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Product type | Cigar,cigarette |
---|---|
Owner | Imperial Brands |
Produced by | Habanos S.A. Altadis |
Country | Cuba Dominican Republic |
Introduced | 1935; 90 years ago (1935) |
Related brands | Cohiba Romeo y Julieta |
Website | habanos.com/montecristo |
Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 |
Montecristo (Spanish pronunciation:[monteˈkɾisto]) is abrand ofcigars andcigarettes produced separately and independently inCuba byHabanos S.A., the nationaltobacco company, and inLa Romana, Dominican Republic byAltadis, asubsidiary of British conglomerateImperial Brands.
In July 1935, Alonso Menéndez purchased the Particulares Factory, makers of theParticulares brand and the lesser-known Byron. Immediately after its acquisition, he created a new brand namedMontecristo.[1]
The brand's name was inspired byThe Count of Monte Cristo, a novel written byAlexandre Dumas père, which was allegedly a very popular novel among thetorcedores (cigar rollers) in their factory to have read by thelector on the rolling floor. The Montecristo logo, consisting of a triangle of six swords surrounding afleur-de-lis, was designed by John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd., the brand'sBritish distributor.
In July 1936, Menéndez founded a new firm with a partner, naming it Menéndez, García y Cía.[2] With the growing success of the Montecristo brand, the firm purchased the falteringH. Upmann Factory (created byHermann 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 theAlfred 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 theCuban Revolution, and on September 15, 1960, after which the Montecristo brand, the factory, and all assets were nationalized by the government of Fidel Castro.[3]
Menéndez and García re-established their brand in theCanary Islands, but were later forced to quit due to trademark disputes withCubatabaco (later known asHabanos S.A.). In the mid-1970s, the operation was moved toLa 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 subsequentembargo. Menéndez, García, y Cía is now owned byAltadis S.A., which controls its distribution and marketing in theUnited States.
With Menendez and Garcia gone after 1959, one of the top gradetorcedores, 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.
TheMontecristo No. 2 is the most popular cigar in the world market.[citation needed] In 2004 the Edmundo was added, a large robusto-sized cigar named for the hero of Dumas'The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès.
TheMontecristo No. 4 is the best selling Cuban cigar.[4] It is a one-half to one hour's smoke, and is generally considered[5] to be an excellent starting point for those new to Cuban cigars. The Montecristo No. 4 was the preferred cigar of Argentine revolutionary leaderErnesto "Che" Guevara.[6]
Montecristo is regularly chosen to be featured in Habanos SA's annualEdición 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 samevitola 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.[7]
A new, lighter-bodied line was released at the XI Festival del Habano in February 2009. The planned name for the new line had beenSport, but because of EU regulations prohibiting marketing tobacco with sports imagery, the name was changed toOpen withvitola names inspired by sports such asgolf andyachting.
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 samevitola 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.[8]
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.[9]
Montecristo also produces three machine-madecigarillos: the Mini, the Club, and the Purito.[citation needed]