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With the closure in October 2015 of the National Cigar Co., the famous Marsh Wheeling line of cigars is dead.
Much beloved by reenactors because they are period-correct (albeit now machine-made), and affordable, Marsh Wheeling stogies were featured in period films like Glory or pretty much any Clint Eastwood western.
Created in the 1840s in Wheeling, WV (then VA) by Mifflin Marsh & Son, the "Stogie" was named after the Conestoga wagons headed west on the National Road. The Stogie exploded in popularity, and the brand name soon became a generic term for all cigars, especially long, thin ones. However, in the late 20th century production declined precipitously. In 1988, the company was bought by the National Cigar Co. In 2001, the National Cigar Co. closed the Wheeling factory and moved production to its factory in Frankfort, IN. Having already survived a few scares it was shutting down in the past ten years, the National Cigar Co. finally closed its doors late last year, principally citing federal taxes on tobacco as the reason for closure.
Internet cigar venders are already out of stock, and listing it as discontinued. It will not be long before battlefield sutlers also run out. This will also complicate matters for tinsmiths who have created segar tins specially designed to fit Marsh Wheeling stogies. There are not many other cigars that share the stogie's unique 7x34 shape.
This also essentially completes the collapse of the once-vibrant domestic cigar production in the United States, as there are no other domestic operations that could conceivably take over. We can always hope that some entrepreneur will take a risk to bring back the venerable Marsh Wheeling, but as things now stand, husband any you currently have, for they will likely be your last.
Much beloved by reenactors because they are period-correct (albeit now machine-made), and affordable, Marsh Wheeling stogies were featured in period films like Glory or pretty much any Clint Eastwood western.
Created in the 1840s in Wheeling, WV (then VA) by Mifflin Marsh & Son, the "Stogie" was named after the Conestoga wagons headed west on the National Road. The Stogie exploded in popularity, and the brand name soon became a generic term for all cigars, especially long, thin ones. However, in the late 20th century production declined precipitously. In 1988, the company was bought by the National Cigar Co. In 2001, the National Cigar Co. closed the Wheeling factory and moved production to its factory in Frankfort, IN. Having already survived a few scares it was shutting down in the past ten years, the National Cigar Co. finally closed its doors late last year, principally citing federal taxes on tobacco as the reason for closure.
Internet cigar venders are already out of stock, and listing it as discontinued. It will not be long before battlefield sutlers also run out. This will also complicate matters for tinsmiths who have created segar tins specially designed to fit Marsh Wheeling stogies. There are not many other cigars that share the stogie's unique 7x34 shape.
This also essentially completes the collapse of the once-vibrant domestic cigar production in the United States, as there are no other domestic operations that could conceivably take over. We can always hope that some entrepreneur will take a risk to bring back the venerable Marsh Wheeling, but as things now stand, husband any you currently have, for they will likely be your last.
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