The most famous of the many famous Havana brands started only in 1935 as a new brand from Menendez, Garcia y Cia., then the owners of the H. Upmann brand. This is the best selling Cuban cigar in the world, accounting for approximately half of Cuba's total production. The name is reported to have been inspired by Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel Le Comte de Monte Cristo. With a strong marketing effort from Alfred Dunhill of London, this brand became the most popular of all Havana exports and is the standard by which all other Havanas are now judged. Montecristo's are rich medium-bodied cigars with aromatic flavour and a distinctive peppery finish. There are no machine-made shapes in this range.
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