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Montecristo () is a
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
of
cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
s and
cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...
s produced separately and independently in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
by Habanos S.A., the national
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
company, and in La Romana, Dominican Republic by Altadis, a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of British conglomerate
Imperial Brands Imperial Brands plc (originally the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, and subsequently Imperial Tobacco Group plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is ...
.


History

In July 1935, Alonso Menéndez purchased the Particulares Factory, makers of the ''Particulares'' brand and the lesser-known Byron. Immediately after its acquisition, he created a new brand named ''Montecristo''. The brand's name was inspired by ''
The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...
'', a novel written by Alexandre Dumas père, which was allegedly a very popular novel among the ''torcedores'' (cigar rollers) in their factory to have read by the '' lector'' on the rolling floor. The Montecristo logo, consisting of a triangle of six swords surrounding a
fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...
, was designed by John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd., the brand's
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
distributor. In July 1936, Menéndez founded a new firm with a partner, naming it Menéndez, García y Cía. With the growing success of the Montecristo brand, the firm purchased the faltering H. Upmann Factory (created by Hermann Dietrich Upmann in 1844) from J. Frankau SA in 1937 and transferred Montecristo production there. J. Frankau continued as sole distributor of the H. Upmann brand in the UK, while John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd. was the sole distributor of Montecristo in Britain. In 1963, these firms merged to become "Hunters & Frankau", which today is the sole importer and distributor of all Cuban cigars in the UK. Through the efforts of the Alfred Dunhill company, the Montecristo brand became incredibly popular worldwide and to this day accounts for roughly one-quarter of Habanos SA's worldwide cigar sales, making it the most popular Cuban cigar in the world. Menéndez and García fled during the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
, and on September 15, 1960, after which the Montecristo brand, the factory, and all assets were nationalized by the government of Fidel Castro. Menéndez and García re-established their brand in the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
, but were later forced to quit due to trademark disputes with Cubatabaco (later known as Habanos S.A.). In the mid-1970s, the operation was moved to La Romana and released for the US market, since Cuban government rights to the brand were not recognized under American law due to the 1960 nationalization and subsequent
embargo Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...
. Menéndez, García, y Cía is now owned by Altadis S.A., which controls its distribution and marketing in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. With Menendez and Garcia gone after 1959, one of the top grade ''torcedores'', José Manuel González, was promoted to floor manager and proceeded to breathe new life into the brand. In the 1970s and 1980s, five new sizes were added: the A, the Especial No. 1 and 2, the Joyita, and the Petit Tubo. Three other sizes, the Montecristo No. 6, No. 7, and B, were released but subsequently discontinued, though the B can occasionally be found in very small releases each year in Cuba. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Cuban Montecristo continued to rise in popularity among cigar smokers, becoming one of that nations’s best-selling cigar brands.


Today


Cuban Montecristo

The Montecristo No. 2 is the most popular cigar in the world market. In 2004 the Edmundo was added, a large robusto-sized cigar named for the hero of Dumas' ''The Count of Monte Cristo'', Edmond Dantès. The Montecristo No. 4 is the best selling Cuban cigar. It is a one-half to one hour's smoke, and is generally considered to be an excellent starting point for those new to Cuban cigars. The Montecristo No. 4 was the preferred cigar of Argentine revolutionary leader
Ernesto "Che" Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
. Montecristo is regularly chosen to be featured in Habanos SA's annual ''Edición Limitada'' selection of cigars with a darker vintage wrapper, and issues numerous limited editions of cigars for special occasions, anniversaries, the annual Festival del Habano, charities, etc. In 2007, a cigar called the Edmundo Dantes Conde 109 was released as a part of Habanos' regional edition series. All regional edition series boxes are numbered and the productions are limited. It uses a Montecristo blend and is believed to have a different name because of trademark right problems in Mexico. At the IX Festival de Habano, Habanos SA announced Montecristo No. 4 Reserva Cosecha 2002. This cigar is rolled in exactly the same ''vitola'' as the Montecristo No. 4, and features Vuelta Abajo tobacco from the 2002 crop aged a minimum of five years before being rolled into the cigar. Only 5,000 black lacquered cases are available and each case is numbered. A new, lighter-bodied line was released at the XI Festival del Habano in February 2009. The planned name for the new line had been ''Sport'', but because of EU regulations prohibiting marketing tobacco with sports imagery, the name was changed to ''Open'' with ''vitola'' names inspired by sports such as
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
and
yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...
. In 2011, Habanos SA announced at the XIII Festival del Habano the first ever Gran Reserva for Montecristo, Montecristo No. 2 Gran Reserva Cosecha 2006. This special cigar is rolled in exactly the same ''vitola'' as the legendary Montecristo No.2 Pirámides, and features Vuelta Abajo tobacco from the 2005 harvest aged at least five years before being rolled into the cigars. Only 5,000 densely lacquered boxes are available and each box is numbered. The 80th anniversary of the Montecristo brand was celebrated in March 2015 at the VII Festival del Habano. Habanos SA revealed the Montecristo 80 Anniversario at the festival. This exclusive cigar comes in a simple, polished, dark-brown box that contains 20 cigars. Only 30,000 boxes are being produced. It was released in August 2016. Montecristo also produces three machine-made cigarillos: the Mini, the Club, and the Purito.


See also

* Cigar brands


References

* Nee, Min Ron - ''An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars'' (2003, Reprinted: 2005),


External links

*
Montecristo
on Altadis USA
Montecristo brand on the Cuban Cigar Website


''CNN'', April 9, 2007 {{Imperial Tobacco Cuban brands Habanos S.A. brands Imperial Brands brands The Count of Monte Cristo