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Montecristo is one of the most iconic and
popular cigar brands in the tobacco world. At least a dozen versions are
available on the US market.
This popular brand was born in Cuba in 1935,
when Alonso Menendez partnered with Jose Garcia, another Asturian who, like
him, had established himself for some years in that country as a tobacco
manufacturer. They created the firm Menendez y Garcia determined to leave their
own stamp in the world of cigars, and to penetrate the US and English markets
with a new Habano, which they called Montecristo.
Since then Montecristo has traveled a long and
fruitful path of prestige that has spread throughout the world, becoming one of
the most requested and sold cigars. In its original Cuban version and, as of
1969, in its non-Cuban versions made mostly by Tabacalera de Garcia, in the
Dominican Republic, this line of premium cigars has always been considered a
powerful and strong brand, with great aroma and a spicy flavor that makes them
unique.
One of its original sizes, Montecristo No. 2,
remains one of the most popular cigars in the world, distinguished dozens of
times in Cigar Aficionado blind tastings. According to the ranking of that
magazine, the Cuban version of this cigar was rated 96 in the 2013 ranking,
which earned it the Cigar of the Year award in the Top 25; that score is the
highest evaluation given to this cigar in the more than 20 years they have
rated it in their blind taste tests. By the way, this cigar was one of the
magazine's star cigars in a 1992 article about Cuba's best tobaccos, and has
ranked high in almost all of their tastings ever since.
To get an idea of ??the many awards that
Montecristo has received, we undertook the task of reviewing the rankings made
by Cigar Aficionado, since this magazine began to make them in 2004, to
identify the times that some of its versions have been selected in their Top
25.
We found some interesting facts:
• Montecristo has been
recognized 13 times in the 17 occasions (2004-2020) that the magazine has made
the Top 25.
• Most of the
recognitions (8 times) have been for some of its Cuban versions, which includes
the 2013 Cigar of the Year for the Montecristo 2 version in its torpedo format.
However, beyond that distinction and the 15th place that the Montecristo Double
Edmundo version reached in 2014, the rest of the distinguished cigars (six)
were between 2004 and 2007, which would allow us to think that the non-Cuban
versions are being superior over time.
• Of the remaining
five, three have been for versions produced by Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd., the
Altadis U.S.A. factory, in the Dominican Republic.
• The other two times,
Nicaragua was the country of origin of the winning versions: one corresponding
to Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars and the other to Plasencia Cigars.
In the US market, the Montecristo cigars that are consumed are manufactured by Tabacalera de Garcia, established in 1969 in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and considered the largest premium cigar factory in the world. After going through several processes of purchase and merger of different companies, this company is now owned by Altadis U.S.A., a subsidiary of Tabacalera USA, which, in turn, is owned by the tobacco giant Imperial Brands PLC of Great Britain. As a curiosity, we can comment that the Montecristo made in Nicaragua are one of the few non-Cuban cigars of that brand that are made outside of Tabacalera de Garcia Ltd. However, they are made as a collaboration of these companies with Altadis.
In our store you can buy some of the
collections of this famous brand, which maintains its excellence and quality as
always. We invite you to try any of the many Montecristo cigars that we
have available for you.
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