Two New Honduran Hoyos Shipping Now
Hoyo de Monterrey was one of the first Cuban brands to be made in a non-Cuban version for the U.S. market after the embargo. That happened in the mid 1960s. To celebrate this history, General Cigar Co. has released two new Hoyos made in Honduras: The Hoyo de Monterrey Rojo and the Hoyo de Monterrey Oscuro. Both are heading to retailers now.
Draped in a wrapper grown in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras, Rojo is rolled with a Nicaraguan binder and filler from Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It’s billed as a medium-bodied blend.
The Oscuro is a bit stronger, and defined by its dark Brazilian Mata Fina oscuro wrapper—a first for Hoyo de Monterrey. It has an Ecuadoran Sumatra binder and a filler combination of Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos.
Both brands are produced at the HATSA factory in Danlí and both come in the same sizes with identical suggested retail prices: Rothschild, measuring 4 1/2 inches by 50 ring gauge with a suggested retail price of $5.99; Toro at 6 by 52 ($7.49); and a 6-by-60 Gigante ($8.49). They are presented in 10-count boxes.
“As one of the first Cuban ex-pat brands available in the United States, Hoyo de Monterrey laid the foundation for Honduran cigarmaking nearly 60 years ago and has become a living legend in the world of premium cigars,” says senior brand manager Ed Lahmann.
Hoyo de Monterrey and Punch were made in Cuba by Fernando Palicio prior to the Revolution. Dan Blumenthal and Frank Llaneza, owners of Villazon & Co. Inc., bought the U.S. rights to the brands from Palicio in the mid-1960s, and began making them for the U.S. market in 1965. The brands were acquired by General in 1996 during the cigar boom when it purchased Villazon. General Cigar Co. and the non-Cuban Hoyo de Monterrey brand are owned by parent company Scandinavian Tobacco Group.
See a future issue of Cigar Insider for vertical brand tastings of both lines.
