Gran Habano

Gran Habano is a Colombian house by family and a Honduran one by factory, and this atlas classifies it by the factory. The Ricos have grown dark tobacco in Colombia since 1920, when Guillermo Rico's grandfather began; in 1946 his father took over the fields. Guillermo himself left for Miami in 1995, just as the American cigar market took off — and he did not stay a merchant there.

In 1998 he opened a factory in Danlí, Honduras: G.R. Tabacaleras Unidas. Five years later, in 2003, father and son — George Rico runs it today — launched the Gran Habano brand. The first catalogue fits in three numbers: the Connecticut No. 1, mild, the Habano No. 3, medium, the Corojo No. 5, peppery and full. They are still there, with what came after: 3 Siglos, the Gran Reserva, the 20th Aniversario, Blue in Green.

What sets the house apart from its Danlí neighbours is land: G.R. Tabacaleras Unidas grows the majority of its own leaf, on adjoining farms, instead of buying it. Few houses of this size hold both ends, and that is the point this entry keeps. The company itself is in Miami — the city from which Honduran cigars have been sold for thirty years.

In October 2026, the page of the German retailer Cigarworld presents, under the name G.H., cigars by Guillermo Rico, rolled in Danlí, Honduras, and sold in Europe: European law there forbids, the retailer writes, claiming a geographical indication for a product that does not come from there, and the original name evokes Havana. The lines of G.H., Connecticut No. 1, Criollo No. 3 and Corojo No. 5, reuse the three numbers of Gran Habano, where No. 3 is called Habano. The same retailer cites Gran Honduras and Guillermo Rico as other names, which, it says, would not be found in American shops.

Range Depth

• Connecticut No. 1

  Wrapper Connecticut · Strength Mild

  The first of the three numbers of 2003: mild, Connecticut wrapper.

• Habano No. 3

  Wrapper Habano · Strength Medium

  The middle one.

• Corojo No. 5

  Wrapper Corojo · Strength Full

  The peppery one. Corojo, as at J. Fuego, is the leaf of houses that want character.

• 3 Siglos

  Wrapper Undisclosed · Strength Medium-Full

  Three centuries — the name states the claim, four years after the brand.

• GR Specials Red Label

  Wrapper Nicaraguan Corojo · Strength Full

  Bundle by George A. Rico, son of Guillermo, with whom he created Gran Habano; the band bears the words Hecho a Mano, according to ghcigars.com. According to Atlantic Cigar: Nicaraguan corojo wrapper, Honduran binder, Nicaraguan and Mexican filler, full strength, in Gran Robusto 6 x 54; Cigarplace adds a Robusto 5 x 50, made in Honduras.