Aristoff
Encyclopedia
Aristoff is a brand of cigar
. The leaves (wrapper
, binder
, and filler
) are exclusively grown and cured in Nigaragua. The cigars are all hand-rolled in Chinandega
, Nicaragua
and at the company's Honduras
-based satellite factory. The corporate headquarters of this firm, however, lie in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
, with their principal market being the American Eastern Seaboard
. A relatively new company, the brande was launched amid great fanfare in 2002. The company was marketed heavily on the internet
and through a viral marketing
scheme. The great expectations fell flat, however, when the first few series of cigars did not meet with popular approval. Sales of the product fell 78% after the first year. Due to this plunge in revenue, the IPO in the company was called off in April 2003.
The company's new series of cigars have been more accepted among the cigar market. Sales have increased steadily since hitting a trough in 2004.
This brand was originally created by Guy Benhamou, the CEO of OroAmerica in Burbank, CA. and Ted Coulter, General Manager of LA Estillos in the Dominican Republic in 1996. Oroamerica at the time was the largest producer of Karat Gold Jewelry in the US. OroAmerica had jewelry operations in San Pedro de Marcoris Dominican Republic at the time, and began to diversify into premium Cigars in the mid 90’s. Benhamou and Coulter began developing this brand in 1996 and formed the company Cigar America which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Oroamerica. After investing a ton of money into this product, they got out of the business in 2000, sold the brand and inventory to JR Cigars, which continued to manufacture this brand in Honduras. These cigars were well made out of very good quality tobacco but there was too much competition during the boom in the late 90's.
The original blend of the Aristoff used 100% Dominican grown tobacco for the binder and filler. For the wrapper Aristoff used tobacco from several different sources including Brazil, United States (Conn Shade) and Cameroon.
Aristoff had state-of-the-art retail store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Ca. but because of a trademark infringement, were not allowed to use the name "Aristoff" for the store name. Cigar America also developed a medium priced brand called "Fuego Del Rey" which was produced in Jember Indonesia. The flavored version of this Cigar was rated by the Robb Report as the best-flavored Cigar in the US market.
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
. The leaves (wrapper
Wrapper
Wrapper generally refers to a type of packaging, such as a flat sheet made out of paper, cellophane or plastic to enclose an object.Wrapper may also refer to:* Wrapper , a woman's garment which is worn over nightwear or lingerie...
, binder
Binder
The reaper-binder, or binder, was a farm implement that improved upon the reaper. The binder was invented in 1872 by Charles Withington. In addition to cutting the small-grain crop, it would also tie the stems into small bundles, or sheaves...
, and filler
Filler
In general, a filler is something that is used to fill gaps. Specialized meanings of the word "filler" include:* Filler , dietary fiber and other ingredients added to pet foods to provide bulk...
) are exclusively grown and cured in Nigaragua. The cigars are all hand-rolled in Chinandega
Chinandega
Chinandega is a town and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city has a population of 121,793 inhabitants with 151,000 in the municipality...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and at the company's Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
-based satellite factory. The corporate headquarters of this firm, however, lie in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, with their principal market being the American Eastern Seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
. A relatively new company, the brande was launched amid great fanfare in 2002. The company was marketed heavily on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and through a viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
scheme. The great expectations fell flat, however, when the first few series of cigars did not meet with popular approval. Sales of the product fell 78% after the first year. Due to this plunge in revenue, the IPO in the company was called off in April 2003.
The company's new series of cigars have been more accepted among the cigar market. Sales have increased steadily since hitting a trough in 2004.
This brand was originally created by Guy Benhamou, the CEO of OroAmerica in Burbank, CA. and Ted Coulter, General Manager of LA Estillos in the Dominican Republic in 1996. Oroamerica at the time was the largest producer of Karat Gold Jewelry in the US. OroAmerica had jewelry operations in San Pedro de Marcoris Dominican Republic at the time, and began to diversify into premium Cigars in the mid 90’s. Benhamou and Coulter began developing this brand in 1996 and formed the company Cigar America which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Oroamerica. After investing a ton of money into this product, they got out of the business in 2000, sold the brand and inventory to JR Cigars, which continued to manufacture this brand in Honduras. These cigars were well made out of very good quality tobacco but there was too much competition during the boom in the late 90's.
The original blend of the Aristoff used 100% Dominican grown tobacco for the binder and filler. For the wrapper Aristoff used tobacco from several different sources including Brazil, United States (Conn Shade) and Cameroon.
Aristoff had state-of-the-art retail store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Ca. but because of a trademark infringement, were not allowed to use the name "Aristoff" for the store name. Cigar America also developed a medium priced brand called "Fuego Del Rey" which was produced in Jember Indonesia. The flavored version of this Cigar was rated by the Robb Report as the best-flavored Cigar in the US market.