Wismilak

Wismilak Group or PT Wismilak Inti Makmur, Tbk is the sixth-biggest cigarette company in Indonesia.

The Wismilak headquarter office is located in Surabaya and has been in the business since September 12th, 1962. This company was officially put itself at the stock exchange of Indonesia in late 2012.

History of Wismilak

In September 1062, husband-and-wife Wisman Ali and Sinta Dewi Sampurno with Budiono Widjajadi established PT Gelora Djaja together in Petemon Barat Road, Surabaya.

They only employed 10 people back then and the first cigarette brand was Galan. Galan was hand-made kretek cigarette. One year later, they announced their new product named Wismilak Kretek Special.

The company was getting bigger and bigger until they bought another one hectare land in Putro Agung Wetan Road, Surabaya. They still got 45 employees back then.

As the company got bigger and more known by the public, they purchased another 10-hectare land for a factory until today they have around 3,000 employees.

The package of Galan and Wismilak was printed by a third party. To overcome the need for packaging, they establish PT Putri Jaya in 1979, which changed into PT Putri Gelora Djaja in 1981.

Two years later, PT Gawih Jaya was established to take care of the distribution and stuff. The word “Gawih” was an acronym of Galan – Wismilak – Hidup Subur.

By that, all distribution was taken care of by PT Gawih Jaya while PT Geora Djaja just produced cigarettes.

In 1985, PT Gelora Djaja bought Ducofle, a cigarette brand from France and it was the first time they started machine-made kretek cigarettes.

Four years later, they announced their new product named Wismilak Diplomat with black package and premium price for Indonesia.

For Wismilak cigarette, they established PT Wismilak Inti Makmur as a holding company. It is also a factory for kretek filter cigarette.

PT Galan Gelora Djaja was later established in 1998 that is located in Karang Bong 999 Road, Sidoarjo. They also established several factories to maintain the production of handmade kretek cigarettes in several places like Buntaran, Petemon, Bojonegoro, and Jember.

Several Wismilak brands were born since 2000. Wismilak Slim was the first handmade kretek cigarette in Indonesia that contained a low level of nicotine.

In the same year, Wismilak also produced cigars with Wismilak Premium Cigars brand. Four years later, Galan Slim was produced and Wismilak Diplomat Anniversary was out in 2009.

One year later, PT Gelora Djaja got into the mild kretek cigarette era by launching Galan Mild. In the same year, Wismilak Premium Cigars add Petit Corona and Corona to be Robusto’s company.

PT Gelora Djaja also built several warehouses to store and save tobacco from farmers as one of the production supports. Tobacco used by the company comes from Madura, Temanggung, Lombok, Bojonegoro, and Gresik. Meanwhile, they store the ready stock in Gresik and Jakarta.

On December 18th, 2012, the company was officially being part of Indonesia’s Stock Exchange. This plan was made since early 1995 but it was postponed due to the economic crisis that hit Indonesia back then.

Wismilak Products

As other cigarette companies, Wismilak produced several types of cigarettes. The first type made by the company is handmade kretek cigarette such as Wismilak Special Wismilak Dirgha and Galan Kretek.

Galan Kretek is a non-filtered kretek made of the best tobacco and cloves mixture to get the natural yet authentic smell for the best satisfaction.

Wismilak Special is available in both soft- and hard-packaging. Each pack contains 12 pieces. Meanwhile, Wismilak Slim is a non-filtered kretek brand that contains lower tar and nicotine than the previous brands.

The next type is machine-made kretek cigarette. The first brand is Wismilak Diplomat, a blend of first quality cloves and tobacco for a perfect taste. Diplomat Mild is another brand from Wismilak.

They claim that this brand is the result of technology, skill, and spirit to achieve the best quality. Wismilak premium Mild Kretek provides a smooth yet aromatic smoking sensation.

Diplomat Mild Menthol is the next brand in this type. The distinctive frozen menthol is something you would like from this brand.

Wismilak also produced cigars. Wismilak Premium Cigars provide Robusto, Corona, and Petit Corona variants. It is the combination of Connecticut Shade wrap, attached with exotic binder leaves from selected Javanese tobacco. It gives a mild flavor character. Another brand is Wismilak Premium Seleccion. Both brands are sold per piece and per pack.

Wismilak Special

Wismilak Special is one of the eldest cigarette brands in Indonesia and even one of the first brands produced by the company.

However, many shops still sell this brand until today, proof that this brand is still going steady on the business.

For the taste, this cigarette has spicy dominated the whole piece combined with a fruit-based sauce that gives a hint of fruity sweetness. The sweet taste is not the main taste here and you will find a hint of berry and orange in it.

The cigarette is a bit rough with a thick taste of cloves. If you are not used to rough kretek then you will find it a bit uncomfortable.

Wismilak Diplomat Mild

From the mild class, Wismilak Diplomat Mild is one of the products. Diplomat can be touted as the flagship from the company and target young adult smokers who do not like Diplomat Full Flavor. This brand also targets value for money segment.

It contains 15 mg of tar and 1 mg of nicotine which is considered low for a single filtration kretek cigarette. This brand always promotes the “I Choose Love” slogan on its ads just like the spirit of the company. With a stylish package, this brand might have a strong market in Indonesia.

It provides a smooth smoking experience with spicy and aromatic taste. The sauce might be using liquor-based ingredients mixed with fermented ingredients.

You might love its lychee and nutty hint but it does not give a strong throat hit after all. The main taste is sweet and will not leave your throat dry. F

or a smooth cigarette brand, Wismilak Diplomat Mild is very affordable, edgy, and pleasant.