to add in some detail about the "Trinidad factory" and finding the early history of the brand at EL as the most mentioned one.

As to the age claim, for these cigars in particular I think there is some credibility to it.

For the first few years of the Anejados program when they were doing custom sizes, the conspiracy theory that they were actually rebanded cigars from other brands  seems to at least make some sense as it seemed a bit wild that they had made this whole program with custom sizes, new blends etc. over multiple years and then kept quiet about it for eight years before suddenly springing them into the market.

The early years of that program weren't that successful, so in 2016 they scrapped the custom sizes and went on hiatus for a few years while they switched to doing regular aged stock instead.

In 2021 they announced the Fundies as the Anejados for that year, which were supposed to be 5-8 years old at that point. That tracks with them having been put aside when they made the decision to alter the program in 2016.

COVID happened, things were delayed, the market changed, and rather than just release the aged Fundies in their regular boxes as was the original plan, they sat on them a few years longer and put them in fancy humidors for the upsell. Makes sense to me.🤷‍♀️

The other 2021 cancelled Anejados was the Monte Tubos, so we'll see them in a Dupont humidor as the first Vintage 15 in 2030.

[NYGuido]

26 minutes ago, ATGroom said:

The claim about these specific cigars being rolled at EL wasn't in any of the press material that Habanos put out. I'd say likely this article is just AI slop wanting to add in some detail about the "Trinidad factory" and finding the early history of the brand at EL as the most mentioned one.

As to the age claim, for these cigars in particular I think there is some credibility to it.

For the first few years of the Anejados program when they were doing custom sizes, the conspiracy theory that they were actually rebanded cigars from other brands  seems to at least make some sense as it seemed a bit wild that they had made this whole program with custom sizes, new blends etc. over multiple years and then kept quiet about it for eight years before suddenly springing them into the market.

The early years of that program weren't that successful, so in 2016 they scrapped the custom sizes and went on hiatus for a few years while they switched to doing regular aged stock instead.

In 2021 they announced the Fundies as the Anejados for that year, which were supposed to be 5-8 years old at that point. That tracks with them having been put aside when they made the decision to alter the program in 2016.

COVID happened, things were delayed, the market changed, and rather than just release the aged Fundies in their regular boxes as was the original plan, they sat on them a few years longer and put them in fancy humidors for the upsell. Makes sense to me.🤷‍♀️

The other 2021 cancelled Anejados was the Monte Tubos, so we'll see them in a Dupont humidor as the first Vintage 15 in 2030.

Does this presume a level of organization that HSA seems otherwise to lack? Or is this genuinely reasonable based on your knowledge of how they operate (which is beyond light years ahead of mine)?

[ATGroom]

2 hours ago, NYGuido said:

Does this presume a level of organization that HSA seems otherwise to lack? Or is this genuinely reasonable based on your knowledge of how they operate (which is beyond light years ahead of mine)?

This forum likes to portray HSA as bumbling incompetents, but the fact is they manage to run a highly profitable world-leading cigar business from a crumbling third-world country against a maze of geopolitical and legal hurdles. There has to be some level of planning and organization there.

In any case, all I'm saying about the Fundies is that they made a plan, failed to deliver on it, and then five years later made lemonade out of lemons. It seems reasonable enough to me.🤷‍♀️

[SirVantes]

I find it just a little funny that in the 21st century, we are having still conversations like this about product puffery. "NO, I don't believe that GTR engines are each individually hand built by "master technicians" who sign the plaques...but I do enjoy my Altima."

[ha_banos]

I do wonder how the state of the regime impacts HSA. As long as there's a production pipeline they can leave the shiny stuff in the ageing rooms I guess. Although the power shortages might affect any climate control? I don't know how much they have to control conditions though. Looking over the last 5 years revenue growth means they can afford to sit on 'specials' I guess. So we might just keep seeing these ultra high releases. With at least a little credibility. They certainly have managed to recalibrate away from me. How much further can they push? For how much longer? Anyone's guess.

So with recent developments what's the longer term view of the regime I wonder? How much money does HSA give over to the regime? Will they finally just seize whatever's left and run?

Hope there's a recalibration soon that helps make things better over there. 😞