Producers

Abeja Cigars are one of the Dominican Republics’ biggest producers of cigars. La Abeja Cigar Company is owned and run by one of the few women in the cigar production part of the industry, Bienvenida Ovalles. The brand has gained a worldwide reputation for producing good quality, everyday sticks at affordable prices.

Founded in 1904 by Jacques Wintermans, Agio is one of Europe’s finest cigar manufacturers. The UK range consists of the Meharis range cigarillos. You will be able to find a much larger range Agio cigars in Europe, including the Panter range which I consider to be the best.

Owned by Royal Dutch, an off-shoot of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Al Capone cigars use proper tobacco leaf in the production, whereas many brands that produce small cigars will not.

Formed by Alan Rubin in 1996, but recently bought over by the mighty Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Named after Rubin’s two sons (Alec and Bradley), Alan found success and fame in 2011 when the Prensado Churchill won ‘Cigar Of The Year’ in Cigar Aficionado Magazine.

A relatively new company that aims to guarantee the highest quality of its cigars, using only the best tobaccos. The tobaccos are mainly grown on their own plantations, located in the province of Verona, in the lower Veneto, where the medium-textured soil is ideal for growing Kentucky tobacco. Fans of the Toscano brand will want to try these as they offer up a little bit more intensity.

Backwoods cigars were first launched in the USA in 1973 and were one of the few brands that was very heavily advertised. Produced currently by ITG brands (a subsidary of of UK company Imperial Brands) the brand has gained recognition for it’s rustic look. Although many people think these are American, they are in fact made in the Dominican Republic.

These cigars might look rustic but they sure do taste well. They are very smooth due to their high levels of humidity combined with exotic flavours to produce one of the biggest selling aromatic cigars in America & Canada.

Founded in 2016 in Miami Florida the Blackbird Cigar Company is definitely quality focused.

The cigars themselves are made in the Dominican Republic and come in a wide variety of styles, from the light and creamy Finch, all the way up the scale to the robust and intense Unkind.

As you might have already guessed, most of the cigars in their portfolio are named after various different kinds of birds and, like birds, their plumage is very brightly coloured!

The only one which is not named after a bird is the aforementioned ‘Unkind’ which is the collective noun for a group of Ravens!

The famous Bolivar label and box featuring a portrait of the 19th Century Venezuelan revolutionary Simon Bolivar, liberator of much of South America from Spanish rule, is one of the most instantly recognised brands.

In 1902, seventy-one years after his death, the Rocha company in Havana created this brand in his honour. Today, Bolivars are made at the Partagas factory in the heart of Havana.

Bolivars are amongst the strongest and most full-bodied of Havana cigars and as such are not recommended for the novice cigar smoker! With their deep and powerful flavours they work well as an after dinner smoke with a large Cognac or whisky!

In 1937, J.C. Newman launched Brick House to honour his family and heritage. The vintage Brick House cigar label depicts the pastoral setting of J.C. Newman’s childhood home, the only brick house in his village.

A place that was not only a home, but it was also the town’s tavern. There, locals and visitors alike gathered nightly to eat, drink, smoke, and enjoy each other’s company. The original Brick House cigars were Cuban puros, handmade with the finest Havana tobaccos.

Today, Brick House cigars are premium Nicaraguan puros featuring an exclusive Nicaraguan Havana Subido wrapper and Nicaraguan filler for a complex, flavourful premium cigar.

Founded in 2008 by Manuel Quesada and the legendary Nestor Plasencia. Between them they created the Casa Magna Colorado in Plasencia’s Segovia Cigar factory, a cigar that went on to win Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year in 2008.

Manuels initial foray into cigars was way back in the mid 1970’s and his creations then, leant more towards lighter bodied smokes. These blends were eminently enjoyable, focusing as they did on Connecticut wrappers.

Things changed however when he met Nestor who helped Manuel to create a new, full-bodied blend. The rest as they say is history. Winning ‘Cigar Of The Year’ in 2008 helped to propel Casa Magna into hearts and minds of cigar smokers around the world.

Albert and Alejandro Turrent, owners of Nueva Matacapan de Tabacos S.A. de C.V, are the first family in Mexico’s cigar industry. The father and son team not only make some of Mexico’s best cigars but are also the largest grower of cigar tobacco in the country. The San Andreas Maduro leaf they grow outside of the Veracruz is world renowned for its quality, and a variety of their tobaccos are an important component in many of America’s most popular premium cigar brands.

For 160 years, the name Charatan has been synonymous with the British love for exquisite tobacco in the form of premium hand-rolled cigars, pipe tobacco and handcrafted pipes.

As historic and meaningful to the United Kingdom as London’s Underground and the English Football Association, both of which were also founded in 1863!

The Chateau Diadem cigars arrived in the UK in mid-2022 and were very warmly received which is a reflection on the quality of the cigars – exquisitely made and an absolute joy to smoke.

The story of the most iconic cigar brand in the world, Cohiba, begins in 1965 when one of President Fidel Castro’s bodyguards enjoyed a private supply of cigars from a local artisan.

They so pleased the president that their creator, Eduardo Ribera, was asked to make cigars of his blend exclusively for Castro under strict security in an Italianate mansion in the Havana suburb of El Laguito.

Colibri are synonymous with quality and today they are renowned for producing some of the most interesting Cigar cutters and lighters around as well as a small selection of Pipe lighters.

Davidoff cigars are the epitome of elegance and sophistication. The build quality is second to none as each one is rolled to perfection. The flavour profiles of the cigars ranges from the light and delicate to rich and flavoursome so can be good for a beginner all the way to the more experienced smoker.

Diplomaticos was the first new brand of cigars to come out of Cuba after the Revolution. They were initially created as a “value” Montecristo, primarily aimed towards the French cigar market.

The Diplomaticos line mimics the original Montecristo line in having five numbered sizes, all handmade. The blend used for this line is milder than that used for Montecristo, most likely to cater to the taste of French cigar smokers, and nowadays is usually still a bit cheaper in price than corresponding Montecristo sizes.

From small beginnings in 1998, Drew Estate have grown into one of the biggest producers in the world, with an extensive portfolio of hand rolled and flavour infused cigars.

Born in Danli in Honduras in 1972, Christian Eiroa has been surrounded by tobacco all his life. The youngest of three children, he was working on various tobacco farms by the time he was 8 years old moving tobacco about and helping where he could.

​Probably the biggest mark that he made on the world of cigars was his predilection for Corojo tobacco. Christian led the tobacco variety into a new heyday. And with his latest brands like Eiroa, CLE or Asylum he is – conservatively formulated – extremely successful in his business.

The name means ‘King of the World’, a confident enough title for this brand, originally founded in 1882 by the Antonio Allones company. Many connoisseurs would rate it among their favourite brands; these include the film producer Darryl F Zanuck, the former head of 20th Century Fox, who incidentally once owned a plantation in Cuba, and the British tycoon Sir Terrance Conran.

These Cuban cigars are well constructed, light to medium flavoured with a subtle aroma, with smooth, oily wrappers, particularly the larger sizes. Again they are a good beginners cigar, and very suitable for daytime smoking.

Nick Melillo may not be a name that you are familiar with, but one of the brands that he helped create might possibly be, and that would be Drew Estate.

It was Nick, along with Jonathon Drew, that helped set up Drew Estate in the late 90’s and created one of the biggest cigar producers on the planet. In 2014, Drew Estate got sold to Swisher and Nick decided to start again on his own, creating Foundation Cigars.

Mixed cigar packs for all occasions, lovingly assembled by Gauntleys.

Our very own range of cigars – guaranteed quality, after all, we will not stick our name to anything that we don’t think is up to it!

Although you may not have heard of General Cigars, they are a huge company and are part of the mighty Scandinavian Tobacco Group. They were probably more well known in the States for producing their non-Cuban, Cuban brands such as Cohiba and Hoyo De Monterrey to name but two.

Being a big producer they own a number of brands worldwide, some of which are now gaining a foothold here in the UK. Amongst the many brands that they own, CAO is possibly the most well known here in the UK, but look out for Silencio, Macanudo and Alec Bradley to name just a few.

Guantanamera are short filler machine-made cigars produced in Cuba using 100% Cuban tobacco harvested from plantations in the Vuelta Arriba and Vuelta Abajo regions of the island. They offer up quite a decent smoke for the money and are a great introduction to Cuban cigars if you are on a budget.

In 1887, at the height of the British rule, colonial soldiers began to make their own cigars from the local tobacco. The fondness of the British for these legendary Nepalese fighters inspired them to name their cigars “Gurkhas”.

The Gurkha brand has been around in it’s present form for around 35 years or so and is primarily focused on producing cigars in Central America and the Caribbean. The number of lines in their portfolio is huge and is continually changing, so there is always something different just waiting to appear.

Herman Upmann was a member of a family linked to European banks and a lover of fine cigars. It came as no surprise when, in around 1840 he volunteered to open a bank in Havana.

The cigars he sent home proved so popular that in 1844 he invested in a cigar factory. The company traded successfully until 1922, when first the bank and then the cigar business failed.

A British firm J. Frankau & Co saved the brand and ran the factory until being sold to the newly founded Menendez y Garcia company in 1935.

Havana Upmans are light flavoured, very smooth, subtle cigars. They are a good beginner’s cigar, or one to be smoked after a light meal.

Habanos SA is the company that has the responsibility for the production, manufacture and distribution of Cuban cigars. Founded in 1994, it was originally state owned with Cubatobaco and Altadis, a Spanish / French multi-national cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company.

Cubatobaco also had some foreign investment with the likes Imperial Tobacco heavily investing in the late 2000’s. A Chinese consortium recently purchased a major stake in Habanos SA, and have invested heavily to increase production.

Henri Wintermans are one of the most successful Dutch cigar brands around. The brand is named after the owner, Henri Wintermans, in 1938, however, their history can traced back much earlier.

Hiram & Solomon Cigars are premium quality handmade cigars that match the calibre of the Brethren and the spirit they embody for all to enjoy. For men and women alike who take their commitments to tradition and good taste seriously, try a Hiram & Solomon cigar.”

Over the last year or so, Hiram & Solomon have gradually moved their production from Nicaragua to the Dominican Republic. Stock of the new production is now starting to creep it’s way into the UK, and should be fully completed by early 2025.

“There is an old wrought-iron gate overlooking a square in the Vuelta Abajo village of San Juan y Martinez which bears the inscription ‘Hoyo de Monterrey: Jose Gener 1860’.

It leads to one of Cuba’s most renowned ‘vegas finas’, a plantation specialising in sun grown tobaccos for binders and fillers, where Jose Gener started his career before founding the brand in 1865.

Hoyo’s flagship is the Double Corona, with its delicacy of flavour combined with a richness of taste is a credit to the rollers and blenders at the La Corona factory where it is made.”

Jose Piedra are quite a unique brand within the Habanos cigars portfolio and one of the few that are made using short filler tobaccos as opposed to the normal long filler production seen else where.

For short filler cigars these are remarkably good quality and are produced in a medium to full-bodied style. Being short filler they can’t command the prices of Cuba’s long-filler production, so they are always much more reasonably priced than most other Cuban cigars.

Joya de Nicaragua are certainly one of the more famous New World cigar producers and one of the oldest of the Nicaraguan brands. Joya were one of the first producers to move in to Esteli, now considered to be the cigar producing capital of Nicaragua.

Producing mainly Puros (Cigars made from 100% Nicaraguan tobacco). Now sold around the around the world, Joya De Nicaragua are considered to be one of the most innovative cigar producers around.

Founded in the 1870’s by Juan López Diaz, a Spanish business man, the cigars of Juan Lopez may be relatively unknown, but are fantastic quality.

The cigars tend to lean towards a more fuller bodied using tobaccos from the Vuelta Abajo zone, one of the top tobacco growing regions on the planet.

Although lesser known and unlikely to ever become a big brand, the cigars are well known amongst the Cuban cigar smoking cognoscenti as they offer exceptional build quality alongside a flavoursome smoke.

In 1918, King Edward cigars were a handmade cigar, however, with the huge (and unexpected) uplift in sales (and in a desperate attempt to keep up with demand), it was decided that the cigars should be machine-made instead, which is how they are still made to this today. This change in the manufacture process meant that they could be made more quickly and cheaply.

Although most people think of King Edwards as American made, and at one stage they were, they are in fact manufactured in the Dominican Republic by the mighty Swisher group. They use all-natural tobacco leaf fillers, homogenised tobacco leaf binders, and homogenised tobacco wrappers. These are great cigars for those of us who don’t like strong flavours and love a bit of sweetness.”

Founded by Chicago native Glen Case in 2004 Kristoff cigars have become a huge brand, and one which is famed for closed feet and pigtail ends.

We are a keen supporter of the Kristoff brand, and are especially fond of the Pistoff by Kristoff – a cigar we got in on purely the name, only to find it was also a stonkingly good cigar!

Founded in 1903 by 18 year old Eduardo León Jimenes in Don Pedro, a suburb of Santiago, his dream of creating a brand of extremely high quality cigars was very quickly realised.

La Flor Dominicana are one of the most wonderfully exciting cigar brands on the market. Founded in 1996 in Santiago, the brand is always evolving and developing new cigars for the ever increasing cigar market.

Litto Gomez is without a doubt, one of the greatest cigar makers of our time. His commitment to his craft is second to none and his award winning range of cigars is hard to beat.

Winner of the Cigar Of The Year award in Cigar Aficionado magazine for his Andalusian Bull which has to tasted to be believed.

Established almost 100 years ago, La Galera produces a stunning array of extremely good quality cigars at very affordable prices. Currently owned by Jose ‘Jochy’ Blanco alongside his son José Manuel Blanco, the Galera brand is focused on the quality.

La Invicta offers up a great budget friendly introduction to cigars if you haven’t smoked them before.

They are produced in two different countries – the green label variants were previously manufactured in Jamaica before being made by Villazon in Honduras exclusively for the UK market. Villazon are one of the largest cigar manufacturers in Honduras.

The red label incarnations are from Nicaragua and are made by one of the biggest Nicaraguan producers, Plasencia. Which ever version you go for, you will find that they are light to medium bodied in style and quite easy smoking.

The Meerapfel name is possibly one that you might not recognise, however, they have a long history of tobacco growing and trading (and cigar making) spanning centuries.

Formed in Untergrombach in the Karlsruhe region of Germany they have access to some of the world’s finest tobaccos.

Montecristo is the most popular Havana by far. Around half of the cigars exported from Cuba in any one year bear its simple brown and white band.

Montecristos, with their characteristic Colorado-claro, slightly oily wrappers and delicate aroma offer a medium to full flavour spiked with a unique, tangy, spicy taste.

One of Nicaragua’s most highly respected and rated cigar companies. Making cigars in the traditional Cuban method, the filler is folded using the Entubado method and finished off with a triple cap. This helps maintain a constant burn and adds complexity to the flavour.

In 2009 Sam Leccia created the Nub. Nub is one of the newest innovations in cigars. Most cigars hit their “sweet spot” towards the middle/end but Nub tried to achieve the sweet spot from the word go.

These small but well packed cigars produced by Oliva really do hit that sweet spot from the start and perfect if you’re looking for a flavoursome cigar with a good 45 minute plus smoke time.

Oliva cigars, irrespective of which part of their portfolio you buy from, have always been consistently good with an exquisite build quality. In 2014, Oliva achieved their greatest moment when the Oliva Melanio Figurado won Cigar Aficionados ‘Cigar Of The Year’ – a cigar that is as equally good today as it was then.

Founded in 2012, the Oscar Valladares Tobacco & Co. is a joint venture with Oscar, his younger brother Hector and Bayron Duarte who had worked previously for more than 20 years for General Cigars and Oliva cigars and, at the time, had his own struggling cigar business based in Danli. With the partnership formed and business plans put in place, the three men worked hard to build the business.

Production of the Oscar Valladares cigars, in the grand scheme of things, is miniscule. The ethos was never to create huge brands but to create small, interesting batches of cigars. As the production is limited, the build quality is extremely high which makes for the perfect smoking experience.

Partagas is one of the oldest of the Havana brands, started in 1845 by Don Jaime Partagas.

The name is well known, not least because Partagas cigars are produced in large quantities: there are no fewer than 40 types available world-wide. There is also a Dominican version of the brand made with Cameroon wrappers grown from Havana seed.

In general the brand has a rich, earthy and full flavour, which is particularly noticeable on the heavier ring gauge sizes like the Series D No 4 (Robusto). There are two sizes in an 8-9-8 packing, one is a Corona Grande (6 inches x 42) and the other a Dalia (65/8 inches x 43). Ernest Lopez, the factory’s director considers the Dalia as the flagship size.

Having opened its doors over a decade ago with Master Blender Abe Flores at the helm, the PDR Cigar factory is creating some of the most acclaimed cigars on the market. With 3 cigars making the lists of the top 25 in the world in 2013, one making the Robb Report’s Ultimate Gift Guide, and another being nominated for a 2013 Cigar Trophy the PDR Cigar factory and Abe Flores is truly one of the industry’s elite boutique cigar makers.

Perdomo Cigars are a family-owned & operated company headquartered in Miami, Florida with agricultural and manufacturing facilities in Estelí, Nicaragua.

When it comes to sheer scale, Plasencia is certainly pretty close to the top of the pile, being one of the biggest cigar producers on the planet. Not only do they make cigars for themselves, but they also produce a lot of ‘own label’ product for other companies. Although you may have never purchased a Plasencia cigar, you may very well have tried one under different branding.

Por Larrañaga is a brand with a long history dating all the way back to 1834. The brand was created by Ignacio Larrañaga and is one that enjoys a well earned reputation for its consistency and good presentation. All the filler and binder tobaccos in Por Larrañaga come from the Vuelta Abajo zone.

“Manuel Lopez founded the brand, the second oldest still in production, in 1840 with the British market in mind, where the humorous magazine of the same name was much in vogue. A contented Mr Punch, cigar in hand, remains a feature of each box.

These cigars are renowned for their fragrant bouquet, distinctive spicy aroma, and slightly sweet flavour.”

This brand owes its origin to the refined taste of the French market. Created in the 1970’s, the name is taken from a well-known street in Paris beside the River Seine.

2017 saw a brand revamp, including two new sizes, and in 2019 it released its first Limited Edition. All indications that this is a brand on the rise.

Quai d’Orsay sizes are made with a distinctive light tasting blend of filler and binder leaves from the Vuelta Abajo zone of Pinar del Rio and its wrappers are mainly distinguished by their Claro (light brown) and Colorado Claro (mid brown) colours.

Quorum has introduced an entire new generation of cigar smokers to affordable imported, handmade cigar pleasure. For the same price as some of the famous machine-made cigars, cigar smokers can now enjoy a fine imported, handmade Nicaraguan cigar.

Quorum – now the #1 selling imported, handmade bundled cigar in America and around the world.

Dating from 1837, Ramon Allones, although not one of the best known Havana brands, is a favourite with many cigar connoisseurs and is one of my own personal favourites. Ramon Allones himself emigrated from Galicia in Spain to Cuba, and was the first man to put full colour labels on his cigar boxes, all of which are adorned with the Coat Of Arms of the Spanish royal house.

The cigars themselves are well made, relatively full bodied, with a strong aroma (similar to Partagas, but certainly less than Bolivar). The build quality of these cigars is always extremely good and never fails to disappoint.

Born in India, raised for a short time in Leicestershire and now

based in Naples, Florida – Rocky Patel is a legend in the cigar

industry.

The former Hollywood lawyer turned cigar maker has been impressing us

all for nearly 30 years with an impressive portfolio of stunning

cigars.

Quite possibly the best-known of the Havana brands in UK.

They are well made cigars with an excellent aroma and classically medium bodied. They are at their best straight from the box, especially the Exhibition No 4, with its dark, oily wrapper providing a rich smoke after a heavy meal.”

Royal Dutch are one of the more recognisable names in the convenience cigar market. Owned by the Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Royal Dutch was formally called Ritmeester.

The brand that can trace it’s history all the way back to 1887 when Jochem van Schuppen and Marinus van Schuppen founded their own cigar factory in Veenendaal.

Royal Dutch has developed quite a following and focusses on producing relatively light and easy going styles of cigar.

Pete Johnson created the Tatuaje in 2003 when he sat down with Jose “”Pepin”” Garcia and asked the Garcia family to create a cigar close to a classic Havana but using Nicaraguan tobaccos. The result was amazing and Tatuaje are now one of the most respected boutique cigar companies out there.

Each cigar is made using Cuban methods, from the folding of the filler to the ageing and fermentation process. All of this is obvious in the taste, these cigars carry some wonderful rich and earthy flavours.

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo is quite possibly one of the most gifted cigar makers around. Born in 1961 in Cuba, his father was initially a small-time cigar maker / producer who sold cigars on the streets of Cuba. As time moved on he started climbing the ladder to become a master blender in one of the Cuban factories. Ernest Snr was also a successful politician with the family name being held in high regard, especially after he was elected to the Cuban senate in both 1954 & 1958.

According to Adriano Martínez, a former executive of Habanos SA, in Min Ron Nee’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars, the Trinidad brand was first produced in 1969 at the El Laguito factory, and home to legendary Cohiba, in Havana.

In the early 90’s, the cigar received much attention in Cigar Aficionado after an interview with Avelino Lara (formerly the manager of El Laguito and, as of this writing, a producer of cigars for the Graycliff Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas).

Launched in 1998, VegaFina is today one of the world’s bestselling handmade cigar brands.

Most of this growth has happened since 2020 when, due to the world wide shortage of Cuban cigars and the world wide uplift in sales of New World cigars, the brand was ideally situated to take advantage of the situation.

Villiger are a multinational company founded in the 1888 who specialise in cigars. Famed in the UK for their Export series and Premium No.7 cigars, they do actually make cigars of all different styles and types. Available in all 5 continents and in over 50 countries; they produce, on average, 600 million sticks every year and have enjoyed a UK presence for well over 50 years.