Late last month, Altadis U.S.A. quietly began shipping its flagship release of the year.

The Montecristo Cincuenta celebrates not the 50th anniversary of the Montecristo brand—it was launched in 1935—but rather the 50th anniversary of the world’s largest cigar factory, Tabacalera de García.

It’s comprised of two sizes, the less expensive of which starts at $35. Both cigars use an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Dominican binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

The Montecristo Cincuenta Toro (6 x 50) is priced at $35 and is being sold in high gloss boxes of 10 cigars. It’s limited to 8,000 boxes.

There is also a torpedo size, the Montecristo Cincuenta No. 2 (6 x 52), which is being exclusively rolled by Lucrecia Valdez, a 40-year veteran of Tabacalera de García.  

It is being sold in Elie Bleu humidors, with each humidor containing 100 cigars. Pricing is set at $10,000 per humidor and it is limited to 75 units.

Tabacalera de García is located in La Romana, Dominican Republic, somewhat isolated from most of the country’s cigar factories, which are primarily located in and around Santiago.

The factory is owned by Imperial Brands, plc, which also owns Altadis U.S.A., JR Cigar, Casa de Montecristo and others. It is responsible for many of Altadis’ lines, including the American-market Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta. In addition to the premium cigar factory, the complex also includes a large machine-made cigar operation and box factory.

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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.