Dutch Masters is an American

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of natural wrapped

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

s that has been sold since 1912. Its distinctive packaging features

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

's 1662 painting ''

Syndics of the Drapers' Guild ''The Sampling Officials'' (), also called ''Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild'' (), is a 1662 oil painting by Rembrandt. It is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It has been described as his "last great collective portrait". The painting is a ...

''. Dutch Masters cigars are currently manufactured and sold by

Imperial Brands Imperial Brands plc (originally the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, and subsequently Imperial Tobacco Group plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is ...

. They are machine-rolled cigars and come in two varieties: standard cigars and smaller

cigarillo A cigarillo (; in turn (diminutive suffix); in parts of Latin America, in Spain) is a short, narrow cigar. Unlike cigarettes, cigarillos are wrapped in tobacco leaves or brown, tobacco-based paper. Cigarillos are smaller than regular cigars b ...

History

G.H. Johnson Cigar Company was the original producer of the Dutch Masters cigar brand. The brand became a mainstay of the

Consolidated Cigar Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through its ...

Corporation, which merged the G.H. Johnson Cigar Company and six others in 1921. The Consolidated Cigar Corp. later became part of

Altadis Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through its ...

, formed in 1999 by a merger of the French and Spanish state tobacco monopolies. Through its history the Dutch Masters cigar brand has become one of the most popular and profitable cigar brands in America. Dutch Masters became well-known in the late 1950s and early 1960s for its sponsorship of television comedian

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his dea ...

. He was appreciative of Dutch Masters' allowing him nearly complete creative freedom in the production of their sponsored shows and commercials. (Kovacs, a well known cigar smoker, never smoked Dutch Masters off camera, sticking almost exclusively to Havana cigars.)

Varieties

* Belvedere * Cameroon Elite * Corona De Luxe * 227 Benedict * Corona Grape * Corona Maduro * Corona Sports * Corona Strawberry * Corona Vanilla * Creme de Menthe * Honey Sports * Honey Sports Cigarillos * Vanilla Sports * Panetela * Perfecto * President * Cigarillos - Chocolate * Cigarillos - Cognac * Cigarillos - Grape * Cigarillos - Green * Cigarillos - White Grape * Cigarillos - Silver * Cigarillos - Strawberry * Cigarillos - Vanilla * Cigarillos - Sweet * Cigarillos - Wine *Cigarillos - Red Berry *Cigarillos - Honeycomb *Cigarillos - Bluedream fusion *Cigarillos - Atomic Fusion *Cigarillos - Berry Fusion *Cigarillos - Irish Fusion * Palma * Palma Chocolate * Palma Cognac * Tube Cigarillos Cognac * Tube Cigarillos Grape * Tube Cigarillos Vanilla * Tube Cigarillos Vanilla Sport * White Grape

References

External links

*
''The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild (The Staalmeesters)'' – Rembrandt Paintings.

{{Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands brands Cigar brands