Cigar History Related Question

[Connoisseur Kim]

I am currently searching Cuban cigar brands history and there are several things that confuse me. Was Davidoff actually helped Hoyo de Monterrey to be one of the famous Cuban cigar brands back in the day (the only thing I know is HDM was used as a base of Davidoff's Cheatau line for while)? Also, were both Davidoff and Dunhill took over some Cuban cigar brands until early 80's (according to my understanding, they had relationships and Seleccion like Dunhill Montecristo seleccion rather than taking over Cuban brands)?

 

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[soutso]

I advise you to look for the Dr Joe show on YouTube regarding brand history. He no longer posts videos but he goes through brand histories a lot in his cigar reviews. (From memory) 

As with all cigar info you run across on the internet, make your own decision on what you see as fact or fantasy. Whilst he speaks like an expert and is confident in his beliefs, keep in mind of what is fact and what is an opinion. 

This is not a criticism of Joe. Just the advice I'd  give anyone researching cigar vids and blogs. 

Cheers

[JohnS]

In February 1962 the Cuban Government rationalised the tobacco industry in its country resulting in major changes to cigar brands. Trademarks were taken over, and naming rights and many brands were deleted. Other brands were introduced by the Cuban government's tobacco monopoly, Cubatabaco after 1962, but Dunhill (in 1982) and Davidoff (in 1967) were sought after specifically by Cubatabaco for their global profile. As a result, these companies were given rights over certain brands.

Eventually, due to disputes over quality control, brand and naming rights, both Davidoff and Dunhill ceased using Cuban tobacco for their cigars in the early 90's. The best print reference in regards to this history is Min Ron Nee's 2003 book, "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars".

[NSXCIGAR]

19 hours ago, LonesomeHabanoAficionado said:

I am currently searching Cuban cigar brands history and there are several things that confuse me. Was Davidoff actually helped Hoyo de Monterrey to be one of the famous Cuban cigar brands back in the day (the only thing I know is HDM was used as a base of Davidoff's Cheatau line for while)? Also, were both Davidoff and Dunhill took over some Cuban cigar brands until early 80's (according to my understanding, they had relationships and Seleccion like Dunhill Montecristo seleccion rather than taking over Cuban brands)?

HdM was well established as a luxury brand of high quality prior to Davidoff's introduction in 1969. According to the JR Cigars website:

This historic brand of cigars even played a part in the early stages of Davidoff’s cigar line. During the 1940s, the company produced the luxurious Hoyo and Chateaux series specifically for a Swiss distributor. The Chateaux line caught the attention of famed Swiss tobacco merchant Zino Davidoff, and he would achieve great success marketing the brand. Following the Cuban revolution, the Cuban government contacted Davidoff to establish a luxury brand of cigars under their name. Eventually, the Hoyo Chateaux was distributed only under the Davidoff name, beginning Davidoff’s domination of high-end luxury cigars that continues today.

As far as the various Dunhill Selections, these were cigars of many brands that contracted with Dunhill to provide "selected" versions of their cigars specially for sale through Dunhill in London. Most were simply the identical to regular production cigar but renamed (Montecristo Seleccion Suprema No. 2 or Dunhill Partagas Seleccion No. 134) and sported special bands with either the actual brand name incorporated into the Don Candido/Don Alfredo-style band or alternate bands altogether. I believe Montecristo retained their band but added "Dunhill - London" to the sides of the band. This was the case until 1982 when the Dunhill exclusive brand was created. 

The best source still for these Dunhill exclusive releases is, as @JohnS pointed out, MRN's encyclopedia. I don't believe they've been accounted for and listed anywhere else but there even today. Even CCW doesn't have the various Dunhill exclusives listed. 

[ATGroom]

21 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

The best source still for these Dunhill exclusive releases is, as @JohnS pointed out, MRN's encyclopedia. I don't believe they've been accounted for and listed anywhere else but there even today. Even CCW doesn't have the various Dunhill exclusives listed. 

There is an incomplete list on CCW here : https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/brand/dunhillexclusives

[Connoisseur Kim]

On 28/07/2017 at 6:14 AM, JohnS said:

In February 1962 the Cuban Government rationalised the tobacco industry in its country resulting in major changes to cigar brands. Trademarks were taken over, and naming rights and many brands were deleted. Other brands were introduced by the Cuban government's tobacco monopoly, Cubatabaco after 1962, but Dunhill (in 1982) and Davidoff (in 1967) were sought after specifically by Cubatabaco for their global profile. As a result, these companies were given rights over certain brands.

Eventually, due to disputes over quality control, brand and naming rights, both Davidoff and Dunhill ceased using Cuban tobacco for their cigars in the early 90's. The best print reference in regards to this history is Min Ron Nee's 2003 book, "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars".

 

On 28/07/2017 at 2:23 PM, NSXCIGAR said:

HdM was well established as a luxury brand of high quality prior to Davidoff's introduction in 1969. According to the JR Cigars website:

This historic brand of cigars even played a part in the early stages of Davidoff’s cigar line. During the 1940s, the company produced the luxurious Hoyo and Chateaux series specifically for a Swiss distributor. The Chateaux line caught the attention of famed Swiss tobacco merchant Zino Davidoff, and he would achieve great success marketing the brand. Following the Cuban revolution, the Cuban government contacted Davidoff to establish a luxury brand of cigars under their name. Eventually, the Hoyo Chateaux was distributed only under the Davidoff name, beginning Davidoff’s domination of high-end luxury cigars that continues today.

As far as the various Dunhill Selections, these were cigars of many brands that contracted with Dunhill to provide "selected" versions of their cigars specially for sale through Dunhill in London. Most were simply the identical to regular production cigar but renamed (Montecristo Seleccion Suprema No. 2 or Dunhill Partagas Seleccion No. 134) and sported special bands with either the actual brand name incorporated into the Don Candido/Don Alfredo-style band or alternate bands altogether. I believe Montecristo retained their band but added "Dunhill - London" to the sides of the band. This was the case until 1982 when the Dunhill exclusive brand was created. 

The best source still for these Dunhill exclusive releases is, as @JohnS pointed out, MRN's encyclopedia. I don't believe they've been accounted for and listed anywhere else but there even today. Even CCW doesn't have the various Dunhill exclusives listed. 

 

On 29/07/2017 at 11:59 AM, ATGroom said:

There is an incomplete list on CCW here : https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/brand/dunhillexclusives

Thanks! There are other questions that I have doubts.  They are history of cigar smoking, cigar production, tobacco leaves (Criollo, Corojo, Connecticut, etc) and as well as why Cuba is famous for cigars.

[NSXCIGAR]

9 hours ago, LonesomeHabanoAficionado said:

Thanks! There are other questions that I have doubts.  They are history of cigar smoking, cigar production, tobacco leaves (Criollo, Corojo, Connecticut, etc) and as well as why Cuba is famous for cigars.

Some information about these topics here:

https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/cigar/production

As far as why Cuba is known for cigars, I would imagine that it became evident fairly quickly in the 17th and 18th century that Cuba had a huge natural advantage in producing high-quality tobacco over virtually anywhere else. In fact, hardly any filler for cigars was grown anywhere else in the world until after the Cuban Revolution, and was generally terrible up until the late 1980s/early 1990s when Davidoff began production in the DR and Fuente began to refine their tobacco and even to successfully grow wrapper in the DR. 

It took until the early 20th century for Connecticut and Sumatra wrapper to be developed in commercially viable way and compete with Cuban leaf as it was so easy to grow successfully in Cuba and so difficult elsewhere. As Cuban tobacco is a natural monopoly of sorts, prices became quite high as demand continually rose throughout the 19th century. Connecticut and Sumatra wrappers were never considered equal to Cuban, but they were good enough and much cheaper, so they were used.