In 1935, Alonso Menéndez created the Montecristo brand—that sound familiar? That’s how my review of the Montecristo 80 Aniversario started. Yes, this is a different cigar with a very familiar name. This year marks the 80th anniversary of Montecristo and as such an anniversary cigar is being made; although, it’s not just one cigar. As I’ve previously explained: Because of the embargo on Cuban goods in the U.S., there are two Montecristo brands; one is owned by Cubatabaco, the state-run cigar business in Cuba, while the other is sold only in the U.S., owned by Altadis U.S.A. As many know, Habanos S.A., the marketing and distribution part of Cubatabaco, is actually a joint venture partially owned by Imperial Tobacco, the parent of Altadis U.S.A. Habanos S.A. introduced its anniversary cigar in February at the Festival del Habano XVII, the largest Cuban cigar event annually; Altadis U.S.A. showed off its at the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, the largest non-Cuban cigar event in the world. It’s known as the Montecristo 80th Anniversary and offered in a single 6 x 54 box-pressed belicoso size. While the blend uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Altadis U.S.A. is making a much larger deal about one of ...
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