Dutch Masters (cigar)

Dutch Masters Cigars

A box of Dutch Masters Palma cigars
Launch year	1911
Company	G.H. Johnson Cigar Co.
Availability	yes
Current supplier	Altadis USA (Imperial Tobacco)

Dutch Masters is a brand of natural wrapped cigars sold in the United States since 1911. Its distinctive packaging features Rembrandt's 1662 painting The Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (The Staalmeesters). Dutch Masters cigars are currently manufactured and sold by Altadis U.S.A., Inc., which is the American subsidiary of French/Spanish-based Altadis S.A. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They are machine rolled cigars, and come in two main varieties: full size cigars, and smaller cigarillos colloquially known as "mini-dutches." ^[1][2]

G.H. Johnson Cigar Company was the original producer of the Dutch Masters cigar brand. Dutch Masters would become a mainstay of the Consolidated Cigar Corporation, which merged the G.H. Johnson Cigar Company and six others together in 1921. The Consolidated Cigar Corp. later became part of Altadis, formed in 1999 by a merger of the French and Spanish state tobacco monopolies.^[3] Through its long history the Dutch Masters cigar brand has become one of the most popular and profitable cigar brands in America.

Dutch Masters became well known in the 1950s for its sponsorship of various television projects of the comedian Ernie Kovacs. (Kovacs, a well-known cigar smoker, never smoked Dutch Masters, sticking almost exclusively to Havana cigars.) Dutch Master cigars gained notoriety in the early 90's, mainly due to "Dutches" being mentioned numerous times in hip-hop songs as a popular brand of cigar to be broken down and re-rolled with marijuana.

Varieties

• Belvedere
• Cameroon Elite
• Corona De Luxe
• 227 Benedict
• Corona Grape
• Corona Maduro
• Corona Sports
• Corona Strawberry
• Corona Vanilla
• Creme de Menthe
• Honey Sports
• Honey Sports Cigarillos
• Vanilla Sports
• Panetela
• Perfecto
• President
• Cigarillos - Chocolate
• Cigarillos - Cognac
• Cigarillos - Grape
• Cigarillos - Strawberry
• Cigarillos - Vanilla
• Cigarillos - Wine
• Palma
• Palma Chocolate
• Palma Cognac
• Tube Cigarillos Cognac
• Tube Cigarillos Grape
• Tube Cigarillos Vanilla
• Tube Cigarillos Vanilla Sport

References

1. ^ Only available in the US "Altadis Buys Control of JR Cigars" by David Savona, October 10, 2003^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Merger To Create World's Largest Cigar Company" by David Savona, October 6, 1999
3. ^ "Altadis S.A.," FundingUniverse.com/ Retrieved February 19, 2011.

External links

• Altadis USA Home Page
• The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild (The Staalmeesters) – Rembrandt Paintings.
• Ernie Kovacs (Tobacco & Smoking) – TVAcres.com.