LONDON -- Winston Churchill would be disappointed. Britain’s legendary prime minister was one of many famous users of the Dunhill cigar brand, which is now about to become part of history.
British American Tobacco (BAT), London, which owns the rights to the Dunhill brand, announced this month that it will remove the cigars from its portfolio, according to Cigar Aficionado magazine. The announcement came just weeks after BAT finalized a deal to buy the remaining shares of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc. that it didn’t already own for $49 billion.
“Like many companies, we continually review and refine our global strategy to ensure the sustainability of our business,” a BAT spokesperson told the magazine. “As part of this process, we have decided to cease the supply of Dunhill cigars and pipe tobacco as of mid-2018. These products make up a very small part of our overall business; the rest of the Dunhill portfolio is not affected by this decision.”
Dunhill cigars are distributed in the United States by General Cigar Co., Richmond, Va., and are made at General Cigar’s factories in Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. For the time being, General Cigar officials said that Dunhill cigars will continue to be rolled and marketed as usual, at least until next year.
“British American Tobacco has informed us of their intention to exit the handmade cigar and pipe-tobacco business for the Dunhill brands,” said Regis Broersma, president of General Cigar. “As this process will take approximately 12 to 18 months to complete, it will be business as usual; therefore, there will be no change to the way in which we manufacture, market and sell the Dunhill items in our portfolio in the near future.”
Asked if General Cigar has any interest in buying the Dunhill brand from BAT, Broersma declined to comment.
Dunhill’s history dates back to 1907, the year Alfred Dunhill opened his tobacco shop in London. Churchill was among the company’s more famous clients. In the 1930s, Dunhill saw success distributing Dunhill branded Cuban cigar lines such as Don Candido, and later, in the 1960s, Don Alfredo.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.