Theme Week 28 = Macanudo
You know how some guys like to boast in obnoxious ways? I remember back in the 1990s this one big talker idiot who would always display his (actually deficient) 'knowledge' about cigars and he would always refer to his favorite: "Mac-A-Nuuuuuuu-Do" (you know, like a dumb guy who cannot say 'thousand' but is compelled to use "Graaaaand" or "Laaaaarge" when speaking of thousands of dollars because he thinks it sounds cool but has no recognition he actually sounds like a total idiot).

That 1990s guy's stupidity and his idiotic verbal delivery of the name actually comes to mind EVERY SINGLE TIME I consider smoking a Macanudo, and even today, 30 years later, I can hear his dumb pronunciation ringing in my ears. That is probably the reason I rarely smoke Macanudo cigars, since his stupidity so long ago was inextricably tied to the brand in my mind, you know, like an engram of distaste unreasonably associated with something. LMAO!

Actually, Macanudo cigars are quite enjoyable, and when I do smoke one, I think to myself that I should do so more often.

My Macanudo humidor is filled with 25 year old Connecticuts as well as a few 10-15 year old products, some of which are not even made any more. Their brief celebration as 'the best' in the 1990s quickly dissipated and they became just one of many decent, or even good, producers of hand-made cigars. I don't buy them any more, but having a good number of long-aged cigars has provided me with an occasional Macanudo pleasure.

So this week will be a (properly pronounced) Macanudo 'theme' week.

History
Macanudo was originally the name of a frontmark produced in Guatemala by the makers of the Cuban brand of Punch. In 1971, General Cigar, which had acquired rights to the name outside of Cuba, introduced a completely distinct Macanudo as a brand unto itself. It was developed in Jamaica under the leadership of Ramón Cifuentes, a veteran of Cuban cigar maker Partagás (after the communists stole everything, as noted in 'theme' week 21). Production shifted from Cuba after the revolution there in 1959, first to Jamaica, then to the Dominican Republic in October 2000. In the 1960s, Culbro and General Cigar acquired Gradiaz Annis, maker of Gold Label cigars and the Temple Hall factory that owned the Macanudo brand name, ushering in a turn towards hand-rolled premium cigars. Macanudo, having been a small label made in limited quantities for the market in the United Kingdom, was seen as the principal vehicle for growth in the premium cigar category. A careful effort was made to reblend the product for the large American marketplace (then and now subject to a ban on Cuban tobacco) using select binder and filler from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico, with Connecticut shade-grown wrapper. Mass advertising was conducted in support of the brand, which by the early 1990s had grown into the best-selling premium cigar label in the United States, though that distinction was a brief one. Since then, Macanudo remains a well-recognized label but has been significantly surpassed in popularity by many other brands.