Macanudo Café Hyde Park

General Cigar has been delivering high-quality cigars since 1848, including such greats as Bolivar, Cifuentas, Cohiba, Partagas, Punch, and Macanudo, a mild-bodied stogie which is the top-selling cigar brand in the U.S. Perhaps it’s because they live up to their appellation; in Spanish "macanudo" means "best of the best," or "first-rate” and Cigar Aficionado agrees, rating the Macanudo Café Hyde Park with a score of 90. Perhaps it’s because they’re consistently mild and pleasant with exceptional construction. These hand-rolled sticks are a blend of Dominican Piloto Cubano and Mexican long fillers, plus a Mexican San Andrés binder married with a golden brown, shade-grown Connecticut wrapper. This is a very mild cigar, offering a lighter taste with notes of almonds, cashews and fresh herbs with notes of pepper joining in about halfway through. The aroma is so pleasant your non-smoking companions may find themselves moving closer to enjoy it. We'd suggest pairing it with something simple like water, or if you need something with more kick, a cappuccino will also pair nicely.

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.