The Cusano brand of cigars got its start as the Boom came into full swing in 1995, founded by New York-born Michael Chiusano. A cigar enthusiast and financier, Chiusano travelled to the Dominican Republic for business - and he didn't leave empty-handed. Michael had the opportunity to put together a blend while on his trip, and brought a hundred sticks of his personally-crafted recipe to share with his friends in Boston. Not long after, a local tobacconist wanted another hundred to sell in his cigar shop - more demand would follow, and Chiusano found himself bringing in cigars by the thousands to meet the demand for his new Cusano cigars, generated solely by word of mouth.
Two things set Cusano apart from the hundreds of brands on the market at the time: quality, and quantity. At the height of the Cigar Boom, good leaf was hard to find...but adding Davidoff's Hendrik Kelner to the mix in 1997, he was able to help source some of the finest Dominican tobaccos - in significant quantity - and even tweak the original blend, garnering even bigger numbers for Cusano cigar reviews and ratings. Part of the brand's continued success was due to the addition of a new, very flavorful Ecuadorian wrapper tobacco to the original Dominican blend, creating Cusano Corojo cigars.
As the Boom went bust, Cusano focused on keeping a quality handmade on tobacconists' shelves at affordable prices. Cigar smokers responded - keeping Cusano in demand long after their competitors fell prey to the market's bottoming out. In 2009, the Oettinger Davidoff Group acquired Cusano Cigars; Michael, who had already been joined by his brother Joe Chiusano in the family cigar business, remained with the company; they left two years later to found C&C Cigars, and do it all over again.
Today, Cusano cigars retain the high-quality formula that made the so popular - and recession proof. Using well-aged Dominican fillers and available in a variety of wrapper options, even the more budget-friendly Cusano Celebrity bundles, like the CC and M1, have been a go-to for smokers who like a good Dominican cigar. Find the one that works best for you, and buy Cusano cigars online at Famous Smoke Shop with confidence!
