[1] The brand's name was inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel written by Alexandre Dumas père, which was allegedly a very popular novel among the torcedores (cigar rollers) in their factory to have read by the lector on the rolling floor.

The Montecristo logo, consisting of a triangle of six swords surrounding a fleur-de-lis, was designed by John Hunter Morris and Elkan Co. Ltd., the brand's British distributor.

In 1963, these firms merged to become "Hunters & Frankau", which today is the sole importer and distributor of all Cuban cigars in the UK.

Menéndez and García fled during the Cuban Revolution, and on September 15, 1960, after which the Montecristo brand, the factory, and all assets were nationalized by the government of Fidel Castro.

[3] Menéndez and García re-established their brand in the Canary Islands, but were later forced to quit due to trademark disputes with Cubatabaco (later known as Habanos S.A.).

In the mid-1970s, the operation was moved to La Romana and released for the US market, since Cuban government rights to the brand were not recognized under American law due to the 1960 nationalization and subsequent embargo.

With Menendez and Garcia gone after 1959, one of the top grade torcedores, José Manuel González, was promoted to floor manager and proceeded to breathe new life into the brand.

[citation needed] In 2004 the Edmundo was added, a large robusto-sized cigar named for the hero of Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès.

[6] Montecristo is regularly chosen to be featured in Habanos SA's annual Edición Limitada selection of cigars with a darker vintage wrapper, and issues numerous limited editions of cigars for special occasions, anniversaries, the annual Festival del Habano, charities, etc.

In 2007, a cigar called the Edmundo Dantes Conde 109 was released as a part of Habanos' regional edition series.