The story behind the Montecristo cigar name is an interesting one. The name Montecristo is the name of two premium cigar brands, one from Cuba and the other from the Dominican Republic. After the revolution in Cuba, Alonso Menendez and Pepe Garcia moved to the Dominican republic to regain their tobacco throne.

Altadis USA is a Franco-Spanish tobacco monopoly, and the Montecristo brand is their largest cigar import to the world. They make up a huge percentage of US imports. A huge misconception of the Montecristo story is that Menedez and Garcia origionally named their cigars H. Upmann Montecristo, however the real truth is that the brand was founded by Menedez in 1935, however, it was 1937 when they purchased H. Upmann.

The brand name was inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ novel titled “The Count of Monte Cristo”. The cigar companies hired readers in the days before radios were invented. They were hired to read newspaper articles and novels to keep the cigar rollers entertained. The Count of Monte Cristo was among the favorite things the rollers liked to have read to them. This inspired Menendez to name his cigar line Montecristo Cigars.

The Montecristo cigar line began with only five sizes, and it has now grown to many more and includes premium cigars that are widely known. The Montecristo No. 4 is the most popular cigar in the world today. If you have read the novel by Dumas you can see the coincidences between the novel and the company’s history.

The first five new sizes added to the line include the following; the A, Especial 1 and 2, Jolita, and the Petit Tubo. In 2004 the company released a robust sized cigar named the Edmundo, after the hero in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Dantes.

The Montecristo cigars logo is known around the world. It is a triangle of six swords surrounding a fleur-de-lis. The designer is John Hunter Morris who is with the brands British distributor. The bands on the cigars themselves are commonly simple by design, and they simply state the name of the cigar itself, as well as the brand name Montecristo.

There is a fluer-de-lis on the bands, however the triangle of swords is only on the beautiful wooden box these masterpieces come packaged in. The designs of both the box artwork and the band artwork are elegantly simple.

When you smoke a Montecristo cigar you can be assured you will be smoking one of the very best handmade cigars in the world. They are made up of complex flavors, and they each have a special trait about them that will “Wow” you. Just as an example, the Montecristo Serie C cigar is made with a wrapper that is a Cameroon leaf, each of which are all hand picked and carefully stored to age perfectly.

The company takes great pride in their line, and this is quite obvious by the great lengths they go through to ensure a great tasting, perfectly hand rolled cigar. The next time you are in your local smoke shop purchasing cigars, perhaps you will pick one of these cigars up and take yourself on an adventure, as in the book by Alexandre Dumas.

Author Bio: Serious Cigars is an expert in cigars , cigar lighters, and humidors

Category: Recreation
Keywords: cigar smoking, humidor, cigars, PIO VI cigars