 | |
| Founder | Edward Hoffman |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
| Website | iwanries |
Iwan Ries and Company is a tobacconist located in Chicago, Illinois. One of the oldest family-owned tobacco companies in North America, the company traces its history back to E. Hoffman & Co, which was formed in 1857 [1] [2] and originally owned by Edward Hoffman. The current shop is located on the second floor at 19 Wabash Ave in downtown Chicago. [2]
Following the Chicago Fire on October 8, 1871, the Sherman House hotel, where the E. Hoffman & Co. was based out of, was destroyed and rebuilt. [3] As business grew after the fire, Edward realized that he could not run the company alone and in 1891 he recruited his nephew, Iwan Ries to join him. [4] Iwan Ries and Co. is the oldest tobacconist in Chicago. [5] [6]
Edward retired in 1898. [7] Iwan sold the manufacturing business and changed the store to Iwan Ries & Co. [8]
In 1968, the company purchased 19 S Wabash, built in 1881, where the store is located today. Also known as the Jewelers Building, it is one of the oldest surviving buildings designed by Adler & Sullivan. [2]
Three Star Tobacco, a private label pipe tobacco blend was developed in the 1950s by Iwan Ries & Co. [9]
Visitors can purchase day passes to the lounge to enjoy cigars either purchased from Iwan Ries and Co., or they can bring their own. [2]
In August 2017, The Blackstone hotel announced a partnership with Iwan Ries and Co., where hotel guests would have exclusive access to The Iwan Ries Lounge. [10]
Iwan Ries and Co. is currently managed by Kevin Levi. [3]
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder leaf which holds the filler together, and a wrapper leaf, which is often the highest quality leaf used. Often there will be a cigar band printed with the cigar manufacturer's logo. Modern cigars can come with two or more bands, especially Cuban cigars, showing Limited Edition bands displaying the year of production.
Tabacalera, formerly the Compañía Arrendataria de Tabacos, was a Spanish tobacco monopoly whose origins date back to 1636, making it the oldest tobacco company in the world.
Nat Sherman is the brand name for a line of handmade cigars and "luxury cigarettes". The company, which began as a retail tobacconist, continued to operate a flagship retail shop, known as the "Nat Sherman Townhouse", located on 42nd Street, off Fifth Avenue, in New York City from 1930 to 2020. Corporate offices are now located at the foot of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Major Lewis Ginter was a prominent businessman, financier, military officer, real estate developer, and philanthropist centered in Richmond, Virginia. A native of New York City, Ginter accumulated a considerable fortune throughout his numerous business ventures and became one of Richmond's wealthiest citizens despite his exceptionally modest demeanor. While the Jefferson Hotel and Ginter Park embody some of Ginter's major urban contributions to Richmond, many of his philanthropic gifts were given anonymously to charitable organizations and individuals in need. Ginter played a major role in bringing Richmond back from the ravages of the Civil War. His continued devotion to the city is captured in his famous remark, "I am for Richmond, first and last."
A smoking jacket is an informal men's style of lounge jacket originally intended for tobacco smoking. Designed in the 1850s, a traditional smoking jacket has a shawl collar, turn-up cuffs, and is closed with either toggle or button fastenings, or with a tie belt. It is usually made from velvet and/or silk.
Cuban cigars are cigars manufactured in Cuba from tobacco grown within that island nation. Historically regarded as among the world's “finest”, they are synonymous with the island's culture and contribute nearly one quarter of the value of all exports from the country.
The cigar store Indian or wooden Indian is an advertisement figure, in the likeness of a Native American, used to represent tobacconists. The figures are often three-dimensional wooden sculptures measuring from several feet tall up to life-sized. They are still occasionally used for their original advertising purpose, but are more often seen as decorations or advertising collectibles, with some pieces selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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A tobacconist, also called a tobacco shop, a tobacconist's shop or a smoke shop, is a retail business that sells tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampers. More specialized retailers might sell ashtrays, humidification devices, hygrometers, humidors, cigar cutters, and more. Books and magazines, especially ones related to tobacco are commonly offered. Items irrelevant to tobacco such as puzzles, games, figurines, hip flasks, walking sticks, and confectionery are sometimes sold.
Perique is a type of tobacco from Saint James Parish, Louisiana, known for its strong, powerful, and fruity aroma. When the Acadians made their way into this region in 1776, the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes were cultivating a variety of tobacco with a distinctive flavor. A farmer named Pierre Chenet is credited with first turning this local tobacco into what is now known as Perique in 1824 through the labor-intensive technique of pressure-fermentation. It is reported by authorities on tobacco that Perique is based on a variety of Red Burley leaf. The Tobacco Institute says perique has been shipped out of New Orleans for more than 250 years and is considered to be one of America's first export crops.
A cigar bar is an establishment that caters to patrons who smoke cigars. Many serve food and alcohol as well. The prevalence of cigar bars varies by country; some jurisdictions ban smoking in all businesses, while others offer an exemption for cigar bars.
The Virgin Hotels Chicago is a historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, that has been converted from use as an office building to use as a hotel run via a mobile app-based business model. The 250-room hotel is the first of Richard Branson's Virgin Hotels brand boutique hotels geared toward the female business traveller.
Don Rolando Reyes Sr. was a well-known Honduran cigar maker of Cuban origin formerly residing in Danlí, Honduras. He was a master blender, roller and is the creator of Cuba Aliados, Puros Indios and other cigar brands.
The Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Company is a manufacturer of cigars, founded by Rakesh "Rocky" Patel and based in Bonita Springs, Florida.
The Cigar boom is the name given to the resurgence of cigar consumption in the United States during the mid-1990s. Beginning in 1992, imports and sales of premium cigars began to rise dramatically and manufacturers struggled to keep up with demand, leading to industry-wide shortages of raw materials and finished products. The period was marked and the trend accelerated with the 1992 establishment of Cigar Aficionado magazine.
John Middleton Co., a subsidiary of Altria Group, is the second largest manufacturer of large machine-made cigars, and a maker of pipe tobacco.
General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia.
Alec Bradley is the name of a popular brand of handmade cigars established in 1996 by Alan Rubin, the son of an importer of hardware supplies. Rubin launched his brand, named after his children, at the tail end of the cigar boom of the 1990s and entered a clogged market. After failed initial schemes at producing cigars targeted to golf courses and flavored after-dinner cigars, Rubin managed to carve out a tenuous niche selling budget-priced cigars to tobacconists. In 2007 the company managed to break through to a broader market with the introduction of its full-flavored "Tempus" line. As of 2011 the company was selling between two and three million cigars annually to consumers around the world. Alec Bradley is today based in Hollywood, Florida. Over the years a number of manufacturers have been used to make Alec Bradley's various products, including Raices Cubanas of Honduras, Nestor Plasencia in Honduras and Nicaragua, and Henke Kelner in the Dominican Republic. In 2019 it became clear that the company had begun using J. Fuego Cigar Co. de Nicaragua factory in Estelí, Nicaragua as one of its mainstay manufacturers.
Waitt & Bond, Inc. was an American cigar manufacturer that was in operation from 1870 to 1969. During the early 20th century it was the largest cigar manufacturer in New England and one of the largest in the United States.