| Industry | Tobacco |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Cullman Brothers |
| Founded | 1906; 119 years ago (1906) inEvansville,Indiana, USA |
| Headquarters | Richmond, Virginia |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Regis Broersma (President) |
| Products | Premium Cigar and Pipe Tobacco |
| Parent | Scandinavian Tobacco Group |
General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer ofpremium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary ofScandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia.
In 1961 General Cigar, which was profitably selling about $30 million worth of cigars annually, was purchased for approximately $25 million by a group of investors headed byEdgar M. Cullman (brother of thenPhilip Morris Company CEOJoseph Cullman), a fourth generation American in the tobacco industry.[1]
Later in the 1960s, Culbro[clarification needed] and General Cigar acquired Gradiaz Annis, maker ofGold Label cigars and the Temple Hall factory that owned theMacanudo brand name, ushering in a turn towards hand-rolled premium cigars.[1] Macanudo, a small label made in limited quantities for the market in theUnited Kingdom, was seen as the principal vehicle for growth in the premium cigar category. A careful effort was made to reblend the product for the large American marketplace (then and now subject to a ban on Cuban tobacco, the industry's gold standard) using selectbinder andfiller from theDominican Republic,Jamaica, andMexico andConnecticut shade-grownwrapper.[1] Mass advertising was conducted in support of the brand, which by the early 1990s had grown into the best selling premium cigar label in the United States.[1]
In 1978 General registered a U.S. trademark on the brand name "Cohiba", thereby obtaining the right to use the name of that premium Cuban cigar in the American market without any connection to or content provided by its Cuban maker. Protracted legal wrangling followed, resolved when theU. S. Supreme Courtdenied the petition of the Cuban tobacco marketing agency,Cubatabaco, in 2006.[2] General Cigar's Cohiba cigars bear a disclaimer stating that they are not affiliated in any way with the Cuban Cohiba brand.
From 1978 General Cigar has also produced the Cuban tobacco freePartagas and Bolivar cigar brands for the American market in competition with Cuban brands of the same name. Initial production of Partagas was conducted inJamaica, but the following year production moved to a modern 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) factory inSantiago, Dominican Republic.[3]
A similartrade dress to the Cuban product has been used by General Cigar for its competing version of the Partagás brand, employing a red-and-goldband scheme, save with the word "Habana" replaced by the date "1845" on the packaging.[3]
In 1997, General Cigar acquiredVillazon, a company marketing non-Cuban versions of the leading Cuban cigar brandsPunch andHoyo de Monterrey.[4]
In 2005,Swedish Match acquired General Cigar.[5] In 2010, Swedish Match merged its premium cigars intoScandinavian Tobacco Group.[6]
In 2016, Swedish Match sold its shares of General Cigar back to STG.
In January 2021, Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S (STG), the company behind General Cigar and Cigars International, announced the formation of a new company, The Forged Cigar Company, an independent national cigar distribution network. The cigar brands under General Cigar were split up between General and Forged with the latter focusing more on Brick and Mortar business.
The first brands that were moved to The Forged Cigar Company were Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Bolivar Cofradia, Diesel and Chillin’ Moose. Brands that remained with General included CAO, Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Macanudo, and Punch. Later the El Rey Del Mundo brand was added to Forged's portfolio.[7]
General Cigar Company | |
Southern side of the building | |
   | |
| Location | 223 NW 2nd St.,Evansville,Indiana |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°57′51″N87°34′30″W / 37.96417°N 87.57500°W /37.96417; -87.57500 |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1902 |
| Built by | Harry Boyle and Company; Alfred E. Neucks |
| Architectural style | Arts and Crafts |
| NRHP reference No. | 00000212[8] |
| Added to NRHP | March 15, 2000 |
The General Cigar Company building atEvansville, Indiana, was built in 1902, and expanded in 1929. It is a three-story, L-shaped red brick building withArts and Crafts style design elements.[9] It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 2000.[8]
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