The year was 1935 and the month was July when a man named Alonso Menéndez bought a factory from the makers of a popular brand of cigars called Particulares. This factory also produce a less common known cigar called Byron. It was almost immediately after Alonso bought the factory that he created his own brand name of cigar and called it a Montecristo.
Alonso was an avid reader and he chose this particular name for his cigar from a book written by the famous author Alexandre Dumas. The novel is called the Count of Monte Cristo. The tale goes that this novel was read to the factory workers while they rolled the cigars in the factory. The cigar has a famous logo that consists of a triangle of six swords. The six swords are surrounding a fleur-de-lis. The now famous logo was designed by the company’s British distributor John Hunter Morris & Elkan Company Limited.
A year later in July of 1936, Alfonso and a partner founded a new firm and called it Menéndez, García y Cía. The Montecristo brand quickly gained success and with this success Menéndez and his partner were able to purchase a faltering company and its factory from J. Frankau SA. It was during this time that the production of the Montecristo cigar was transferred from the Particulares factory to the newly acquired factory. This continued to be the home of the Montecristo cigar even after the revolution.
The Montecristo is cigar was distributed in the United Kingdom by J. Frankau. He was the sole distributor for this popular brand throughout this territory. John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd. continue to be the only distributor of Montecristo cigars in Britain. However, in 1963, these two firms would merge together and become a company called Hunters & Frankau. Today, this is the only company throughout the entire United Kingdom that distributes all Cuban cigars.
There is some discrepancy about the original name of cigar. This discrepancy is caused by incorrect facts in several publications. These publications claim that the cigar was called the H. Upmann Montecristo Selection. This however could not be true because Menéndez founded his company in 1935 but he did not purchase the H. Upmann factory until 1937. Therefore, it would have been impossible to have included the Upmann name alongside the Montecristo cigar.
The Montecristo brand soon became amazingly popular throughout the world. A lot of credit goes to the Alfred Dunhill Company who contributed to this rise in popularity. Even today, this brand is accountable for approximately one-quarter of all Habanos SA that are sold throughout the world. It simply is the world’s most popular Cuban cigar. Menéndez and Garcia fled Cuba in 1961 after the Cuban Revolution. They did not want to have any part of the country’s nationalization of the cigar industry.
They fled to the Canary Islands and tried to re-establish production of the Montecristo brand. There were however costly trademark disputes with the Cuban Tobacco Association and they were forced to quit their operations. In the middle of 1970 they moved their operation to the Dominican Republic in La Romana. There they released their brand to the US market. Due to the trade embargo between the United States and Cuba, the Cubans right to the Montecristo brand was not recognized. Today, we see that the company owned by Menéndez and Garcia is now owned by Altadis SA. This company controls all marketing and distribution of the Montecristo in the United States.
In the beginning there were only five numbered sizes of the Montecristo brand. Later, during the 1940s, a tube cigar was added but the Montecristo brand remained otherwise unchanged until the time of Cuban nationalization. After Garcia and Menéndez left Cuba the government appointed José Manuel Gonzalez to the position of floor manager.
José Manuel Gonzalez introduced new life into the Montecristo brand. During the 1970s and 80s there were five new sizes added. They were the Petit Tubo, the A, the Especial 1 and Especial 2, and the Joyita. Three other Montecristo cigars were also released but they were eventually discontinued. However one of these releases, the B, is still occasionally released in small amounts each year in Cuba.
Through the 1970s and 80s, we see the popularity of the Montecristo continuing to rise until it became thoroughly entrenched as Cuba’s top line of cigars being sold. The most popular cigar in the entire world is the Montecristo No. 4. That is quite an accomplishment considering all of the name brand cigars that are produced in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Cuba.
Recently, in 2004 there was another addition added to the regular line. It was named after the hero of Dumas, Edmond Dantès. He was the original Count of Monte Cristo. The Montecristo cigar is regularly featured in the annual Edición Limitada selection of cigars. This is a Habanos SA's cigar selection that has a darker vintage wrapper. During this time there will be additional limited edition releases of Montecristo cigars. These cigars will be used for festivals, anniversaries, charities, and special occasions throughout the country of Cuba.
2007 saw the release of another popular cigar named the Edmundo Dantes Conde 109. The cigar was also introduced as a part of the Habanos' regional edition series. It utilizes a Montecristo blend but due to trademark issues with Mexico it has a different name. Montecristo now produces machine made cigarillos called the Club, the Mini, and the Purito.
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Alonso was an avid reader and he chose this particular name for his cigar from a book written by the famous author Alexandre Dumas. The novel is called the Count of Monte Cristo. The tale goes that this novel was read to the factory workers while they rolled the cigars in the factory. The cigar has a famous logo that consists of a triangle of six swords. The six swords are surrounding a fleur-de-lis. The now famous logo was designed by the company’s British distributor John Hunter Morris & Elkan Company Limited.
A year later in July of 1936, Alfonso and a partner founded a new firm and called it Menéndez, García y Cía. The Montecristo brand quickly gained success and with this success Menéndez and his partner were able to purchase a faltering company and its factory from J. Frankau SA. It was during this time that the production of the Montecristo cigar was transferred from the Particulares factory to the newly acquired factory. This continued to be the home of the Montecristo cigar even after the revolution.
The Montecristo is cigar was distributed in the United Kingdom by J. Frankau. He was the sole distributor for this popular brand throughout this territory. John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd. continue to be the only distributor of Montecristo cigars in Britain. However, in 1963, these two firms would merge together and become a company called Hunters & Frankau. Today, this is the only company throughout the entire United Kingdom that distributes all Cuban cigars.
There is some discrepancy about the original name of cigar. This discrepancy is caused by incorrect facts in several publications. These publications claim that the cigar was called the H. Upmann Montecristo Selection. This however could not be true because Menéndez founded his company in 1935 but he did not purchase the H. Upmann factory until 1937. Therefore, it would have been impossible to have included the Upmann name alongside the Montecristo cigar.
The Montecristo brand soon became amazingly popular throughout the world. A lot of credit goes to the Alfred Dunhill Company who contributed to this rise in popularity. Even today, this brand is accountable for approximately one-quarter of all Habanos SA that are sold throughout the world. It simply is the world’s most popular Cuban cigar. Menéndez and Garcia fled Cuba in 1961 after the Cuban Revolution. They did not want to have any part of the country’s nationalization of the cigar industry.
They fled to the Canary Islands and tried to re-establish production of the Montecristo brand. There were however costly trademark disputes with the Cuban Tobacco Association and they were forced to quit their operations. In the middle of 1970 they moved their operation to the Dominican Republic in La Romana. There they released their brand to the US market. Due to the trade embargo between the United States and Cuba, the Cubans right to the Montecristo brand was not recognized. Today, we see that the company owned by Menéndez and Garcia is now owned by Altadis SA. This company controls all marketing and distribution of the Montecristo in the United States.
In the beginning there were only five numbered sizes of the Montecristo brand. Later, during the 1940s, a tube cigar was added but the Montecristo brand remained otherwise unchanged until the time of Cuban nationalization. After Garcia and Menéndez left Cuba the government appointed José Manuel Gonzalez to the position of floor manager.
José Manuel Gonzalez introduced new life into the Montecristo brand. During the 1970s and 80s there were five new sizes added. They were the Petit Tubo, the A, the Especial 1 and Especial 2, and the Joyita. Three other Montecristo cigars were also released but they were eventually discontinued. However one of these releases, the B, is still occasionally released in small amounts each year in Cuba.
Through the 1970s and 80s, we see the popularity of the Montecristo continuing to rise until it became thoroughly entrenched as Cuba’s top line of cigars being sold. The most popular cigar in the entire world is the Montecristo No. 4. That is quite an accomplishment considering all of the name brand cigars that are produced in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Cuba.
Recently, in 2004 there was another addition added to the regular line. It was named after the hero of Dumas, Edmond Dantès. He was the original Count of Monte Cristo. The Montecristo cigar is regularly featured in the annual Edición Limitada selection of cigars. This is a Habanos SA's cigar selection that has a darker vintage wrapper. During this time there will be additional limited edition releases of Montecristo cigars. These cigars will be used for festivals, anniversaries, charities, and special occasions throughout the country of Cuba.
2007 saw the release of another popular cigar named the Edmundo Dantes Conde 109. The cigar was also introduced as a part of the Habanos' regional edition series. It utilizes a Montecristo blend but due to trademark issues with Mexico it has a different name. Montecristo now produces machine made cigarillos called the Club, the Mini, and the Purito.
Photo Credit: