My Favourite Cigars

Not being a smoker the first cigars that I tried were like most men at celebrations such as weddings or the birth of children. I always remember the manikin television advertisements in England as there where many popular Dutch cigars enjoyed in Europe and still are today. Later in life after being educated in the art of a fine Cuban cigar and having tried so many of the most popular brands of Cubans; I started to experiment and diversify as by now I had reached the stage preferring different aromas and tastes. Also I purchased different size leather cigar travel holders allowing me to carry to various occasions. Although I have my preferred Cuban cigars I still like to try as many kinds as are available. I have prepared a short list of my favourite Cuban Cigars that I will post here over the next few weeks and even though these cigars are popular brands they are not always readily available for purchase and you may have to shop around.

Don José Gener y Batet arrived in Cuba from Spain in 1831 as a teenager working with his uncle at his plantation in Vuelta Abajo. Many years later he opened his own cigar factory in Havana producing a cigar range of his own La Escepción. Around 1865 he used money from his factory to purchase one of the best tobacco farms in Vuelta Abajo registering the cigar brand Hoyo de Monterrey which became extremely popular with the British making Hoyo de Monterrey one of the bigest Cigar factories in Cuba. His Daughter took over the factory when he died keeping it in the family for a further thirty years. The Fernández, Palicio y Cía factory bought Hoyo de Monterrey and La Escepción brands adding them to their own brand Punch which I will also be talking about later as Punch is also one of the cigars I smoke frequently.

The embargo against Cuba by the United States made Fernando Palicio flee Cuba to Florida, selling the popular brands to the Villazon family that have continued to produce Punch and Hoyo de Monterrey cigars from Honduran tobacco for the lucrative American market. Cuba nationalized the tobacco industry and Hoyo de Monterrey continued producing for the global Cuban Cigar market. My two personal favourite cigars from the Hoyo de Monterrey range are the Lusitania and Epicure No 2 Robusto.