Altadis U.S.A. Inc, Montecristo, a world-famous cigar brand, began in Cuba in 1935, the leader of Havana cigars, with a slightly oily brown wrapper, a soft aroma, a unique and intense taste
Montecristo is by far the most popular Havana cigar. About half of Cuba's annual exports of cigars are of this brand, and the cigars are labeled with a simple brown and white label. The brand was introduced to the world in 1935 and is still being introduced by H. Produced at the Upmann or Partagas factory, it has been a privileged cigar in Havana for twenty years due to its distinctive taste that delights cigar aficionados.
When Alonzo Menendez and Pepe Garcia founded the brand in 1935, they deliberately limited production and sales, offering only five sizes. At the time, they had just acquired the Upmann brand from Franco in the United Kingdom, and the focus was on expanding its volume. Montecristo, formerly Uppmann's Montecristo Selection collection, was consigned to the New York company Denway, where it was a highly regarded brand at the time and a litmus test of Menéndez's tobacco technology and Garcia's production know-how.
Later, under the influence of another British agent, John Hunter, the cigar brand was given a simplified name "Montercristo". Since Franco was in charge of the sale of Upman cigars, it wanted Montecristo cigars to be sold independently. That's why Hunter Douglas designed the bold red and yellow crossed sword logo on the humidor. During the Second World War, Havana cigars were disrupted from being sold to the UK, so the brand was mainly concentrated in Dunhill tobacco stores in the US. Alfred Hitchcock, the film director, was fascinated by Montecristo early on, and he even decided to send cigars to his English friends who were unable to smoke cigars due to wartime material restrictions. After the Second World War, Montecristo added the Tubos size, otherwise the collection would have remained the same.
Soon after the Cuban Revolution, the Menéndez and Garcia family relocated to the Canary Islands. However, a small number of Montecristo cigars are still produced on the island of Cuba, produced by the legendary Joseph Manuel Funzales, known as "Masinguila" who remained on the island. To this day, he is considered the best cigar maker in Havana and the strictest overseer in the eyes of cigarette workers. He is credited with maintaining the high quality and unique blend recipes that Montecristo cigars are known for.
In the early '70s, the brand added A and three new sizes: Especial, Especial No.2 and Joyita, modeled after Laguito (Cohiba) No.1, No.2 and No.3. Since then, the brand has grown exponentially, becoming a favorite of many entertainers, such as singer Tom Jones and British film giant LewGrade. However, success also comes with some problems, such as the challenge of ensuring the high quality of the large number of cigars delivered to Spain.
Many people believe that high-quality cigars can only be bought in small markets such as the UK. However, when the Spanish National Tobacco Agency and the Cuban Tobacco Bureau had a trademark dispute and were intending to suspend the import of Montecristo cigars, a civil war was almost inevitable in Spain. Montecristo cigars feature a characteristic slightly oily brown wrapper with a soft nose and a medium-rich to full-bodied flavour with a unique and intense mouthfeel. Among them, the No.2 (torpedo shape) is very famous and worth trying, and many regular customers also think that the No.1 (Cervante size) is slightly inferior.
