中国农历龙年已经过了一半，但瑞士还在庆祝农历新年。8月20日，古巴的蒙特龙年生肖纪念版在瑞士的哈瓦那之家专卖店上架。

雪茄53环径，5英寸，是蒙特品牌已有产品里独一无二的尺寸。不出所料，售价非常昂贵。每盒18支，售价1440瑞士法郎，折合每支80瑞士法郎，也就是每支92.5美元。虽然龙年生肖纪念版的售价很贵，但对比去年的高希霸兔年生肖纪念版，还是要便宜的很。高希霸兔年生肖纪念版的售价是每盒4500美元，也是每盒18支，折合每支250美元。

这次蒙特生肖版产品最引人瞩目的是外包装。传统的蒙特雪茄外包装是黄色设计，但这次生肖版采用了红色设计方案，包装盒十分光滑，盒子上印有龙的图案，呼应龙年的主题。一共生产18888盒。

和去年古巴发售的兔年纪念版高希霸金色世纪一样的设计，每一个包装盒都附有NFC，可以用手机扫码验证真实性，以及了解这款产品的具体信息。这款雪茄包装盒是西班牙公司Humidif集团的作品，这家公司专业生产高光泽钢琴烤漆的雪茄包装盒。

瑞士的其他零售商预计从8月27日开始销售这款蒙特龙年生肖版雪茄。

这是古巴哈伯纳斯公司连续第五年发布中国生肖主题雪茄，之前发布的产品有：纪念鼠年的罗密欧与朱丽叶马拉维亚斯8（Maravillas 8），纪念牛年的好友春天（Primaveras），纪念虎年的乌普曼马格讷姆52（Magnum 52），纪念兔年的高希霸金色世纪（Siglo de Oro）。

今年2月初，蒙特龙年生肖版雪茄在香港举办了首发仪式。过了半年，才来到瑞士市场。

According to the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Dragon is half over, but that’s not stopping Switzerland from celebrating the Lunar New Year anyway. On August 20th, the Cuban Montecristo Brillantes will be available at the country’s La Casa del Habano shops. It’s a unique size in the Montecristo portfolio and intended to honor this year’s zodiacal creature.

Most striking about the release is the packaging. The Montecristo Brillantes come in contoured, glossy red boxes designed with a dragon motif to fit the theme. This is quite unusual, as Montecristo’s trade dress color has always been predominantly yellow. Each box holds 18 cigars and only 18,888 boxes are being produced for global circulation. 

Like last year’s Cohiba Siglo de Oro, which commemorated the Year of the Rabbit, each box is NFC-enabled. An NFC chip was installed for authenticity verification as well as an interactive means to provide information about the product. It’s the work of HumidifGroup, a Spanish company that specializes in high-gloss, piano-finish boxes for the cigar industry. 

The cigar measures 5 inches by 53 ring gauge. Unsurprisingly, the suggested retail price isn’t cheap. They’re hitting shelves at 1,440 Swiss francs (about $1,665) per box, which works out to 80 Swiss francs per cigar or around $92.50 each. While these Brillantes are certainly pricey, they’re still considerably less expensive than the Cohiba Year of the Rabbit, which retails in Havana for $4,500 per box of 18, or $250 per cigar.

After the Montecristo Brillantes are released at Switzerland’s Casas del Habano, the rest of the country’s retailers will start selling them on August 27th. 

The Montecristo Brillantes marks the fifth time that Cuba has joined the Lunar New Year celebration. Habanos S.A. also released the H. Upmann Magnum 52 for Year of the Tiger; the Hoyo de Monterrey Primaveras for Year of the Ox; and the Romeo y Julieta Maravillas 8 for Year of the Rat.