The Dominican Years

With the blend for Macanudo, General Cigar created something vastly different from any other cigar on the market. Mr. Cullman’s strategy for promoting this new brand would take a similar tack. The company began by selling Macanudo in the best restaurants in the country. The cigars sold extremely well there and a market for Macanudo was firmly established.  Then came impactful advertising platforms which started in the 1970s. Magazine, newspaper and radio ads promoted Macanudo as “the ultimate cigar.” Soon, new sizes would be added and the brand would continue its rapid ascent. Just as the brand was evolving, so was Edgar’s handpicked talent pool. In the early 1970s, he saw great promise in Daniel Nunez, a young graduate of Texas A & M University who was developing tobacco for the government of the Dominican Republic. When Edgar met Daniel Nunez in 1974, the two bonded almost instantly. Edgar was anxious to experiment with growing Connecticut Shade in the Dominican Republic. Seeing enormous potential, Edgar hired Daniel that year.  As Daniel was rising through the ranks at General Cigar, he worked with some of the most legendary tobacco men in the premium cigar business. This includes Alfons Mayer, Ramon Cifuentes and Benji Menendez. In 1993 until 1999, Daniel spent one week per month at General Cigar’s Jamaican factory where he and Benji Menendez worked closely together, each committed to upholding the utmost quality of Macanudo. With the closure of the Jamaican factory in the year 2000, Daniel and his team oversaw production of Macanudo at General Cigar’s Dominican factory, which was originally established in the early 1980s as the first cigar factory in the Santiago Free Zone. There, Daniel would work alongside the first lady of premium cigars, Ms. Modesta Fondeur, who was also steadfast in her commitment to ensuring Macanudo’s unwavering quality. Macanudo continues to be made at General Cigar’s factory in Santiago, DR, by a team largely still consisting of those hand-picked by Daniel Nunez to succeed him in the business. The team, now led by Daniel’s protégé Jhonys Diaz, still maintains a laser focus on upholding Macanudo’s unparalleled quality and consistency. Until Next Time, Team Macanudo