The 2020 EMS stamp has been issued by Hunters & Frankau and is now being applied to all Havana cigars passing the UK quality inspection.
The colour of the stamp changes every year so you will still find various different coloured stamps at your local Havana Cigar Specialist, depending on when they received the cigars from H&F.
The EMS description has been used by Cuba for over a century, with many people contending that it originally reflected the reputation of the English market for accepting only the very finest cigars that Cuba had to offer.
Others maintain it was used to distinguish cigars destined for England from those bound for the USA. At the time the English preference was for dark cigars while the American Market Selection (AMS) reflected a propensity for specially treated light green cigars (candelas).
To learn more about the EMS stamp and what it represents today within the UK market, please click here
