Davidoff in London: Where do Cigars Get their Names From?

I took a trip into Davidoff of London on Jermyn Street, the famous Swiss-based cigar manufacturer and retailer that was founded by Russian-born Zino Davidoff in 1946. There I spoke to one of the sales assistants John about the day to day running’s of the shop. We also touched upon the differences between the main three types of cigars. Anyone can visit the shop and the staff will gladly show you round. I recommend asking to see the humidor, which is where I conducted my interview with a sales assistant John.

Me: John tell me what is a humidor? 

John: This is the room that maintains a specific humidity in order to keep the cigars in good condition. 

Me: How many cigar brands are there in the world and how many do you have? 

John: In total, there's 27 Cuban cigar brands and we have a majority of them, we have 24. We don't have the full breadth of all the brands but we have a vast majority of them.  We have one of the largest selections of Cuban cigars in the world, in retail certainly.

Pete: What are the main differences between the brands of cigars, I've heard of the 'big three'? 

John: The big three brands are the Romeo y Julieta , the Cohiba and the Monte Cristo. Romeo y Julieta  is one of the brands that out sells almost everything else. It's a very, very, very popular one. You have within the Romeo y Julieta , you have the very famous Churchill cigars. You have the full Churchill, wide Churchill, shorts and Petit Churchill's. Those are the most famous cigars within that brand.

Pete: And what are the main differences between the three brands?

John: The main differences are strengths and flavours. With the Monte Cristo, by and large, they're medium strength, medium to full. The Romeo y Julieta  are a solid, medium strength. The Cohiba is similar to the Monte Cristo, they're medium and medium to full in strength as well. The main differences within them. I'd say, from my knowledge, I think Monte Cristo, and Romeo y Julieta  predate the Cohibas.

These were more available in the market as opposed to the Cohiba, which was introduced around about the 90s into the into the wider market. There's also, obviously what's called like the Vitola. So the different shapes and sizes. There are some that appear in one brand that don't appear in others. So you've got a variety of different sizes, okay, as well.

Pete: And where do the cigars get their names from? 

John: The reason why the Monte Cristo and the Romeo y Julieta  are named the way they are, is because in the factories, what used to happen is that the rollers used to be read to. They would have a specific book that the rollers would like really being read to them. And so it just so happened that what would become known as the Monte Cristo, their favourite book was The Count of Monte Cristo. And then Romeo y Julieta , their favorite book was Romeo and Juliet, as well. So that's where they got their names from. I believe the name Cohiba was the name of a cigar in pre-colonial times. 

For further stories and especially to hear about the connection with Davidoff of London and the James Bond films, be sure to check out this article on London Bond Map.