Belstaff Bond Robusto

First built in 1876, the Belstaff House building on Bond Street in London first opened its doors on May 1, 1877 and at the time was considered among the most important private art galleries of the Victorian Era. Over the years, the building has housed the BBC and the Orchestrelle Company of New York, and has also hosted a number of musicians such as The Beatles, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. In August 2013, Belstaff House officially opened, offering a unique variety of high end luxury clothing, accessories, and goods.

The Belstaff Bond robusto was released in 2016 by Bugatti Cigars and is already making waves within the cigar industry. Handcrafted at one of the most prestigious factories in the Dominican Republic, this medium to full-bodied flagship cigar starts with a delicious blend of aged long fillers from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, followed by a zesty Nicaraguan binder, and finishing with a dark and bold Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. This combination, once lit, will lend spicy flavors of wood, pepper, sweet cream, and nuts. Pair it with a coffee.

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.