Editions
It was first published in 1995 and contained 370 brands. The number of brands covered jumped to 659 in the 1997 edition, then to 1,144 in 1998, and then to an all-time high of 1,448 in 1999. The 15th edition (2009) has the second highest brand total ever and includes information on 1,360 brands (1,209 handmade, 75 machine made and 76 small cigars/cigarillos).
A cigarillo is a short, narrow cigar. Unlike cigarettes, cigarillos are wrapped in tobacco leaves or brown, tobacco-based paper. Cigarillos are smaller than regular cigars but usually larger than cigarettes. Cigarillos are usually made without filters, and are meant to be smoked like a cigar and not inhaled.
Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars
There is a companion edition, the Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars which is similar, but includes information solely on the Cuban cigar brands. It is currently in its third edition (published 2005), but is not published every year (the 2nd edition was in 1998), and also includes information about how cigars are made in Cuba, a history of tobacco and Cuban brands, and details on vitolas.
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The area of the Republic of Cuba is 110,860 square kilometers (42,800 sq mi). The island of Cuba is the largest island in Cuba and in the Caribbean, with an area of 105,006 square kilometers (40,543 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11 million inhabitants.
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the Nicotiana genus and the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of the tobacco plant. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is also used around the world.
Both editions are written by Richard B. Perelman.
Cohiba is a brand for two kinds of premium cigar, one produced in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for US-based General Cigar Company. The name cohíba derives from the Taíno word for "tobacco."
Bolívar is the name of two brands of premium cigar, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic from Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco for General Cigar Company, which is today a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Both are named for the South American revolutionary, Simón Bolívar.
Diplomáticos is the name of a premium cigar brand, produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, at the José Martí factory in Havana.
Arturo Fuente is a brand of cigar, founded by Arturo Fuente, Sr. in 1912 in West Tampa, Florida. Following a catastrophic fire in 1924, the brand ceased production for 22 years, reemerging in 1946 on a limited, local basis. Ownership was transferred to Arturo's younger son, Carlos Fuente, Sr. in 1958. Following the 1960 United States embargo of Cuba, the Fuente brand began a period of slow and steady growth, emerging as one of the most critically acclaimed makers of hand-rolled premium cigars outside of Cuba. As of 2010 the company was producing 30 million cigars per annum from its factory in the Dominican Republic.
Don José "Pepin" Garcia is the CEO of El Rey de los Habanos, Inc, a cigar company in Miami, also known as My Father Cigars. He is a noted cigar maker living in Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba, he is a master cigar roller and blender, and the creator and maker of numerous popular cigar brands.
El Rey de los Habanos is a brand of premium hand-rolled cigars created and owned by José "Pepin" Garcia.
Cabaiguán is a brand of handmade premium cigars owned by Tatuaje Cigars, Inc.. It was created by Pete Johnson in consultation with Jaime Garcia and is manufactured at the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Little Havana, Miami, FL.
Tatuaje is a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by Tatuaje Cigars, Inc. It was created by Pete Johnson in close consultation with José Garcia and is manufactured at the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami, Florida, and at Tabacalera Cubana S. A. (TACUBA) in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Vegas Cubanas was a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by El Rey de los Habanos, Inc. It has been discontinued as of 2011.
In Cuban cigar production, the factory name or vitola de galera is a standard name given to the size of the cigar across all manufacturers.
Cuesta-Rey is a brand of handmade cigar, founded in 1884 by Angel LaMadrid Cuesta and Peregrino Rey. Cuesta, a Spaniard, had apprenticed in cigar making in Cuba before he met Rey. They formed the company in the Ybor City district of Tampa, Florida to make 'clear Havana' cigars.
Padilla Miami, originally known as the "Miami 8 & 11," is a type of handmade premium cigar manufactured by the Padilla Cigar Company. The cigar was introduced in 2005.
Padilla Habano was a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by Padilla Cigar Company. It was discontinued in early 2011.
Padilla Hybrid is a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by Padilla Cigar Company.
Padilla Maduro is a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by Padilla Cigar Company.
Troya is a U. S. brand of handmade premium cigar originally owned by Lignum-2, Inc. The brand in an old Cuban brand, established in 1932, but the Cuban version is now offered only as an all-machine-made brand of but two vitolas.
Piloto Cigars Inc. is a privately held company that produces the Padrón cigar brand from Nicaragua. Commonly known as Padrón Cigars, the company was founded September 8, 1964 in Miami, Florida by Cuba-native José Orlando Padrón. In 1970, Padrón moved the company to Estelí, Nicaragua.
Perdomo is a brand of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold worldwide by Tabacalera Perdomo. The company, launched and headed by third generation cigarmaker Nick Perdomo, Jr. in 1992, is based today in Miami Lakes, Florida.
Tabacalera Fernandez, best known to the English-speaking world as A.J. Fernandez Cigars, is a maker of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold worldwide. The company is run by Abdel J. Fernandez, a third generation cigarmaker, and is a prominent manufacturer of cigars sold under a variety of labels, including "Man O'War," "Diesel," and "San Lotano"
