Views from a Smoke-Filled Room

Not only is the new Winston Churchill cigar named after a famous person, but it's also made at the fabled Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic. Not many brands are.

Davidoff introduced a new cigar to stores over the last month with a name that’s instantly recognizable to any student of history or cigars: Winston Churchill.

The cigar itself is unique because it’s one of the first to be made at the fabled Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic, other than the Davidoff brand itself. But it’s also unique because it is named after a famous person. That’s not always the way it was. Famous names adorned cigar brands for more than a century, some of which were national or international heroes. Some samples of American brands which pictured well-known Americans:

Colonial Orator, picturing Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry;

Commander, picturing World War I commanding general John J. Pershing;

Dan’l Boone, after the American explorer;

Franklin D. Roosevelt, issued during his 13-year term as U.S. President (1933-45);

General Custer, after U.S. General George Custer, killed at the Little Big Horn;

Hans Wagner, picturing the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop;

Henry W. Longfellow, after the American poet;

Lincoln Bouquet, picturing the 16th American President;

Rough Rider, picturing Theodore Roosevelt charging up San Juan Hill in Cuba;

Mark Twain, after the famed American writer;

Monroe Doctrine, picturing the fifth U.S. President, James Monroe;

Old Hickory, picturing U.S. President Andrew Jackson.

That doesn’t count plenty of brands that pictured George Washington, the first U.S. President and popular theater and film stars like Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Russell, Rudolph Valentino and others.

Who’s got a brand named after them today?

Well, there’s Henry Clay, a famed U.S. politician and diplomat from Kentucky who lived during the first half of the 19th century who reportedly owned a plantation in Cuba and whose cigars were world-famous. His is about the only brand named for someone famous that’s been in more-or-less continuous production for more than a century.

The others are pretty modest:

Al Capone, made in Nicaragua for Indianhead and a minor brand;

Charles The Great, an old Clear Havana brand now made for Finck Cigars;

Da Vinci, an old brand now a minor player in the Altadis U.S.A. line-up;

Emmo 500 and Fittipaldi, named for the famed race car driver Emerson Fittipaldi and marketed by Arango Cigars;

Jose Marti, one of the heroes of Cuba, honored in a blend made for J-R Cigars;

Kinky Friedman, a new cigar marketed by the singer and former candidate for governor of Texas;

Maria Guerrero, an old Cuban brand named for a 19th Century singing star, also a minor brand for Altadis U.S.A.;

Mike Ditka, the famed former football player and coach, whose cigar that was originally sold in his Chicago restaurant is now sold mostly over the Internet;

Richard Nixon, one of the lines in the Lars Tetens brand group;

Shakespeare, an old Clear Havana brand recently resurrected by General Cigar as a minor brand;

Stradivarius de los Maestros, a salute to the famed instrument maker, recently introduced by General Cigar to challenge the Davidoff brand at the top of the price cycle.

None of these brands are going to challenge Macanudo or Montecristo for market share anytime soon.

Thanks to today’s licensing fees, it’s not likely that we’ll see too many more brands named after someone famous anytime soon, certainly not anyone who’s alive. The new Winston Churchill cigar was authorized by the great man’s grandson. But perhaps if Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson were to be elected President, they might – as cigar smokers themselves – join the long line of Presidents with a cigar named after them!

Rich Perelman is editor-in-chief of CigarCyclopedia.com, offering comprehensive daily coverage of cigars, accessories, issues, people and prices.

Rich Perelman

1/7/08

NO COMMENTS YET

You must sign in to add comments.