Matt Wilkin MS Cigar Questions/Facts and History

1) ANSWER “TRUE OR FALSE”. a) The commercial name “Churchill” corresponds to the factory name “Julieta 2”. b) The “volado” leaf gives combustibility to a cigar. c) The leaf used in the elaboration of Cohiba come from a Vuelta Arriba tobacco region. d) A “piramide” is medium “cepo” vitola. e) The “lanceros” belongs to the range of the Partagas brand. f) Cigars having a dark wrapper are strong. g) Vuelta Abajo is in the Pinar del Rio Province. h) Montecristo brand was created in the XIXth century. i) All Cuban cigars are Habanos. j) Cuaba is a Cuban brand.

2) MARK WITH AN “X” THE CORRECT ANSWER a) “Trinidad” brand has in its range: - 4 different vitolas -1 vitola -2 different vitolas b) The optimal conditions of temperature and humidity for the conservation of Habanos are:

-14-16 degrees Celsius and 65-70% humidity -16-18 degrees Celsius and 65-70% humidity -15-20 degrees Celsius and 68-70% humidity c) The word “ring gauge” refers to: -the length of a Habano -the diameter of a Habano d) “Robusto” is a vitola which has -a large cepo -a medium cepo -a slim cepo e) “Don Alejandro” is the commercial name of a vitola belonging to the brand: -Hoyo de Monterey -Vegas Robaina 1 -Romoe y Julieta

3) ANSWER “YES” OR “NO”, AND EXPLAIN WHY. a) When you fill the humidor with new cigars, they have to be placed on the top of those that were already inside.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. b) While offering a Habano to the smoker, the ring has to be removed before that. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

FERMENTATION INFORMATION

During each fermentation, the tobacco undergoes a chemical change enhancing flavour and aroma. At the same time nicotine, tar, ammonia, acidity and other impurities are reduced, making it much more Palatable than normal cigarette tobacco. According to Tobacco Encyclopaedia, “Nicotine decreases by between 10 and 90 percent. Soluble carbohydrates are eliminated and there is a considerable reduction of nitrogen compounds, which result in the obvious release of gaseous ammonia. The PH becomes more alkaline during fermentation.

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CIGAR HISTORY

Por Larrañaga 1834 Oldest brand still in production-Rich, smooth, very aromatic. Have a touch of sweetness in flavour.

Ramon Allones 1837 Founded by Ramon Allones, an Immigrant from Spain. First to use colourful labels on their boxes: soon copied by others.

Punch 1840 Founded with the British market in mind, at the time when the Punch magazine was much in vogue.

H.Upmann 1844 Named after Herman Upmann, originally a banker in Havana; first to use Cedar lined aluminium tubes in the 1930’s. The Havanas Herman sent to his European clients as gifts in boxes stamped with the bank’s emblem proved so popular he decided to invest in a cigar factory.

Partagas 1854 Made at the oldest cigar factory still operating in Cuba; founded by Don Jaime Partagas.

Sancho Panza 1848 Named after Don Quixote’s faithful manservant whose portrait still adorns every box. Good range for beginners and as a daytime cigar for experienced smokers.

Hoyo de Monterrey 1865 Jose Gener started his career as a leaf grower in a village called San Juan y Martinez in the Velta Abajo region of Cuba, before founding Hoyo de Monterrey. Smooth, mild accessible for beginner or occasional smoker.

Romeo y Julieta 1875 Probably the best known Havana brand. Founded by Alvarez Garcia, the brand came into its own when purchased by Rodriguez Fernandez in 1903 who steadfastly promoted it around the world, making it today one of the very best Havana brands.

Juan López 1876 Founded by Juan López Diaz, this brand can be found in the UK in two vitolas (Seleccion No.1 / Seleccion No.2), both presented in SLB cabinets. The full name of the brand is “Flor de Juan Lopez”. Range light and accessible. Daytime cigar for experienced smoker, comfortable introduction for beginner.

El Rey Del Mundo 1882 Immodestly named “The King of the World” this brand was founded by the Antonio Allones company. Subtle aroma.

Jose L.Piedra 1890 Rolled with tobaccos grown in Remidios, in the Vuelta Arriba region, it was a popular brand for domestic use in Cuba. Available in the UK in three vitolas (Tripa Corta).

Bolivar 1901 Founded by the Rocha company, they named the brand after famous Venezuelan Revolutionary Simon Bolivar, 19th century liberator of much of South America.

These cigars well-constructed, wonderfully rich, full-bodied, with consistent high quality in aroma and taste, definitely not for beginners.

Montecristo 1935 Introduced by the H.Upmann family, the brand has become the most popular handmade cigars in the world with the No. 4 outselling all others year after year. Brands success has lot to do with unique, tangy flavour. This partly created by storing ligero leaves for filler in special type of cedar wood boxes, and partly because of unique technique of arranging filler leaf. This process attributed to 3 great cigar roller, José Manuel Gongalez, nicknamed “Masinguilla” – “the masseur” – for his enormous skill.

Rafael Gonalez 1936 Created specifically for the British market; each box carries a hand written message from the Marques Gongalez.

Quintero 1940 Augustin Quintero and his four brothers worked in a cigar workshop in the Remidios region during the mid 1920’s. By 1940, their reputation allowed them to open in Havana and introduced a brand bearing their family name using Vuelta Abajo tobaccos. (Tripa Corta)

Le Hoyo Series 1970 A sous marque of the Hoyo de Monterrey brand, Le Hoyo series was introduced in response to demands for a richer tasting cabinet range.

Cohiba 1982 Flagship brand & pride of Habanos S.A. named after what ancient Taino Indians of Cuba called tobacco; created for Castro himself in 1966, but kept only for government VIP’s until public launch in 1982; Cohiba gets the best pick of every tobacco harvest from only 5 vegas in any given year; also filler leaves receive unique third fermentation.

Cohiba Linea 1492 1993 Launched mid 1993 to celebrate 500th anniversary of Columbus discovering Cuba and tobacco. Six cigars in range called siglo I to VI. Siglo means “century” in Spanish; each cigar represents one century since Columbus’s discovery.

Cuaba 1996 The name comes from the Taino Indians, who were the original inhabitants of Cuba. They called cigars Cohibas, which they lit with a particular kind of bush that burns well, and still grows on the island. The Tainos called this bush Cuaba. It’s still used in the country areas for lighting fires. All four sizes are figurados, bulbous in the middle with pointed ends. The only Havana brand to consist entirely of figurados. “Figurado” shapes with pointed ends; launched commemorating the style of the cigars which first made Havana famous in the 19th century. Gradually the fashion changed to parejo or parallel sided cigars and by the late 1930’s this shape had virtually disappeared. Carlos Izquiero Gongalez, at 65, who has spent his whole life in tobacco, was one of the few remaining rollers who could still create a figurado. In 1995 he assembled and trained a team of 14, mostly women, to recreate the rare figurado sizes for Cuaba. Cigars made before April 1997 were made without wooden mould, causing each one to be slightly different. These have become collector’s items.

Vegas Robaina 1997 This brand is named after Cuba’s premier tobacco growing family and uses wrappers grown exclusively on the Robaina plantations in the Vuelta Abajo. Don Alejandro Robaina, 84, head of one of the most renowned tobacco growing families in Cuba. Has run the plantations since 1950. Filler comes from San Luis region in famed Vuelta Abajo. Wrapper comes from the famous Vega Robaina itself. These wrappers were previously used exclusively for the famed Cohiba brand.

Trinidad 1998 Named after an old colonial city in Cuba. Once Havana’s mystery brand, reserved as Cuban government gifts, rolled in Cohiba’s exclusive El Laguito factory. 4 vitolas.

San Cristóbal 1999 Named St. Christopher (San Cristobal) in honour of Christopher Columbus de la Habana and “La Habana” after the local Indian word for the area, this brand has four vitolas each named after one of the fortresses that defended the city in the days when Havana was the hub of Spain’s South American empire.

4 Described in flavour, as a cross between Hoyo de Monterrey and Punch.

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