June 18, 2013

T.O.'s Czars of Cigars

The cigar has long had its place in popular culture from Groucho Marx and George Burns to Arnold Schwartzenegger and, of course, El Presidente Fidel Castro. We were surprised to learn there are two cigar makers that are still rolling their own in Toronto after decades. Frank Correnti’s operation dates back more than a century to 1906, while the House of Horvath opened in 1977. We check in with the stogie salesmen to find out why this timeless hobby never goes out of style.

 

Frank Correnti Cigars vs. House Of Horvath

Johnny Miller of Frank Correnti Cigars Business
&
owner		 House of Horvath’s Joe Horvath
I was born into it. My father was born into it. My grandfather started it when the cigar business was the biggest industry at the turn of the century. How did you get into the cigar business? I started way back with my father. He owned a cigar store. Then he went into the pipe tobacco industry in 1932. We opened in 1976.
We make custom-made cigars, any size, any shape. We pick the best quality of leaves we can get our hands on. What kind of cigars do you sell? We sell mass-market cigars, as well as the cigars we make, and premium cigars from the Dominican Republic and Honduras.
Pennatello when I was younger. As you get older, you smoke more full-bodied ones. What's your personal favourite? The Bances Havana cigars that I roll in my factory.
Charlie Sheen, Atom Egoyan, Bill Cosby — to name a few. Any famous patrons? I'd like to think anyone who smokes our cigars is a celebrity, but Mel Lastman used to smoke our Bances.
The Robusto: 50 ring, fve inches, short, stub- by, full-bodied. What's the most popular cigar at your shop right now? It’s a new premium one: the Casa Magna Robusto.
After sex. Whenever you need to relax. What's the perfect way to enjoy a cigar? When you have the time to savour it.

 

This article appears in the November 2011 issue of Post City Magazines