The United Natural Box-Pressed is a unique blend using a light shade Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper to finish off a blend of Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Habano Corojo and Dominican Habano Criollo 98 fillers.  The Cuban seed Habano binder compliments the bold flavors.

What should you expect from the United Natural?  Warm notes of creamy cappuccino with a complimentary spice and perfect draw.

A true testament to the classic Connecticut Broadleaf wrappers.  The United Maduro Box-Pressed offers a rich broadleaf wrapper to distinguish it from the Natural.  The Cuban seed Habano binder holds together a blend of Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Habano Corojo and Dominican Habano Criollo 98 fillers.

What should you expect from the United Maduro?  A smooth balance of black pepper and oak dominate this blend without overpowering the palette.

The La Gianna Havana brand first came to market in 1994 and has continued non-stop ever since.  Totalmente Hecho a Mano is Spanish means Totally Made by hand using tobaccos from Danli, Honduras and this is where and how La Gianna Havana cigars are born.  Danli has been a tobacco source and cigar manufacturing region since 1765, when the Spanish crown established a royal tobacco trading post. This area is a major tobacco growing area and the make-up of this “puro’ meaning La Gianna using only Honduran tobacco within its blend.  

What should you expect from a Las Gianna Havana cigar?  Smooth and buttery with slight salted nuts, a great morning smoke or any time of day for those that like a milder smoke.    

Available in six sixes including the Churchill (7” x 48), Toro (6” x 54), Torpedo (6” x 52), Corona (5.5” x 44), Robusto (5” x 50) and the Bambino (4” x 44).

A decade after the original launch of La Gianna came the Maduro version, a blend that was changed simply by the outside wrapper of the cigar.  How much influence does the wrapper have on the cigar? Lots, and the proof is here with La Gianna Havana Maduro.  

What should you expect from La Gianna Havana Maduro?  Hot Buttered Raisin Toast! You can taste the hints of cinnamon, the aromatic sweetness all the while keeping to its trademark smooth as silk finish.  

Available in seven sixes including the Churchill (7” x 48), the 10-4 (6.5” x 62), Toro (6” x 54), Torpedo (6” x 52), Corona (5.5” x 44), Robusto (5” x 50) and the Bambino (4” x 44).

He’s not a cigar maker with a history of a Cuban family that has been growing and cultivating tobacco for generations. He does not wear a fancy hat, or ride a horse or wear a Guevara shirt like all the cliche ads in the cigar magazines. He is David Garofalo, an Italian American that was born and brought up in inner-city Boston, a man who has spent over 30 years as a cigar retailer and is obsessed with cigars.

Not since Zino Davidoff has there been a cigar named after a cigar retailer and David Garofalo does it now with sincere humility. As he says, “I have spent more than half my life in the cigar business, and I am going to give launching my own cigar a try.”

Garofalo Cigars are handmade in Esteli Nicaragua at the Perdomo factory, using a proprietary blend of Nicaraguan fillers from the Jalapa Valley for its natural sweetness and from Esteli for its strength and character, later aged for four full years. The wrapper is from Ecuador, using seed from USA Connecticut, grown to a beautiful golden color.

The finished cigar has been sitting in aging rooms for a minimum of six full months to marry the blend until it has reached optimum flavor. The flavor is rich and rewarding while elegant and refined.

Rich and bold, Fleur de la Reine flirts with a kiss of spice on each and every draw.    

Some may call it full flavored, but others call it just right.   Fleur de la Reine is made up of a blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos surrounded by a Dominican binder, Ecuadoran Sumatra is highlighted in Natural giving it a long smoky finish.  

What should you expect from Fleur de la Reine?  The sweet woody and floral notes are balanced by orange spices and earthy notes.  

Kicked-up a notch or two is the deep, dark Fleur de la Reine Maduro.  Like stepping into a black tie affair, the dark, oily Maduro wrapper utilizes a U.S.A. Connecticut Broadleaf that is there to impress.   Filler blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos surrounded by a Dominican binder, go perfect not only with the wrapper but with a martini (shaken not stirred).  

What should you expect from Fleur de la Reine Maduro?  Sophisticated strength with sweet rich molasses and dark chocolate. 

The original short format cigar with a fuse, is the Corojo Firecracker, measuring at just 3 x 50, this stick with a closed foot packs an explosive punch. With a Nicaraguan Oscuro Corojo wrapper, this short, Nicaraguan Puro powerhouse has a Criollo binder with Criollo 98 and Corojo filler leaves.

What should you expect from the Firecracker?  With a closed foot, the Firecracker opens up immediately with peppery notes and a woody finish.  Rich and balanced throughout, expect to see a firm ash and be prepared to be blown away.

Classic Connecticut

Offering a smooth, creamy draw, the Classic line is tailored towards the working gentleman’s tastes.  Wrapped in a light caramel colored Connecticut Shade leaf, the Classic Connecticut burns flawlessly due to its Dominican Filler and Binder.

What should you expect from the Classic Connecticut?  Soft notes of wood with a slight floral character and a smooth draw.

Classic Maduro

Thicker, aged wrapper leaves are cured till dark, adding some sweetness and body to the Classic blend.  

What should you expect from the Classic Maduro?  Dark chocolate and a dried fruit sweetness are prominent with a finish of espresso and almonds notes.

Classic Cuban

Sun grown Dominican wrappers surround the Classic blend which adds a touch more body and strength while keeping its Classic flavors.  

What should you expect from the Classic Cuban?   Notes of earth, walnuts and a touch of cedar. A warm spice is present throughout the cigar that makes this wrapper ideal for any time of day.

In the mid 19th Century, Jose and Eusebio, cousins and offsprings of immigrants from the Canary Islands owned a small cigar factory with about 12 employees on Macías Street of Santiago de Las Vegas, a province of Havana. Their cigars were made from the leaves cultivated in two small tobacco plantations of their own inherited from their parents located 25 kilometers apart from each other. One was located in the town of Santiago de Las Vegas like their factory. The other was in Tapaste, a village in San José de Las Lajas, also a province of Havana.

Many cigar factories produced numerous brands with Anglo-American names to attract UK and US markets which had tremendous demand for premium cigars at the time. Having said that, around 1848 the cousins created a cigar brand named Lord Byron in honor of the world renowned English poet himself.

In 19th Century California, the brand’s importer was St. Losky, Levy & Co. In 1852, it published an ad in the “Daily Alta California” listing all their major Cuban brands which included Lord Byron among others.

Few years after the launch of the brand, the cousins out grew their factory due to high demand from foreign importers. Therefore, they decided to expand their production to a larger factory located on O’Reilly Street of Havana City. They only contracted the production in which they supervised using their own raw materials to guarantee quality and consistency.

Toward the end of 19th century, Lithographic printing developed full color prints which became the latest technology in printing at the time. This gave birth to production of full color paper prints for inside and outside of cigar boxes and cigar bands alike.
At the time, the founder’s son, Jose Ricardo, had already taken over the reign from his elderly father. The old man’s last request to his son was to make a full color design using the latest technology of the day on the next run of their cigar boxes using a female’s image of a poet to introduce the relationship between romanticism and poetry.

Therefore, full color design of a female laureate poet on boxes of Byron appeared in the market at that time. It was said the brand’s success was mainly due to its unique design beside the actual quality of the cigars. It is not known whether the old man lived to see the success of his brand in the UK and US markets.

Unfortunately between the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th Centuries, Ricardo, the grandson of the founder and a third generation brand owner and producer, due to major financial hardship was forced to sell the brand to Casimiro Alvarez, a cigar producer whose factory was on the same street in Santiago de Las Vegas. Ricardo invested in construction of a very large cigar factory on the very popular and famous Reyna Street in Havana City. Once the factory’s construction was completed, he could not uphold his financial obligation to the lender because he never received the monies owed to him from his distributor in the UK who had filed bankruptcy. Therefore, the newly constructed building was confiscated by the lender and he had no other choice but to sell the brand among other properties to repay the debt.

90 years after Ricardo Alfonso sold and lost the brand, his great-grandson recover again the Byron brand in 1998, as a compromise he own from his grandfather Conrado Alfonso, son of Ricardo Alfonso.

Returning to the early days, now the brand, in a very limited quantity, is produced in a small factory in Costa Rica. As a general rule, cigars usually sit in an aging room on average about 60 days. On that note, Byron cigars sit in an aging room for period of 1 year.
They are then transported to another factory also in Costa Rica that specializes in quality control of packaging of the cigars into the ultra luxurious porcelain jars, super elaborate humidors and state-of-the-art cigar humitubes.

Cigar history has followed a difficult path between crime and pleasure. Demonized on arrival to Europe, in which latter tobacco trade was monopolized.

During a century, between 1717 & 1817, the Spanish Crown prohibited cigar production in the Caribbean Islands & the rest of the American Colonies, and although its precious leaves continued growing on the other side of the ocean, the “puro” cigar rolling that we all know today, could only be done at the Sevilla Royal Factory, supplying an even more demanding market in the world.

But such absurd prerogative led to the rising prices of tobacco and of course the birth of the Bandolero, an intrepid figure that hid on mysterious roads with tobacco leaves & rolled in other countries, led to an excellent price and authenticity combination, dressed with the charm of what was then forbidden.

The cigars that we offer here today know the secrets of those mystic Bandoleros old routes, from places where tobacco plantation still a long tradition, thru countries where wise hands shaped them, until its final destination, where a cigar expert recognizes its aroma and flavor – the quality of a unique product.

ATABEY cigars are produced in limited quantities by the Selected Tobacco in Costa Rica. The leaves of these cigars have many origins including aged tobaccos from the Caribbean, South and Central America countries. These luxury cigars can are available at appointed merchants in the United States only, certified by the manufacturer.

Atabey is the Supreme deity of the Taino Indians.

Atabey is the name of a female divinity of the extinct Taino people, who occupied a large part of the Caribbean islands.

In Taino mythology, Atabey was the first female in the world and was the mother of Yucahu, the main male god of the Tainos. Besides being the mother goddess, Atabey is the divinity of the Moon, the Sea of Fertility and Birth. 

Atabey is also associated as “Mother of Waters”, associating it with rivers, lakes and seas to give life to the cultivation of cassava, tobacco and agriculture in general.

Atabey is worshiped at night with full moon ceremonies, where through unique rituals performed by the tribe elders who sat in a religious circles called Cohiba and preformed rituals around the tribal leader and wizard of the tribe, called Behike.  All of them smoking tobacco leaves rolled as a cigar.

When they went into a state of delirium, their prayers in the form of smoke were blew over to the wise leader, who was in the middle of the circle, so that with his divine powers raised to heaven, through the smoke he received.  Only then did the Behike give their prayers to their Goddess ATABEY.