Arnold André

Arnold André is a German family company founded in 1817 by Johann Friedrich Christian André in Osnabrück to produce smoking tobacco; the André family moved to Bünde (North Rhine-Westphalia) in 1851, where the company is still based seven generations later. For its hand-rolled cigars, it opened its own factory in 2011, Arnold André Dominicana S.R.L., in the industrial free-trade zone of Santiago de los Caballeros; the complete transfer of long-filler rolling to this factory was finished in 2015. In Bünde, the company also makes machine-made cigars and cigarillos.

The house range built up in Santiago comprises five long-filler brands. Carlos André, launched in 2009 and named for owner Axel-Georg André's younger son, is rolled under an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade Desflorado wrapper. Buena Vista (2013) blends, the company says, Dominican, Brazilian, Peruvian and Nicaraguan tobaccos, including a rare Brazilian Araperique made by the Perique method. Beast (2016), Axel-Georg André's personal project, combines a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Sumatra binder and Brazilian and Nicaraguan filler. Montosa, which reached the United States in 2022, comes in Natural (Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade) and Maduro (Mexican San Andrés). Parcero, lastly, began in spring 2021 in a Dominicano version with a Mexican wrapper, joined in 2022 by a Brasil version with a Mata Fina wrapper.

Range Depth

• Parcero

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Mild

  Two versions according to Cigarworld and Cigar's Lover Magazine: Dominicano, with a Mexican wrapper, launched in spring 2021, and Brasil, with a Mata Fina wrapper, added in 2022; mild-bodied according to cigarslover.com.

• Buena Vista

  Wrapper Undisclosed

  Launched in 2013; the blend combines, the company says, Dominican, Brazilian, Peruvian and Nicaraguan tobaccos, with a rare Brazilian Araperique made by the Perique method. Twenty-three items listed on Cigarworld.de.

• Beast

  Wrapper San Andrés (Mexico)

  Owner Axel-Georg André's personal project, launched in 2016; Sumatra binder, Brazilian and Nicaraguan filler, packaged as a Fresh Pack according to Cigarworld.de.

• Montosa

  Wrapper Undisclosed

  Two versions according to retailers: Natural, with a milder Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, and Maduro, with a spicier Mexican San Andrés wrapper; it reached the United States in 2022.

• Carlos André

  Wrapper Connecticut Shade (Ecuador)

  Launched in 2009 and named for owner Axel-Georg André's younger son; Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade Desflorado wrapper, according to carlos-andre.com.