1876 Reserve Churchill

The 1876 Reserve has been a fan-favorite since its debut in 1995 due to its mild profile and easy, complex flavors. Handmade in the Dominican Republic, this incredibly smooth and mild profile features a bouquet of Dominican long-filler and binder that is secured with a handsome golden brown and toothy Ecuador Connecticut wrapper. This combination boasts complex creamy tobacco flavors. Mild and complex enough for the novice and veteran smoker alike, pair it with a ginger ale on a warm afternoon.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.