Havana Honeys was founded in 1997 and introduced to national distribution in 1998. The handmade selection, featuring an Indonesian wrapper, includes five sizes:

• Del Sol: a 5 1/2-inch by 42-ring corona;

• Bueno: a 7-inch by 36-ring long panatela;

• Rio: a 5-inch by 36-ring short panatela;

• A line of small panatelas offered in tins (4 x 30);

• Poco, a 3 1/2-inch by 20-ring cigarillo.

The line is made in the Dominican Republic and all of the shapes are available either flavored or without flavoring. A honey style was the first version (hence the name), but now most shapes are offered in honey, cherry, chocolate, peach, vanilla and rum flavors.

The handmade cigars aren’t cheap, however, and do not compete with machine-made flavored cigars at the low end of the price spectrum. The largest of the Havana Honeys sizes, the Del Sol, has a retail price of between $4.16 and $4.75 for the tubed version, before local tobacco and sales taxes.

General will take over the handmade segment of the business only, expanding their flavored-cigar offerings. They already offer two lines of handmade, flavored cigars: Kahlua Especial, made in four sizes by Drew Estates in Nicaragua and Helix Remix, made by General in four sizes in its Dominican factory and flavored with Amaretto or Café Mocha. Havana Honeys will compliment these blends with its more traditional approach of sweet and fruit flavors. And General will eventually produce the Havana Honeys line itself once the existing inventory has been sold.

General’s Chief Operating Officer, Daniel Nunez. explained, “General Cigar's purchase of Havana Honeys represents an opportunity to strengthen our position within the growing flavored segment of the premium cigar category. The acquisition of such a prominent brand is a great complement to our existing portfolio.”

General did not acquire the entire brand, however. Gold will retain the ownership and operations of the Havana Honeys little cigars line and the Havana Honeys retail store at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The little cigars are offered in two sizes and in the same seven flavors.

How this acquisition will affect the handmade, flavored-cigar segment is hard to say; it may not be big enough for anyone to care. However, Altadis U.S.A. brought out its own Havana Sweets line in 2005, available in two sizes in Honey, Honey Sweets and Irish Cream. Two of the leading independent, flavored brands using handmade cigars include Rose Perez’s Cojimar, headquartered in Miami, Florida and Heather Phillips’s Heaven, based in Naples, Florida. Both have a wide range of sizes, made in the Dominican Republic, and some wild flavors. And both could be on the radar screen of larger distributors looking for an entry into the flavored arena.