High Court UK stubs out hopes for cheaper cigars

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High Court UK stubs out hopes for cheaper cigars

jason

14th March 2006

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. Corporación Habanos, which has the global rights to brands such as Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo, saw off a challenge from MasterCigars, 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 Corporación 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.