- 5th Avenue, the only authorized Habanos importer for Germany, Austria and Poland, stopped shipping on September 4, 2026 and went into preliminary insolvency on September 9 after EU sanctions froze its bank accounts.
- Germany’s tobacco tax bill had its first reading on September 24 and passed the Bundestag on October 15. The cigar rate goes from 1.47 to 3.83 percent on March 1, 2027, not the 21.05 percent floated over the summer.
- Brick House Bricktoberfest 2026 and the 15th anniversary Quesada Oktoberfest are on U.S. shelves, and 9 more cigars debuted or got dates in September.
September belonged to Germany. The company that brings Cuban cigars into Germany, Austria and Poland stopped shipping on September 4, and five days later a court put it into insolvency proceedings. Then the Bundestag picked up the tobacco tax bill everybody had been worried about since summer.
Over here, the month was quieter. Two fall regulars hit U.S. shelves, the Cigar Trophy Awards named their winners, and InterTabac in Dortmund showed a bunch of cigars that Europe gets before we do, or instead of us.
Germany's Habanos Importer Is in Insolvency
Fifth Avenue Products Trading, usually just called 5th Avenue, is the exclusive importer of Habanos for Germany, Austria and Poland. If a Cohiba or a Partagás was sold legally in one of those countries, it came through their warehouse in Waldshut-Tiengen, near the Swiss border. They’ve been doing it since 1989.
On September 4, 5th Avenue told its customers it was stopping all new orders and shipments. On September 9, the local district court put the company into preliminary insolvency administration and appointed André Berbuer, a Freiburg lawyer, as administrator.
The company didn’t run out of customers, it ran out of bank accounts. On July 30, the EU sanctioned Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi and his Prince Holding Group. Prince holds a stake in Habanos S.A., and Habanos sits in 5th Avenue’s ownership chain, so Chen counts as an indirect shareholder. The banks froze everything.
Preliminary administration isn’t liquidation. The administrator looks at the books and decides whether the business keeps going, gets restructured, or gets sold. In the meantime, German, Austrian and Polish shops can sell the Cubans they already have, but there’s no second source to restock from. As of this writing, deliveries haven’t restarted.
For American smokers this doesn’t touch your humidor. It does show you how the Cuban side works. One importer per country, and when that one company gets stuck, the whole country’s supply gets stuck with it.
Germany's Cigar Tax: The Worst Didn't Happen
Back in the July roundup I said to watch the Bundestag this fall. Here’s how it went. The tax bill had its first reading on September 24, went through committee, and passed on October 15.
The scary number over the summer was a jump in the value-based cigar tax from 1.47 percent to 21.05 percent. That came from an amendment draft, and it didn’t survive. The final version takes cigars and cigarillos to 3.83 percent, plus a per-cigar tax that climbs from 1.4 cents today to 2.85 cents by 2030. The 21.05 percent rate ended up on cigarettes instead.
The new cigar rates start March 1, 2027. Germany’s cigar manufacturers association said the worst has been averted, and it figures the result works out to roughly double the current cigar tax. That still hurts, but it’s a long way from what was on the table in July.
"One importer per country, and when that one company gets stuck, the whole country’s supply gets stuck with it. — NORM FARRAR, THE CIGAR FOSSIL"
InterTabac Shows What Europe Gets First
InterTabac is the big tobacco trade show in Dortmund, Germany. It ran September 15 to 17 this year, with more than 800 exhibitors across 12 halls. Think of it as Europe’s version of the PCA show, with a lot more cigars that never make it to the U.S.
The 5th Avenue situation hung over the whole show. You couldn’t walk far without somebody bringing it up.
On the cigar side, a few companies we know well are now launching in Europe first. The cards below sort out what’s here, what’s coming, and what isn’t. A cigar shown at a trade show isn’t a cigar on a shelf, so read the timing line on each one.
The Cigar Trophy Awards Picked Their Winners
The Cigar Trophy Awards are voted on by readers, not a tasting panel, and the 2026 winners were announced on September 15. A few worth knowing:
I like reader-voted awards. They tell you what people actually reach for, and that’s a different list than what scores well in a quiet room.
Jorge Padrón getting the lifetime award is well earned, in my opinion. And if you’re newer, look at the Boveda win. A 50-count box is about the right size for a first real humidor, and it runs on Boveda’s humidity packs, so you’re not messing with sponges and distilled water.
Product and Brand Announcements
Eleven cigars shipped, got a date, or were shown in September. I’ve grouped them so you know which ones you can actually find in a U.S. shop.
Brick House Bricktoberfest 2026
J.C. Newman’s fall release, same cigar as last year. A 7 3/4 x 48 Churchill with a pigtail cap, Ecuadorian Havana Rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler. $12.50 a cigar in boxes of 10.
Quesada Oktoberfest 15th Anniversary
Mexican San Andrés wrapper over Dominican binder and filler, five sizes from $13.25 to $15, 500 boxes of each for the U.S. It shipped at the end of August. Last one in the current packaging, Quesada changes its look in 2027.
Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022
Trinidad’s first Reserva, which means tobacco from the 2022 harvest aged at least three extra years. A 110 mm x 54 Vigía. Launched September 19 in Montreux, Switzerland. 5,000 boxes of 20, plus 5,000 three-packs.
AGANORSA Supreme Leaf Worldwide
The first Supreme Leaf that isn’t all Nicaraguan, with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. 5 7/8 x 52 and 4 7/8 x 50. Overseas shops get it in November, and the U.S. debut is set for PCA in March 2027.
Villiger de Nicaragua Edición Limitada 2026
The last one in the series. A 6 x 60 at $20, 2,000 boxes worldwide with 650 for the U.S. Europe got it first, and U.S. shops should see it in December.
AGANORSA JFR Clara
A lighter JFR, made for markets outside the U.S.
Dunbarton Overseas No. 2
The second cigar in Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s international-only Overseas Series. A 6 x 46, full strength. Shown in Dortmund, not shipping yet.
Flor de Selva Año de la Cabra 2027
Maya Selva’s Year of the Goat limited edition, a Honduran puro with a two-tone wrapper. The foot end is a darker leaf than the rest of the cigar.
Villa Zamorano Danlí Corto 46
A new size in Maya Selva’s VZ Danlí line, which started in 2024 with a Robusto and a Toro. All Honduran. It’s been on sale in Europe since July 1, and the line also won Best Value Honduras at the Trophy Awards.
CigarKings COY 26 Aero Lancero
The Munich company builds a limited edition every year around Pantone’s Color of the Year, and for 2026 that’s Cloud Dancer, an off-white. A 7 1/2 x 38 lancero, 12,000 cigars, €16 each.
AJ Fernandez Year of the Goat
A 6 x 54 toro in boxes of 18, Nicaraguan tobacco. No price yet, and it’s not clear which markets get it.
The BLC Take
The tax bill is the good news, in my opinion. Doubling the cigar tax still costs German smokers money, but it beats a 1,300 percent jump. Over here, if you want a Bricktoberfest, grab it now, it’s seasonal and it goes.
Norm Farrar is a four-decade cigar enthusiast, credentialed tobacconist (CCT, CST, CCST), and the founder of Blind Label Cigar. Known in the community as “The Cigar Fossil,” he’s logged enough smoke time to have serious opinions but still approaches every new cigar like the first one.
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