Cusano Cigars was founded in 1995 by Michael Chiusano, a native New Yorker and institutional money manager, and Bill Finley, his partner and company director. Michael, a big fan of Cuban cigars, found himself in the cigar business by accident after a business trip to the Dominican Republic. In 2000, much of Cusano’s sales came from their Celebrity Series, an affordable high flavor smoke packed in bundles. Cusano named these bundles M1 (mild Connecticut), CC (full Cuban style), P1 (medium maduro), and MC (medium Connecticut).
Although these still sell very well in the market, Cusano’s big breakthrough would come with a new tobacco leaf: Corojo. Corojo was the tobacco originally used as wrapper in all Cuban cigars, but because of its high susceptibility to disease the Cubans stopped using it. Michael Cusano purchased an experimental 1996 vintage Corojo crop grown in Ecuador that was initially destined for Cuba. This was the wrapper used in his first Cusano Corojo 1996 Vintage cigars.
In 2004, they introduced their Corojo 1997, which has already obtained impressive ratings on blind tastings. The Corojo 1997 Toro has been dubbed Best Newcomer of the Year by Cigar Aficionado.
In 2003, they launched another highly rated cigar, Cusano 18. Cusano 18's filler is comprised of Dominican Oro (gold) which had been aging for 18 years since it was harvested in 1985. The Cusano 18 and Corojo 1997 offer smokers two distinct, yet broad, taste profiles: a rich and creamy double connecticut and a more potent dark and spicy cuban-seed corojo wrapper. All Cusano premium cigars are certified by ProCigar, a Dominican Republic-based quality control organization. Their entire product line is made in the Dominican Republic by Hendrik Kelner.