High Court stubs out hopes for cheaper cigars

It costs women only ?4 to smoke a Cohiba Esplendidos on the streets of Havana but in a British cigar bar you could expect to pay at least ?28 for the privilege of such a puff.

Any hope that the dramatic price gap would be narrowed was dashed by a High Court ruling yesterday.

Corporacion Habanos, which has the global rights to brands such as Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo, saw off a challenge from Master Cigars, a British company that had sought to muscle in on the supply of top Cuban cigars in the UK.

Those rights are held by Hunters & Frankau, through its exclusive deal with Corporacion Habanos.

Experts had predicted that a favourable decision for MasterCigars could have resulted in the prices of some Cuban cigars in the UK being cut by half.