Montecristo

In July 1935, Alonso Menéndez purchased the Particulares Factory and immediately created Montecristo. Its name was inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, reportedly a popular choice when factory lectors read to cigar rollers. British distributor John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd. designed the emblem of six swords arranged around a fleur-de-lis.

Menéndez and a partner established Menéndez, García y Cía. in July 1936. As Montecristo grew, the firm bought the struggling H. Upmann Factory in 1937 and transferred production there. John Hunter Morris and Elkan remained Montecristo’s sole British distributor; its 1963 merger with J. Frankau created Hunters & Frankau, now the United Kingdom’s sole importer and distributor of Cuban cigars.

After the Cuban Revolution, Menéndez and García fled, and on September 15, 1960, the Cuban government nationalized the brand, factory and assets. The partners re-established the name in the Canary Islands but later withdrew amid trademark disputes with Cubatabaco. In the mid-1970s, their operation moved to La Romana in the Dominican Republic for the United States market; it is now owned by Altadis S.A.

In Cuba, José Manuel González was promoted from top-grade torcedor to floor manager after Menéndez and García departed. Five sizes—the A, Especial No. 1, Especial No. 2, Joyita and Petit Tubo—were added during the 1970s and 1980s. Montecristo is now produced separately and independently by Habanos S.A. in Cuba and by Altadis in La Romana.