Add Temple Hall to the list of brands General Cigar Co. is remaking as part of the Foundry Tobacco Co. portfolio.

Temple Hall Estate is part of the FTC Heritage Series, which includes modern takes on the Bolívar and Ramón Allones brands. Temple Hall is named after the Temple Hall factory, a Jamaican cigar factory that was established in 1876. The factory was acquired by Edgar Cullman, who previously owned General, in 1969.

Ramón Cifuentes, whose father acquired the Partagás brand in the early 1900s, was placed in charge of the factory—which made a variety of cigars including Macanudo—shortly after he left Cuba. Cifuentes would go on to a long career at General. It would remain open until 2000 when the factory was shuttered as production had been moved largely to the Dominican Republic.

temple-hall-estates

As for Temple Hall Estates is a four-size line that uses a Connecticut shade wrapper over a Mexican San Andrés binder and San Andrés fillers as well as piloto Cubano from Mao, Dominican Republic. General says it is using three primings of piloto Cubano: volado, seco and ligero.

It’s offered in: 5 1/2 x 49 ($6.99), 6 x 60 ($7.49), 5 1/4 x 54 ($7.99) and 7 1/2 x 49 ($8.49).

“Temple Hall Estates pays homage to the factory in Jamaica, and the people who shared Ramón Cifuentes’ love for the art of cigar making,” said Justin Andrews, sales manager for Foundry Tobacco Co., in a press release. “This new line is made in Santiago, DR, according to the techniques set forth at Temple Hall by Ramón.”

The line has formally begun shipping and the company plans on having educational events beginning in March.

Foundry Tobacco Co. is a division of General that is offered through independent sales representatives.

Avatar photo

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.