Extra! Extra! Robusto Extra! Fonseca Du Nord Arrives in Canada
For nearly eight years, Canadian Habanos lovers have watched with envy as other regions, from the Benelux to Brazil, received their own special regional edition cigars. The wait officially ended on 20 January 2026 when the Fonseca Du Nord (Edición Regional Canada) was launched in Toronto.
The last time Canada received a Regional Edition was in 2018, with the Diplomáticos Norteños (although I seem to remember them not hitting retailers in Vancouver until much later). Since then, the pandemic, environmental disruptions in Cuba, and the implementation of Canada’s plain packaging laws left many wondering if we would ever see another Canadian regional edition from Habanos.
The arrival of the Du Nord is a sign that Habanos S.A. still considers Canada a worthy market.
Return of the Underdog
Fonseca was a surprising choice. Not a more prestigious brand? While nearly all handmade Cuban cigars are excellent, Fonseca has, at least in post-revolutionary times, been considered a bit of a lesser Cuban. It is mild, is less expensive, and traditionally does not come in larger sizes. When I used to work in cigar stores when I had a customer who needed a box of cigars for a bachelor party or similar event, but the cigars had to be Cuban and the customer didn’t have a big budget, inevitably I would recommend a box of Fonseca Cosacos. Were they sexy or impressive? No, but for a neophyte who wanted to say they were smoking a hecho a mano Cuban, it was suitable.
I haven’t even thought about Fonseca in years. Too mild for me, plus, they have that odd, white silk wrapper under the band and enrobing the cigar. I am always suspicious of cigars that are covered up; I assume they are concealing a substandard wrapper. That may or may not be true generally, but for Fonseca it was a choice by Don Francisco Fonseca, the Cuba-born founder of the brand. Don was a bit of a dandy with a flamboyant hairdo, and he decided to wrap each cigar in Japanese paper to help protect the sticks and also because it just looked so fancy. They still have that wrapper, though it is no longer Japanese. It is still mild and still handmade, though some of the smaller sizes are short fill.
Apparently, despite my lack of attention to the brand, Fonseca is unusually popular in Canada (and Spain). I don’t know if this is because they are so much cheaper than other Cubans and in Canada with our voluminous tobacco taxes this makes them a common choice – Or did I accidentally create a generation of Fonseca fans with my bachelor party recommendations? Probably it is something else, but regardless, Canadians have a fondness for Fonseca and Habanos SA has bestowed upon us a new size to savor.
Behold the Du Nord
The Fonseca Du Nord is a Robusto Extra, measuring 5 ½ inches by a 52 ring gauge. A Genios. A good size. It is completely handmade and long filler with premium tobacco.
I will spare you my pretentious tasting notes, but my sampling revealed a well made cigar, with an excellent draw and an even burn. Rich in flavour but light in strength. My smoking companion said it was effervescent, which I think is apt – not to describe the flavour per se, but a lightness and delicate quality to the smoke. (And just when I said I wasn’t going to be pretentious.) It’s still a bit too light for my palate, but I enjoyed it and I have the rest of a box to become better acquainted. It is certainly worth trying.
The Du Nord is the first Canadian Regional Edition released since Canada’s absurd plain packaging laws came into force. This means that the cigars did not come in the usual Fonseca box, vivid orange with Don Francisco Fonseca’s stylishly coiffed head on the label. Rather, they come in the hideous government issue green box and a sans serif font that says, ‘I designed my own business cards at Kinko’s.” The white wrapper is gone. It is a bit sad to get such an exclusive cigar in such a generic package, like buying a Mont Blanc pen in a plain cardboard box; but it is what’s on the inside that counts. Or so I’m told.
The Fonseca Du Nord was released in limited numbers, just 6,000 boxes of 10 cigars, so getting your hand on one might require a bit of luck, but if you do, they should age well and will likely go up in value, as all limited edition Habanos seem to do. The 2018 Norteños certainly did. At the time of writing, the Du Nords were already sold out at several Canadian retailers.
Whether the Du Nord is an evolution of Fonseca brand or just a dolled-up version of my old bachelor party standby is up for debate, but in Canada where regional edition Cuban cigars are rare and defined by government-mandated homogeneity, we take our wins where we can get them. The Du Nord may not be everyone’s new favourite, but it is worth smoking, at least once, just for the unique Cuban-Canadian experience.