好友（Hoyo de Monterrey）、潘趣（Punch）这两个著名雪茄品牌是费尔南多·帕里西奥（Fernando Palicio）在古巴革命前就创立的，20世纪60年代，比亚松公司（ Villazon & Co. Inc.）的两个股东，丹·布卢门撒尔(Dan Blumenthal)、弗兰克·拉内萨（Frank Llaneza）从费尔南多·帕里西奥手里买下了这些品牌在美国的版权，1965年开始生产非古版本的好友、潘趣雪茄，在美国市场销售。
1996年，美国雪茄热时期，通用雪茄公司收购了比亚松公司，拿到了好友、潘趣的品牌所有权。好友品牌也成为美国对古巴禁运后，首批在美国市场销售的非古巴版本雪茄品牌。
为了纪念这段历史，通用雪茄公司发布了两款在洪都拉斯卷制的好友雪茄，如今已经向零售商发货。
一款名Rojo（红色），茄衣是洪都拉斯的贾马斯兰特山谷种植的烟叶，茄套是尼加拉瓜烟叶，茄芯是洪都拉斯、尼加拉瓜、多米尼加的混合烟叶。口味强度是中等。
另一款是Oscuro（奥斯库罗），茄衣是深色的巴西马特菲娜烟叶，这是非古的好友品牌首次使用这款烟叶作为茄衣，茄套是厄瓜多尔种植的苏门答腊种子烟叶，茄芯是多米尼加、洪都拉斯、尼加拉瓜的混合烟叶。
这两个系列各有三个尺寸，罗斯柴尔德，50环径，4.5英寸，售价是每支5.99美元。公牛，52环径，6英寸，售价是每支7.49美元。巨大，60环径，6英寸，售价8.49美元。每盒都是10支装，雪茄是在洪都拉斯的丹利的HATSA工厂卷制。
通用雪茄公司的高级品牌经理埃德·拉赫曼（Ed Lahmann）表示，作为最早在美国销售的古巴雪茄品牌，好友雪茄在60年也为洪都拉斯雪茄制造业发展奠定了基础，并已经成为优质雪茄世界的活传奇。
Hoyo de Monterrey was one of the first Cuban brands to be made in a non-Cuban version for the U.S. market after the embargo. That happened in the mid 1960s. To celebrate this history, General Cigar Co. has released two new Hoyos made in Honduras: The Hoyo de Monterrey Rojo and the Hoyo de Monterrey Oscuro. Both are heading to retailers now.
Draped in a wrapper grown in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras, Rojo is rolled with a Nicaraguan binder and filler from Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It’s billed as a medium-bodied blend.
The Oscuro is a bit stronger, and defined by its dark Brazilian Mata Fina oscuro wrapper—a first for Hoyo de Monterrey. It has an Ecuadoran Sumatra binder and a filler combination of Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos.
Both brands are produced at the HATSA factory in Danlí and both come in the same sizes with identical suggested retail prices: Rothschild, measuring 4 1/2 inches by 50 ring gauge with a suggested retail price of $5.99; Toro at 6 by 52 ($7.49); and a 6-by-60 Gigante ($8.49). They are presented in 10-count boxes.
“As one of the first Cuban ex-pat brands available in the United States, Hoyo de Monterrey laid the foundation for Honduran cigarmaking nearly 60 years ago and has become a living legend in the world of premium cigars,” says senior brand manager Ed Lahmann.
Hoyo de Monterrey and Punch were made in Cuba by Fernando Palicio prior to the Revolution. Dan Blumenthal and Frank Llaneza, owners of Villazon & Co. Inc., bought the U.S. rights to the brands from Palicio in the mid-1960s, and began making them for the U.S. market in 1965. The brands were acquired by General in 1996 during the cigar boom when it purchased Villazon. General Cigar Co. and the non-Cuban Hoyo de Monterrey brand are owned by parent company Scandinavian Tobacco Group.
