“Smoke on the Water”: Trinidad Vigia Reserva Cosecha 2022 launched in Montreux

The launch was originally scheduled to take place in Havana last February, but it was ultimately on the shores of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, that the Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022 was unveiled to the public.

Montreux, a small Swiss town on the eastern end of Lake Geneva, best known for its jazz festival, has little in common with Havana. And yet, on Saturday, September 19, the cigar world gathered there for the global launch of the Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022.

The exclusive Cuban cigar, made with tobacco aged for at least three years in Cuba, was originally due to be unveiled last February during the “mid-week evening” of the 2026 Festival del Habano, but the event was cancelled because of the situation on the island.

Intertabak AG, the official importer of Cuban cigars in Switzerland, therefore stepped in. Some 280 guests enjoyed ideal conditions on the terrace of the Petit Palais, part of the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace. Over glasses of Henri Giraud champagne, a selection of canapés and a first cigar, the Trinidad Esmeralda, guests caught up with old acquaintances and made new ones.

Alongside aficionados and cigar professionals from around the world, Cuba’s ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Laura Ivet Pujol Torres, was also in attendance, as were numerous recipients of the Habanos Awards.

The evening’s spectacular artistic performances were strongly reminiscent of the staging of the festival’s gala evenings in Havana. There was just one difference: rather than salsa, the band played songs by European and American artists, many of whom have left their mark on the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival.

But the real star of the evening was the Trinidad Vigía Reserva Cosecha 2022. In his speech, Intertabak CEO Tony Hoevenaars recalled that the label was created in 1969 at the legendary El Laguito factory, with its cigars remaining known exclusively within diplomatic circles for the next 30 years. The brand was first mentioned publicly in 1989. Since then, Trinidad has occupied the top tier of the Cuban cigar portfolio, just behind Cohiba.

Trinidad now joins the very select circle of brands with a Reserva vitola, made from tobacco aged for at least three years. To accompany it, guests were offered two carefully selected single malts from the Scottish distillery The Dalmore.

And once again, in Montreux, as Deep Purple first sang it in 1972, there was a whiff of Smoke on the Water.

Tobias Huberli, Switzerland correspondent
Photos: (c) Oh Anna Photographe